Name: The Beginning Type: Task Location: Atmos Island Requestee: @diego Difficulty: 1 Significance: 1 Objective: Find companions to join Diego Sub-Objective: Increase relation with Carnation Plot: Diego end up on Atmos Island. Determined to increased his strength and get revenge against the Holy Army, Diego tries to convince the viking warriors of Atmos to sail under his flag. Wishlist: Viking Grunts Cast: Diego, Carnation, Vikings
Post by First Carnation on Jul 20, 2020 18:25:09 GMT -8
FIRST CARNATION
THE SHAMAN OF BATTLE
First Carnation's arrival on Atmos Island was one that wasn't all that rare among the blues. Somehow, someway she was able to sneak her way onto, what she thought at the time, was a pirate ship and stowaway to the next island over. What that next island was? She had no clue, and honestly after doing the whole island hopping thing for 8 years, she stopped caring.The trip itself was a bit rocky and the group that owned the boat were quite loud, however after a while Carnation got used to the discomfort and dealt with them by ignoring them. Eventually, the ship came to a stop, but by that point Carnation was already freezing cold. Luckily, she stole a coat way back when and donned it when she found the time to, but it wasn't very long she met up with the loud, rowdy owners of the boat. It was also in that moment that she realized they weren't pirates, or at least not your everyday conventional ones. These guys were actually tall, blonde, and covered in tattoos, and they weren't exactly thrilled to find a woman hiding away in their cargo. Speaking of the cargo, it was a bit suspicious to her from the start that it was all either axes, some raw ore, or gold. Seeing them, however, it clicked in her mind who these guys were: they weren't pirates, they were vikings.
Anyways, that's how she got here. Fast forward to the present, or a week later, where Carnation was starving for both food and cash as she blew all she had in the past seven days paying for shelter and food from some of the locals. Honestly, she doesn't know what she expected from the people who had pillaging as one of their main hobbies as they charged her an arm and a leg for anything she asked for. This wouldn't be the first time she's found herself in a miserable situation, but it would be the first where she was poor and miserable. Not really knowing how to get out of this situation any other way, Carnation figured that she should start looking for some odd jobs to do. To her, these people weren't that bad, just greedy, which she couldn't really fault them for. From her past experiences of other islands, places like the one she was at put up jobs and whatnot on boards in places where people tended to gather, like the town square and whatnot. From her short stay, she picked up that most, if not everybody, went to the local bar so that's where she went.
Walking in, the place reeked of sweat, blood, and ale, a combination of smells that are less than stellar. The skypiean reels back a bit from the sudden invasion of her senses. Being midday, there was an abundance of people there being loud and drinking and all around bar things. From a glance, she did see a job board of any kind so her next plan was to just ask. Approaching the bar, she sat down at the stool and waited for the bartender to come by, however he seemed a bit pre-occupied with a drunk patron so she may be waiting a while.
Simply existing on Atmos Island was tiring. Diego had been on the island for around a week by this point, and aside from the hectic beginning of his trip he had been bored for the last few days. Diego had enough beli saved to feed and house himself during his stay, but he didn't have the funds for any real 'entertainment.' "When I get off of this frozen rock, I'm going to have to head straight to Rubeck. I haven't been in the Pleasure District in forever." The reason for his hiatus from debauchery, or at least his hiatus from paying to indulge in it, was obvious. Diego was trying to remain strong though, as recent events had taught him that it was unwise for him to show weakness. "I have to become a real leader if I'm gonna take down the Holy Army, I can't let the old man be right about me." A great man who would later go on to be taken advantage of and unfairly ridiculed for unrelated reasons once said: "You don't set out to build a wall. You don't say 'I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built. ' You don't start there. You say 'I'm gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,' and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.” Following that same logic, Diego intended to lay the first of his bricks today, finding at the very least a partner to help him in building up his power towards being prepared to face his greatest challenge. Diego knew he couldn't accept just anyone into his ranks, especially not this early. The founding members of a group set the tone for the future of it, so Diego needed the right person for the job.
