Lanceline~

"Merlin is... I'm sorry, but how?"
"We don't know," King Arthur said, grimacing, "while you fought that beast, he simply vanished."

Lanceline tried to absorb the information. Merlin couldn't just be gone. He was the most powerful wizard in Camelot! If the master of the darkness beyong their fair city could take Merlin...

"My Liege, if I could be so bold..."

"Yes, Sir Lancelot, you will be going to find him. This is a scouting mission, so do not engage with the dark creatures. There is something in your blood..." King Arthur trailed off, looking to Guinevere. She nodded to him.

"My blood?" Lanceline asked, brow furrowed. The King nodded.

"Yes. It's a rare ability. Merlin told me of it just a week previous."

"What... what does it do?"

Arthur looked at Lanceline with concern, then said, "It is effective against the forces of darkness. It is the Lightblood, a condition that manifests in combat. It was responsible for the burst you created with your blade."

"Ah," Lanceline said. That made sense.

"Will I be venturing alone, My Liege?" Lanceline asked, praying the answer was yes.

The King shook his head, even more hesitant. Lanceline mentally kicked herself.

"There are a few others with the Lightblood. They will accompany you." Arthur beckoned to a guard, who handed Lanceline a list. She tucked it into her pocket.

"Thank you, My Liege. I will set out at dawn."

"Godspeed, Sir Lancelot."

"Long Live the King."

Lanceline left the room and looked with dread at the list.

She groaned and swore under her breath.

A magician's apprentice, another(?), a kitchen maid, some others (OK, SIDE NOTE: ALL OF THE CHARRIES IN THE RP ARE ON THE LIST, BECAUSE THE PLOT NEEDS TO PROGRESS.), and...

... Lionel. Of course. 

I like the idea if Archane capturing Merlin using the attack as a diversion! What if it tried to capture Morgana too but she escaped and came to Camelot to warn everyone? 

Also, I'm sorry I haven't been posting. I've been dealing with some stuff in real life. 

PLEASE POST!

Rose~

There was a loud knock on the door. I turned, unsure whether to open it, but a loud, overbearing voice, slightly muffled because of the door, said,

"Rosalind, wizard apprentice, you have been summoned by your king. He wishes to see you at once." Merik nodded, and I opened the door. The servant was of the highest rank a servant can be, and therefore looked at me disdainfully, as though thinking how superior he was. He stalked away, his nose in the air, off to be a bother to some visiting nobles. I hurried down flights of stairs, taking several wrong turns in my hurry to reach the throne room. I burst in, and saw King Arthur speaking to a group of people who looked around my age, more or less. They were all staring at me now, so I dropped to one knee.

"My lord," I said respectfully.

"Rise, and join us." He said, and I walked over. There was a map laid out on the round table, and we stood around it as the king explained.

"Sir Lancelot has been told this," He nodded in the direction of the knight, who responded with a stiff bow. "The warning bell earlier today was set off because there was a darkness. A presence. Seeping into Camelot, and only a small number shall be able to rid us of this evil. This is you. You have the Lightblood, which allows you to disperse these dark beings. Merlin told me of this but a few days ago. But alas, Merlin has been taken by this evil, and as all of my knights are focused on getting Excalibur back, it is your duty to scout the countryside for clues- you must work together and find Merlin. He can provide us with a way to defeat this, I'm sure of it."

"That's why he was taken," said a boy. He wore the garb of a wizard's apprentice as well, and Arthur nodded.

"You ride at first light. Now go prepare." We left the throne room and sat in the courtyard to make a plan. It was a beautiful day, and the laughter of villagers and flutter of scarves from the nearby market made it hard to focus. Lancelot took charge. He pointed at the other wizard.

"You, Achard, isn't it?" He nodded. "Aren't you apprenticed to the very wizard we're looking for?" He nodded again. "Well then, look around your master's study. Look for clues. Everyone else, pack and get a good night's sleep. You heard the king- we ride at first light."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm in a play based off of Arthurian legend, so every time Lancelot comes onstage I laugh/cry inside. :) 

Archane-

It wafted through the ancient ruins that were it's home. Grime covered the decrepit walls, and moisture dripped from the cracked ceiling. Archane moved farther and farther downwards, decending broken stairways and drifting along tunnels until it finally came to a cell barred with shadows and darkness. Inside stood a man with a magnificent heard. His robes were tattered and his hands were dirty but his eyes sparkled in the darkness.

"I wondered when you would come see me." Said the man.

Archane laughed, a long drawn out hiss, and said, "I just thought you would like to know I found out about your little secret." 

Merlin looked up, startled.

"Oh, I see..." said Archane, "you thought I didn't know..." it cackled again. "Well, it's only a matter of time now. That little knight with the lightblood will be mine, along with all of that power..."

Merlin glared  at the shadow on the other side of the bars. "You will never defeat Lancelot. Your power is far to weak to conquer the lightblood."

"Oh, yes." Agreed Archane, "but I know your magic could defeat him easily."

"I will never help you." Growled Merlin.

