Leonarde Whitewood

Sitting calmly, Leonarde awaits the moment when he can enter the town. The carriage comes to a stop, and he glances out of the carriage’s back window, having to stand to look out it. The wolves seem to realize the carriage and knights have stopped, then look at each other, before going around, and towards the town once again. He watches with curiosity at the intelligence of the wolves. Was it that they were simply following a hivemind-like order? Or were they truly capable of making those decisions? Or perhaps, the more likely option, they were still using their animalistic instincts. A strong group is in front of them, and they could not fight through it if things went bad. It reminds him slightly of home. Groups of influential nobles flock to the side of the Crown, while the rest skirt the edges, trying to remain unseen. However, unlike those skirting the edges, these Wolves seem to want to be seen.

He watches the wolves passing by, and decides to step out of the carriage and approach them. As he exits the carriage, he hears the knight that was close and watching the wolves, “M- My Liege you cannot exit now. Please remain inside.” Leonarde does not heed his unnecessary words, answering instead, “They have clearly shown no hostility, pay them no mind. I’m simply stretching my legs.” The knights around him shift nervously, but do not stop him, as he approaches the wolves, who look at him. Only one stops, and stares as he approaches, the rest continue onwards. As he nears the wolf, and crouches to look at it, it has a low growl within its throat. Leonarde takes the hint, as one of the Knights approaches, and aims his spear, only causing the growl to truly come out. The Prince pushes the spear up, causing the growl to return to a low one, while the rest of the knights approach, angered that this mutt dared growl at their Prince.

Leonarde spoke, “We mean no harm, Wolf of Codex. I simply wanted to get a closer look at you, to confirm a thought.” A bark is heard from the rest of the wolves, who were now standing still and staring back at the group. The one wolf who had stopped, starts running to its group, who turn and begin walking again. Leonarde smiles widely, as he says, “Quite the interesting situation, is it not?” He turns and begins walking back to the carriage, noting the knight he had sent ahead was returning. Leonarde spoke, “Continue onwards, remember what we must do once we arrive. Most of you will be remaining in the town, some will go with me and the Priestess, to treat with Codex.”

As he steps back into the carriage, it begins moving forward, along with the knights. The knight who had gone ahead was sent to the side of the carriage, where he waited for the Prince to speak to him. Leonarde slid himself closer, and spoke, “What did you see?” The knight begins to speak, with virtually no tone to give life to his emotionless helmet, “It is just a simple town, my Liege. The only strange part is that there were no adventurers, and there was a Kobold trading with the locals, with a strange human woman following it.”

Leonarde nods quietly, before asking, “What of the state of their Guardsmen?” The knight answers quickly, “Clearly still slightly injured, but all posts are manned properly.” Leonarde then asks, “What about the walls, how did they look?” The knight answers quickly, “Like wood, but still maintained well. I saw no cracks as I entered and went through to the other side. It may very well be damaged in other places.” Leonarde smiles and speaks, “Well done, knight. Return to your spot in the formation, but before that, send Captain Carolina to me.” The knight leaves, and soon a decorated knight rides up to the side of the carriage and speaks, “You called for me, my Liege?” Leonarde nods in response, “Captain Carolina. I need you to remain by my side at all times once we are in the town. After we leave the town, you will keep an eye out for anything actually attacking us.” Captain Carolina nods in response, answering immediately, “It will be done, my Liege.” He pulls back to his place in the formation. Leonarde then relaxes in his seat, and waits for the carriage to reach the town.

Once it had, he stood and glanced past the carriage driver, and the window behind him, seeing one of the guards crouching and examining one of the pouches on the wolves, before letting them in. The carriage was next to approach, and the guardsmen simply saluted the carriage and let them through, with no check. The knights followed the carriage in, but some remained at the gate, mount and all. A small group leaves towards the other gate, where they would also stand guard. Leonarde feels the carriage soon come to a stop near the stables, where many of his knights begin dismounting. Stepping out of the carriage, he already finds Captain Carolina waiting, left hand on his scabbard.

Stepping down, he approaches Captain Carolina, and speaks as he passes the knight, “Let us begin searching for the Priestess.” The Captain turns and follows the Prince, watching the surroundings carefully, even though there is clearly no danger. After a few minutes, Leonarde hears the knight draw his blade, and turning, he finds a familiar mask and fancy outfit. Speaking with a small hit of amusement, he looks at the Dark Elf with a sword to his neck, “Radoc, it is a pleasure to see you again.” Radoc chuckles from under the mask, before answering, “Your guards are as sharp as ever, I see.” Leonarde looks at the Captain, before gesturing for him to lower the sword. The Captain does so, and Leonarde smiles while speaking, “Walk with me, Radoc. And tell me what you’ve found over the year you have been away.” Radoc follows the two, while answering with his calm and collected tone, “Not much, aside from the most interesting aspect, which I believe you already know, considering you are here.”

Leonarde continues walks in silence for a few seconds, before asking, “Do you happen to know where the Priestess is, Radoc?” Radoc shakes his head in response, before stating, “Likely in the chapel. I was not here to find her, just deliver a small pouch of coins.” Leonarde raises an eyebrow at that, then asks, “Courier work? If you are on hard times, you could simply ask me. I am your patron after all.” Radoc shakes his head, “Not in the slightest. My abilities are well enough that I can simply hunt for food and coin. This was because I had to. After all, your last order put me in this situation.” Leonarde nods in response, smiling as he has complete confirmation that Luné is alive in this area. Which gives far more credence to the possibility she is in fact the Dungeon Core of Codex. Radoc then speaks in his calm tone, “I should be off. If you see a Kobold walking around with a Human woman, keep in mind that the woman is there by choice, and not slavery.” Radoc stops walking, and fades from view. Leonarde smiles by the use of that ability, and continues his pace.