"I...do not know where I'm supposed to find this person." Not knowing where to begin his search, Diego decided to travel to the one place that he could think to go to in his time of need. While it was true that Diego spent the majority of his time in Rubeck's pleasure district, he hadn't neglected his drinking. Diego was able to hang with just about anyone, which is the primary reason why he was so disgusted by the sight he was greeted with upon entering what he had learned to be Atmos Island's cheapest bar. He was a tall man, even taller than Diego, with what looked to be the scars of countless battles decorating his skin. He wore an eyepatch, and his lone visible eye was visibly tear-filled as he wrestled with the smaller bartender over a mug of something he had obviously had more than enough of. Shaking his head at the pitiful sight, Diego would walk up behind the seated man, "Hey, you mind strapping your nuts on and trying to be less of an embarrassment?" Diego's blunt words shocked both men, and the bartender scurried away to deal with a smaller patron. The single eyed man was still silent due to his shock, which Diego took as his cue to continue speaking,"There are way too many fine women in here for you to be presenting yourself like this." This statement would be punctuated by a nod of Diego's head in the direction of the short blonde woman who sat just close enough that she may have heard his statement if she happened to be listening.
Post by First Carnation on Jul 23, 2020 17:16:17 GMT -8
FIRST CARNATION
THE SHAMAN OF BATTLE
Oh, Carnation most definitely heard him. Whether she wanted to or not, however, was a completely different matter.
At first, she was thankful that finally somebody told the nuisance to shut up, because while she was wanting to do it herself she didn't want to deal with the problems that were going to arise from it. Not only that, she was hungry and tired and thus didn't have the energy to deal with a whole lot of anything to be honest. Which is why, as this new man continued to speak, her thoughts went from "Thank God" to "Oh no, he's an idiot too." Actually, that last sentiment escaped her mind and made a forced exit through her lips as she gave him a look of disbelief and spoke: "Was that supposed to be a compliment or something? Because I'm not going to thank you." She titled her head as to get a good look past the taller, darker one and see what the other guy was doing. From where she was sitting, he still seemed to be in shock and was giving the man the same appalled look that she had. What was once slight annoyance quickly turned into humor as Carnation chuckled. This situation was only going to end up well, and personally, she had her money on the dude with the scars.
Her attention then quickly diverted back to the barkeep, however she wanted to say one more thing before she was done with this guy. "This woman has a name by the way. First. Carnation. Er, it's two words one name. I don't know why I said it like that. Anyways..." Her eyes beamed at the bartender. "What's a girl gotta do around here to get some work? I noticed y'all don't have a board or anything with bounties and whatnot, so I'm wondering where you keep all that stuff?" Blunt and straight to the point, how she liked to get things done. She's found in her travels that being polite tends to confuse and complicate things, and people tend to understand rudeness way more than they do politeness as anyone can pick up when she's being rude. Though, with reflection, that could very well just be because of her, not because of people. The bartender paused for a moment as he registered what she was saying before nodding and turning around, heading into what looked like a storage area.
Meanwhile, the man from before finally decided to take action. While not saying anything, he spoke loudly with his actions as he stood up abruptly, his chair screaming as it dragged across the floor. For some odd reason, this was what got everyone's attention, as the rest of the bar basically stopped. People stopped talking, everyone paused their drinking, and all heads turned towards them. The man walked up to the other and just stood there, looking at him. Things were tense, at least from Carnation's point of view. Something was going to happen, and now she was looking forward to it,
Once again, she made this known to everyone as she spoke, "So... anyone taking bets?"
Diego didn't appreciate being called an idiot. When the woman began speaking, he couldn't help but notice that despite her large shoulders she had a very feminine voice. "If you don't know how to take a compliment that's on you." Diego stood there, disgust evident on his face as she then looked past him to gaze at the scarred man behind him. "Excuse me? Did you just ignore me to look at this wuss? Don't tell me crying like a baby is what gets your attention." Diego's verbal abuse continued as the scarred individual's face began to shift from one of shock into one of anger. He remained seated as Carnation spoke, only rising from his seat once Diego began to respond to the woman. "Work? What can you do exactly because I'm looking to put together a group of my own and I'm sure I can make a place for you-" Diego's response was cut short by the fist of the taller man impacting with the back of his head. He stumbled forward from the impact before turning to face the scarred man. "Sucker punch? Really?" The larger man simply shrugged in response. "Oh you piece of shit!" The punch had hurt somewhat, but Diego had taken far worse. Lunging towards his opponent in retaliation, Diego struck with a flurry of palm strikes. These strikes could not be launched carelessly however, as the scarred man had responded by launching volley of punches aimed at Diego's face. Instead of simply swinging wildly as the viking was, Diego would aim to trade blows with him, his palm colliding with his foe's face just as he was struck by a hook.