"That's alright, you won't need to..." 

Archane extended a tendril of darkness through the bars and Merlin leapt back, summoning fire into his hands. It was too late though, the darkness grew and grew, binding Merlin and sniffing the flames. Slowly and painfully, Archane sucked every ounce of magic away from him, untill nothing was left but a frail old man, crumpled in the corner...

Lionel:

Lionel waited outside the room for Lancelot to wake up-or, well... Lanceline.  It had happened all too quickly; As soon as Lionel had set her on the bed, her stubble became crooked.  Sometimes, Lionel had seen it crooked slightly, but had never thought anything of it.  When he touched her chin, the stubble came off.  There was only one reason she had needed fake stubble: she was a woman.  He had heard stories before of woman doing the act, but he'd never thought of it happening to his best comrade.  He had quickly tried putting the stubble back on, and left the room to think.

"Hello," a melodic voice said.

His thoughts were interrupted as a servant came along.  He looked up to find a beautiful woman,  He wondered if he had ever thought of Lanceline like that.  It was too complicated; He didn't know if he could tell her the secret, but how could he keep it?  The woman seemed to be nervous, but perhaps that was because of the recent attack.

"You want to see the knight who fought the monster, right?" Lionel asked.

He had started to open the door, but instead she said, "No."

Her beauty came over him over the single word, and he wondered if she came to see him.  No, that wouldn't be right.  It was always Lancelot.

"What is your name, fair maiden?" he asked her, smiling.

"Arienna, but you can call me Ari if you want,"

"Arienna has a pretty ring to it, you know."

There was a large pause as neither knew what to say, when finally, Lionel came to his senses.

"Oh, it's dangerous to be here right now!" he cried, and then realized that would be the end of the conversation.

They walked and chatted together, and Lionel forgot about Lanceline for a split second.  After showing her to the proper quarters, he suddenly remembered and ran back up.  Lanceline had just closed the door, and was walking away.

"Lancelot!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Lanceline said, "Hello Squire.  The head of the castle wants me now."

"Wait, Lancelot!  You-"

"I know, I know!  I got myself knocked out, but there is a serious monster I have to attend to!"

She ran away, and Lionel just stood there all alone.  She was always so...cocky, and he wondered what happened if he took that all away.  Her cockiness was entirely fustrating, and he went over his conversation with Arienna.  

His thoughts were interrupted by a head guard, who said, "Lionel, please proceed following me."

Lionel wondered why he was following a head guard.  Only prestigious knights went to the head guard, and obviously Lanceline would be quite mad when she found out she wasn't the only "prestigious" knight.

I walked into the room, and saw Lanceline, another socerer, and Arienna.  I smiled at Ari, and at the corner of my eye I saw Lanceline look questionably toward me.

King Arthur explained about the mission, which I saw Lanceline was angry about.  I assumed she had wanted to do the mission alone, and that had not happened.  He also explained about the magical qualities in our blood, which I was astounded to find out.  Then, when he was done explaining, he said we were to leave at dawn.  Wondering how anything on this mission could possibly work out, I said "long live the king" and left to get ready for dawn.

Oops, I wrote the last two paragraphs in first person.  Sorry about that!   

Top, nudge, TOP!!!

@Brookeria

I'm not sure if you're aware, but Evernaught City is alive. 

I apologize for not being very active. In addition to my other work, I've recently begun a project of a rock opera cover, so that's occupying a lot of my time.

Achard~

Directed to search his master's room, Achard faced the daunting task with rising panic. Merlin's quarters were traditionally forbidden from the servants and apprentices and for good reason- they were filled with dangerous magics and powerful spells the likes of which mortal men should not see. As a result, the rooms were an enormous mess of spellbooks tossed higgeldy piggeldy, potion ingredients spilling from bags suspended from the ceiling, and magical amulets scattered about, all covered with a thick layer of dust.

Achard sneezed, then threw up his hands in hopelessness. He wasn't sure where to begin, but as the elder apprentice, the task had fallen onto him. He wasn't about to admit that he may have been in over his head.

Futilely, he poked through a small pile of papers on a workbench but didn't find much that seemed pertinent. To his chagrin, not much of it was recognizable at his level either. The organized magics of sorcery were still largely beyond him.

Casting a furtive look about him, he hunkered down behind a bookshelf, procured a bit of chalk from his pocket, and sketched a small and simple ellipse on the ground in front of him. Carefully placing a few quartz crystals on the foci of the ellipse, Achard began to chant a rhythmic pattern he had learned years ago. It was a simple spell for finding items that you had lost and something remembered learning from his seanmhathir [gaelic word for grandmother]. 

Suddenly, a light shot up from the floor and sharpened into a needle which pointed resolutely in an easterly direction. He laughed- could it be as easy as that? Carefully gathering up the crystals and rubbing out the chalk ellipse, he headed off to the throne room to alert the king of the direction they needed to travel. Surely he could cast the spell a few more times along the trip to pinpoint his exact direction. 

Nudge! Poke!