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Soon they arrive at the chapel, where they enter, and remain silent as a prayer is nearing completion. Around the room, many people remain still and silent, listening and praying with the speaker, who is at the altar, praying aloud for them all. She was confident in her prayer, and she did not stutter. As the prayer came to a close, they all opened their eyes and looked up to the front again, where a clergyman steps to the altar, and begins a sermon. The woman stands, and begins returning to her seat, but heads for the Prince and Captain as she notices them. Nearing them, her golden eyes shine with warmth, and as they exit the building, a few of the people inside were of course curious about why the Prince was here, but did not make many noises. After the door is closed, the Prince speaks, “It is good to see you, Priestess Jordan. How are you feeling?” The Priestess smiles warmly, as she speaks with even more warmth, “The complete opposite, when compared to how I was a year ago around this time.”

Leonarde smiles warmly as well, and then asks his question, “Are you free to take us to Codex at this moment? I would like to leave as soon as possible.” Priestess Jordan nods in response, then states, “I do not know what she has done since I last was there, but I can show you the quickest route there.” Leonarde nods in response, before stating, “First let me gather a few more of my knights, then we can go.” The Priestess nods in response, before leaving towards the west gate. Leonarde headed for the east gate, where his knights were remaining. Soon he finds himself at the west gate, a group of four Knights with him, finding a Kobold talking with the Priestess, while a Human in strange armor stands, watching the road. The Kobold turns, and Leonarde notices the golden monocle on his eye. The Kobold then speaks in a playful tone, “Well hello there! Little Prince, I shall be your guide to Codex!”

Leonarde approaches, before asking a question to the Priestess, “I thought you would be my guide, Priestess Jordan?” The Priestess smiles warmly, before answering, “From what Mr. Balró here has told me, Codex is changing its layout, and the only safe place is a path and small town-like area. The rest will be filled with monsters for people to challenge.” Leonarde raises an eyebrow at that, before speaking, “So one of those training dungeons?” Balró nods in response, before speaking, “That is completely correct, little Prince! Come, let us be on our way!” He then turns to the human, before asking, “Imai, you do have all of the equipment, yes?” The human looks down to the Kobold and simply nods, doing a small up and down motion with her body to emphasize the sound of metal clanking together in her bag. The Prince speaks as they begin to walk again, exiting the town, “What is your name, Kobold?” The Kobold glances back, as he answers, “I am Zeuz Balró, your Princeliness. Merchant by trade, and denizen of the Dungeon Codex.” Leonarde is silent as he takes this information in.

Soon they were reaching a point in the road, where Zeuz slowed down. The rest slowed, and soon the group came to a stop, before Zeuz spoke, “The path is just this way.” He raises a hand towards the woods, which causes most of the knights to tense up and grab their weapons’ sheathes. The Priestess speaks in a calming tone, “It will be safe, the hostile dungeons in the area were already destroyed, or dormant, by the time Codex appeared. Once Codex arrived, even the reawakening hostile dungeon was defeated.” As if to prove her point, she begins to enter the forest, followed by Imai and Zeuz. Then Leonarde chuckles slightly, “Well men? You’re being outdone in your bravery by a Priestess. What say you? Shall we follow?” The knights begin to follow, bringing the Prince along in the middle of their formation.

After a few minutes, they found something rather strange. Sproutlings could be seen moving rocks, while a wolf and bear dug holes for said rocks. Zeuz spoke, “This is the start of the path! You will be perfectly fine to go to Codex from here, just remain on the path once you enter Codex, and you will not have to fight any of the monsters.” The monsters near them were ignoring them completely, as they passed by, and stepped onto the freshly made path. This was rather fascinating to Leonarde, who watched the monsters with curiosity, but remained in the middle of his knights. After almost an hour of walking, they could feel the air change, indicating they had entered a dungeon. Zeuz spoke, “I shall be off from here, Imai and I must deliver what we purchased. You should be fine to reach the center on your own. Welcome to Codex.” Zeuz and Imai start to increase pace down the path, leaving the Priestess, Prince, and knights alone to walk the path.

As they did, they saw many monsters striking resources, running about, carrying resources, or digging in certain areas. They pass a cave opening, and see a pile of rocks sliding out of the cave, and off into the forest. Remaining on the path, it is clear no monsters have any interest in them, but they do run over the path often enough that it is clear none of the monsters are prohibited from being on the path. Soon, they can see a wooden wall being built, along with a few buildings. A lot of people were wandering about, their clothes ragged and messy, causing the Prince to realize they were all slaves. A few were putting on armor and taking weapons that Imai and Zeuz were passing out. As Leonarde enters the town, a Wolf Boss approaches them, to whom Priestess Jordan smiles and addresses, “Hello Cloud. I have brought Prince Leonarde Whitewood, and his guards, to meet with your Lady.” Cloud swings her head, seemingly trying to indicate for them to follow her, as she begins to walk toward the large house near the center of the building area.

The slaves begin to watch Leonarde warrily, and especially Priestess Jordan, who does not stray from following Cloud, though Leonarde knows she wishes to check on the slaves and their conditions. They enter the building, and then Cloud sits beside the basement door, where Priestess Jordan enters and begins going down. The knights clearly do not like that idea, but Leonarde speaks, “Remain here, knights. You can guard as much as you want, but I would prefer if you wandered around and explored.” The Captain speaks with authority, “You heard the Prince, start moving.” Leonarde heads down, as his guards remain upstairs. Entering he sees the Dungeon Core sitting idly in the center, while Luné was standing and smiling at the two coming down the stairs. Leonarde smiles happily, and speaks, “It is good to see you in great health, Luné.”