Neither Diego nor the Viking were the most disciplined fighters, they were just two large men wailing on one another, and so there was not much technique involved. 'He's probably just as strong as I am, but he's such a wuss; there's no way he can keep up with me.' Confident that his will was superior to that of his opponent, Diego stuck with the strategy of simply exchanging blows at every opportunity. This guaranteed that Diego would at least be able to hit his opponent for every time he was hit himself. This continued for a while, with the two large men trading shot after shot to the face. After 10 minutes of back and forth exchange, Diego launched a palm strike into the nose of his opponent, and was met with no punch in return. The larger man fell to one knee and he tried to catch his breath, simply exhausted from fighting. Taking advantage of the time the man took to regain his energy, Diego smiled in the direction of Carnation, showing that a few of his teeth had been knocked out by the barrage of blows. "Like I was saying before." Diego paused after this, spitting a mouthful of blood and potentially one of his teeth onto the bar floor. "What sort of role could you fill in my group if I were to consider hiring you?" This question would be followed by the return of his smile as Diego waited for Carnation's reaction.
Post by First Carnation on Jul 26, 2020 21:18:42 GMT -8
FIRST CARNATION
THE SHAMAN OF BATTLE
Carnation sat in her sit with a blank face as she watched the two men fight each other. To her disappointment, nobody was taking bets so all she was able to do was watch as the violence unfolded mere feet away from her. Through her very limited knowledge of fighting outside of her own specific style, she didn't really know what she was looking it. It was very... crude. Neither man fought with grace and it mainly just seemed like they were trying their best to kill one another. Honestly, Carnation was not impressed, but that didn't matter in the current moment because she still needed work. She wasn't above working for someone she didn't necessarily like or respect when she needed a quick buck, however there was something peculiar about this guys offer. He seemed... too eager to hire her. Perhaps she was looking to deep into things, so Carnation put this problem in the back of her mind and waited to see what was going to happen next.
As he asked her what she could do if he were to hire her, she had to sit there and think about it for a moment. "I mean, that really depends on what your looking for. I'm pretty good with a sword and I can throw a good punch, but I also have a knack of getting from place to place island-wise. Let's call it... a natural gift." To this day, she still has yet to tell anyone about her gift, or perhaps it was a curse. The whole 'hearing voices' thing was pretty crazy, even for her, so going around telling people that was only going to hurt her public image. Granted, she didn't really give a shit about her public image, but for now she wanted to seem somewhat sane to her potential employer. "What kind of pay are you offering?" That's how desperate she was; she asked about pay before she asked about the job. There's a slight chance that it was confidence that fueled this, but also partly the fact that she still isn't taking him seriously.
"So like a fighting navigator? I could definitely benefit from working with someone like you." Diego knew that he was coming on a little strong, but he didn't see the point in mincing words. If having the young woman join his crew is what he wanted, he'd be a fool to not say so. Next question did manage to make him rethink his decision however slightly, as he laughed sheepishly and moved his hand to the back of his neck, "I'm not really rich enough to pay anyone, but I have enough berries to pay for food and supplies." Since Carnation had asked upfront about how much she'd be making, Diego was unsure how likely she was to accept a position that didn't include a salary. "With my group from the past, we typically just shared the spoils from our jobs between us. Everyone contributes, everyone gets paid." Talking about his deceased clan members still stung, but there was no evidence of it besides a slight falter in Diego's wide smile. "That's how I want to run my group again this time. You won't need a salary from me when we're making money together as a team."
While Diego was speaking, the taller man had regained his breath and begun to rise to his feet. He balled his fists as "Yo! I'm not finished with you yet meathead." Diego turned from Carnation to once again face the taller man. His smile returning, he regarded the viking as if they were old friends and not two strangers who had nearly tried to kill one another, "You're really strong, what's your name guy?" The viking's look of rage turned into one of confusion at the sudden change in attitude towards him. "Um...the name's Forseti." The viking was confused by why the strange man had asked his name, but he figured the best way to figure out his reason was to just answer his question. "Broseti! It was a lot of fun fighting with you. I'd heard that there are a lot of brawls on Atmos Island and I haven't been disappointed." His words caused another shift in mood in the viking, as finding someone who enjoyed fighting as much he did was rare. "Yohohoho! We sure do know how to rumble here. It's pretty much mandatory that you be able to fight if you're going to come here, especially if you want to visit the other side of the island." Diego raised an eyebrow at this. "I'd heard that that side was dedicated to settling disputes, but I thought that meant that it was merely a battlefield. Are you saying that people might randomly attack you on that side of the island."
Forseti nodded in the affirmative, "Indeed. Rolough originally wanted that side of the island to be simply where people went to have their battles so that they wouldn't disturb others, but some people over there decided to start interfering in fights and attacking people without reason." Diego was surprised by this information, but anyone closely observing his reaction would see that his eyes had become almost starry. "Wow, I didn't know that things were that bad over there. Maybe there's something I could do to help?" Diego was interested in helping Forseti, but motives were certainly not entirely heroic. He had been meaning to check out the less peaceful part of Atmos in order to find more potential allies; doing so under the guise of being kind would only make the large human look better in the eyes of his potential allies. "Well I doubt that there is anything you could to to alter the culture of the island, but there may be you could help in the short term." Diego raised an eyebrow but did not interrupt. "Recently, things have been getting increasingly hectic due to a newcomer named Gorm the Cruel. He's a ruthless tyrant who has been using the fighting on the island to recruit potential crew members." Pretending as if he hadn't been planning to do the same, Diego put on his most believable face of disgust, "That's horrible! What sort of leader would do such a thing?" Forseti nodded in agreement,"Ay, he's horrible. He forces people to fight and then takes all the winners into his crew. People have been ramping up the fighting lately in an effort to get his recognition." Taking in these words, Diego nodded slowly. "So if someone just takes care of Gorm, Atmos Island will be much better off." Diego waited for Forseti to nod once again before continuing,"Well then Broseti, I guess I can take care of that for you." Turning to face Carnation, his toothless smile having stayed throughout the entire interaction, Diego would once again make a case for her to join him, "This Gorm guy probably has a lot of treasure if people are going nuts to join him. If you help me take him out we could share it. Think of it as an tryout except you'll be getting paid for it."
Post by First Carnation on Aug 4, 2020 17:12:26 GMT -8
FIRST CARNATION
THE SHAMAN OF BATTLE
Did she hear him right? He had no money? WHAT?!
"Hold up, lemme get this straight. What you're basically offering me here is a chance to work for you for free? Oh, sorry, free for the moment?" The way she spoke, this entire thing sounded absurd, but as she sat there and pondered her next best move,Carnation quickly realized that it was probably going to be her best shot at getting what she wanted to do done. Despite the fact that there wasn't any pay, there was probably a bunch of benefits from working in a crew rather than a normal for-hire employer. The first one to come to mind was a ship, and if they had a ship she wouldn't keep have to wasting money on inns and food and basic human necessities. "Actually, that's not worse than what I'm doing now, which is nothing, plus I have nothing better to do at the moment so what the hell." After she spoke, the viking from before was, surprisingly, not done and was very much conscious. Carnation had expected the last blow from the tall one to basically finish things off, but the viking--who would later introduce himself as Forseti--was still kicking albeit less violently. The fact that her boss was able to switch moods on a whim was slightly unsettling but not the weirdest thing she's seen during her years of travel. She listened as the man went on with his explanation of how the island worked and was surprised to find out that her Boss was pretty well-versed with how things worked around here. Made her wonder if he was a native. Would explain the bizarre display of strength from earlier. But what made her wonder much more, was a certain trait about Forseti, and it was to the point that she just had to ask.
"So what's up with the eye?" Could have been phrased a little better, but Carnation was not a woman of tact. He responded at first with a look of pure confusion before letting out a sigh, "My eye? Oh, I lost it in a bet."
"A bet? Why would you take a bet when you're eye is on the line?"
"My eye wasn't part of the bet! It was a bet of money, but I couldn't pay. See, Gorm is know around here as the Cruel, but before he earned that name he was known as Gorm the Gambler, a man with a sick addiction to risking everything. He caught me in a rough spot so I couldn't turn down his offer, but when I lost and couldn't make the payment he was angry. Don't worry though, that was a while ago, and since I've parted with my eye I've only become stronger!" He banged his chest with his fist as if to prove something. Honestly, Carnation didn't understand that whole thing but if it's what made him feel strong then more power to him. What Carnation did understand, was that this Gorm guy was bad news and she was going to enjoy getting back at him. I mean, with a nickname like "the Cruel", can you really feel bad about hurting them?
"Alright Boss, so what's the plan here? I don't really care about the pay by this point. I'm more interested in how we're gonna fuck over this Gorm guy, because he sounds like a real piece of work."
Diego had been thinking of a plan in the few minutes they had been speaking, and when his cue came he was ready for it. "Forseti, you said Gorm the Cruel was called Gorm the Gambler when you met him right?" The tall viking nodded. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to challenge him to a small wager."Diego's smile stretched across his face as he continued,"The best way to humiliate a man is to beat him at his own game; so first we're going to beat him in a bet, and then we'll show the bastard how cruel we can be." This was was all said through a smile, and with a happy tone that didn't fit at all with the words themselves. Regardless of the darkness of his words, they caused Forseti to match Diego's smile and energy; jumping up to smack Diego on the back,"Hahaha Diego, you sure are a riot." His face suddenly darkened afterwards though, and only a few centimetres away from Diego's own face he'd say in a much less positive tone,"But all jokes aside, I really don't think you should get yourself involved with that guy. I can respect your strength, hell, I couldn't knock you down myself and I promise I gave it my all. Gorm is a different beast and I don't want to see him take something from you."
The atmosphere in the bar was much different now. The few bystanders that had been watching the interaction could all feel the shifts in mood as the two large men shifted back and forth between moods seemingly at random. Diego's smile was here to stay this time though, as he shrugged off Forseti's words with a laugh,"Yegogogogo, and you say that I'm the riot! With jokes like those, I'm going to enjoy having you in my crew. Don't worry about me, I'm not worried about Gorm and you shouldn't be now that I'm here. I'm going to kick his ass and then take both of his eyes." Diego had said a lot in a short time, but one part stuck out to Forseti and caused him to immediately blurt his response,"Wait, your crew? You want me to join your crew?" Forseti teared up slightly from the large man's words, but he didn't cry thankfully. "We're going to need to work on the crying thing, but yeah man. You fight well and you're a fun guy, I'd be a fool to not want you on my side." Forseti was now visibly struggling to hold back his tears, but managed to keep them at bay as he sniffed loudly before speaking,"Well I appreciate it, but I should probably be honest with you. It's always been my dream to have a crew to travel with, but every time I've tried to join one I got kicked out." Diego found Forseti's words hard to believe.
"I don't understand, why would you get kicked out of your crews. Surely it can't be that bad." Forseti's solemn look made Diego less sure of his words. "Unfortunately it is. When I was growing up learning to fight, I always felt like I had to restrain myself because of my size. That certainly didn't help me on the battlefield, and so I started training to loosen my hold on my own power. This gave me a huge advantage as I was able to fight much better than before when I didn't care to hold back; letting myself go in battle had a downside though, the people on my side aren't safe from me when I get into my reckless state. Every time I join a crew, someone ends up getting hurt and I'm forced to leave. I try so hard to learn how to restrain myself, but I'm helpless. I understand if you want to take back your offer to join your crew." Forseti and Diego both stood quietly for a few seconds, the two men making eye contact the entire time. This period of silence would be broken by Diego snorting before looking in Carnation's direction,"Quick question, are you are all afraid of entering battle with this guy?" Regardless of her answer, Diego would direct his next statement at Forseti,"I don't know what gave you the impression that I would care about shit like that but you're way off pal. I want you on my crew Broseti. That includes all the shit that you bring with you, whether its a strength or a weakness. If you have a problem, then your captain's job is to help you fix it; once I feed Gorm his own eyes then I'll do whatever I can to help you learn to control your strength" This was enough to finally cause Forseti to break down into tears of joy, which Diego would ignore as he once again turned to Carnation,"I hope you know all of that applies to you too. As long as you're in my crew then you'll always be accepted, no matter what happens." Feeling that this was a good point to go from, Diego would address his two new nakama for the final time before leaving the bar to head for the other side of Atmos Island,"Enough chatting guys. I think it's time that we paid Gorm the Fool a little visit."
Post by First Carnation on Aug 7, 2020 12:07:38 GMT -8
FIRST CARNATION
THE SHAMAN OF BATTLE
The skypiean couldn't help but smirk at the entire situation and the absurdity of it. She literally just met these two but already they were planning to overthrow the authority of half of the island! Already she had a feeling that she and her Boss were going to get along great if this was the kind of job she wanted her to do and the kind of pace the man worked at. Hell, if this keeps up then she's never going to know boredom again! And maybe, just maybe, she'll figure out what the hell those books say at Ohara, but that's just wishful thinking. However, she wasn't exactly that gunho about this plan. Sure, she trusted Boss and Forseti to get things done on the brawn side of thing but for Carnation, her current situation wasn't looking pretty. She picked up a few moves here and there, but in the grand scheme of things she was still incredibly unexperienced and unprepared if things were going to come down to a good fight. Not only that, but her punches, while in good form, would tickle even the weakest of the vikings on the island. There was always Nishiko, but the sword was only going to be useful for so long and she ccan't rely on it forever. Like the books say, she needs to train Mind, Body, and Soul, but right now all of those were severely lacking.
A sigh escaped her lips as she stood up out of her seat and followed closely behind her Boss, her mind and thoughts clearly somewhere else. "Oh! Yeah, yeah, Gorm. Let's uh... kick his ass or something..."
