[OP:F11:Taft] KoB Recruitment Gathering [Complete]

[Jomei 0]

Knights of The Blood Oath, that was a name Jomei would not be forgetting any time soon. Within the past couple of days, the name of that guild had been circulating more and more than it once did.. The name usually passing in one ear and out the other, but after hearing about it from Opal, picking out the name from conversations was much more common. There was not much he knew about the guild aside from two of its members, Opal and Azide. The other major name of the guild was Heathcliff.. who was supposedly one of the strongest players in the game, despite mostly keeping to himself. Jomei picked up from a curious little broker, as well as many flyers scattered around the walls and floors of every town, that the KoB would be holding a recruitment party at a local pub on Floor Eleven in the town of Taft. Joining the guild was not on Jomei's agenda at all, for he had his own guild that he was still trying to dig out from the gutter of half of its founding members leaving or going AWOL. No, instead, Jomei was here for more of a scouting reason.. to see if people were really that interested in this guild, or if players just did not want to join guilds anymore. Especially after his own failure to launch a recruitment party for The Velvet Room, seeing how this one turned out was Jomei's mission.

It did not take long for Jomei to find the tavern where the meet and greet was taking place. As he walked towards the open door to the bar, wearing his new black leather armor, he heard the booming voice of a man speaking, one who seemed pretty damn good with his words. Seemed as though he would be interrupting someone's speech.. so he decided to keep to himself. The man walked inside the tavern and immediately stepped to the side, leaning against the wall and listening to the man speak. Judging by how he addressed all of the other players in the room, he assumed this was the leader of KoB Heathcliff. He crossed his arms and began to scan the rest of the room to see who was there. First he saw Opal, standing at attention and listening to her leader. Olive orbs then scanned some of the nearby tables, noticing both familiar and unfamiliar faces. As he looked at them, and noticed that there were no other 'regular' patrons in the tavern, he felt a knot in his stomach form.

This guild, which was barely making a name for itself just as Velvet Room was, now had about eight other people in the room, listening Opal and Heathcliff speak and edge them on to joining their guild. Jomei's curious eyes soon turned to that of somewhat sadness and jealousy. In front of him, all were players with true potential that Jomei had met one time or another, all that would have been great for Velvet.. now waiting in line to join KoB. He let out a heavy sigh, and then looked up to see Heathcliff and Opal had finished their small speeches, and letting the new members talk amongst themselves. He watched as Opal retreated to her own table, which Jomei took as an opportunity to follow her and speak with her. The man passed by and purchased an ale from the bartender before joining the woman at her table, "Well well... look at this. One minute, I barely hear anything about your guild... the next you have a small army just sitting there listening to you two." the man spoke with a smile,  but he was holding back a mixture of emotions. He turned his head to look at the girl over the brim of his glass, "Its good to see you as well." 

[Opal 0]

Opal had seated herself with the mug in one hand as she looked about the room as the new members of the KOB socialized. Licking her lips clean of the beverage, the woman shifted in her spot and saw a familiar face sit down across from her, "Oh! Jomei? I..or..what are you--" The man had begun stating a few things, she smiled and laughed and shook her head, releasing one hand from her mug and sweeping the tendrils of black form her face. 

"Yeah, actually, it's not everyone I messaged. There was quite a few no shows, but hopefully they make it to meet the others in due time. For a turn out I think it did quite well. The Commander's speech was pretty appealing and I think many of the people here have hardened their resolve to beat this game so we can be set free. It'll be a long road, but as you put it, this small army will be the guiding light to freeing the people of Aincrad. What brings you here by the way? Are you interested in joining up as well?" She remembered asking him about the very same thing awhile back, but he was in charge of the Velvet Room after she heard some rumors of Lowenthal somehow taking seat in the Azure Brigade. Once upon a time, she didn't think Lowenthal had such a need and desire to be in such a guild not after the boasting he made about The Velvet Room and what it stood for. She was not to judge anyone, however, some people just change. 

Looking back up, her amber gaze sat on the person in front of her, her thoughts momentarily scattered as she perked up as he responded while taking a small drink of the liquid in her cup. Brushing her small hands through her hair once more so she could see him with both her eyes. This curtain of ebony was indeed frustrating to deal with at times. 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei placed his drink back on the table after taking an elongated sip of it, leaving a good half of the cup already empty. "Either way.. being able to muster up this amount of people is pretty impressive.. When I last did this for Velvet Room, I think I had maybe two people show up.. but they ended up leaving half way through without joining." his voice toned off, giving away a hint of sadness. He did not want to admit it to Opal, but his guild was pretty much dead. "I'm sure you guys are going to do great things for the people of Aincrad, especially with you as their leader.. I'm sorry, co-leader." he said with a chuckle, looking over towards the bar at Heathcliff, who sat on his own. He brought the ale back up to his lips again, taking another large drink. After placing the cup back down on the table, he sat in silence for a moment. "I.. actually wanted to come here just to see how things were going for you.. To see what type of turn out you had.. And I'm happy to see it wasn't in vain." his voice was softer, and his partially closed eyes stared at the table in front of him. "Honestly I .. Kinda needed to come to help me make a decision. As strange as that sounds." he chuckled, "And also.. I don't think I look very good in white and red." 

[Opal 0]

Opal took a sip of her drink, placing it back down on the table and she listened to Jomei. Sure it was a nice turn out, but they all had one thing in common for being here and that was for beating this hellish game. She brushed the tendrils of black from her eyes once more, allowing her hand to slip back down over her mug as both hands pressed towards the sides. She looked at him curiously as he spoke, her amber gaze searching through the pool of his irises. She tilted her head to the side, "Well as you can see, people seem to have learned a quite a bit of what we are all about. This isn't just a normal guild for players, everyone here will be fighting tooth and nail until this game is conquered. It takes guts to go to the front lines, many of these players are still a little green and haven't even stood before the doors of a Floor Raid. Even I have only been in one, if you don't count the Halloween Event." 

Opal took a moment to scan his body as he shifted as he spoke, "Well, I am a friend, Jomei. But I can't make decisions for you. But if you need some advice on something, I'll be more than happy to give you my two cents." Opal gave a small light laugh when he mentioned the color theme for the guild, "Well if you ask me, you look quite debonaire in your green attire. There is nothing wrong with that. But as you were saying, what did you need help with?" The woman lifted her mug, while she raised a dark thin brow at him trying to guess what was unraveling in his mind. Opal wasn't good at reading people, but they were friend at the very least and she'd hate to cast him aside after he had been such a gentleman for her. 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei chuckled, using two of his fingers to push some of the orange hair away from one of his eyes. Opal's habit of playing with her hair seemed to be growing on him as he watched her do it time after time. He let out a single, light laugh, "It wasn't exactly something you could help me with.. more so something I needed to see to realize.." he gently grabbed at the glass in front of him and brought it to his lips, finishing off the drink. His smile had turned melancholy for a moment as he looked into her amber gaze. "I am giving myself a month. To turn Velvet Room around and gain more members to make a name for ourselves. At the moment, we are only three.. and.. honestly.. some people who we had in mind of asking, are sitting at that table right over there." he pointed his finger over to the side, not pointing out anyone in particular. "Don't think for a moment I am saying anything against you or the guild.. you're words were sharper than mine, and you managed to get to them first..." He realized he had gone slightly off track with what he was talking about. "One month, like I said.. If Zandra, Coddexx and I do not build up our ranks any more by then.. I am disbanding the guild before the system does so with a guild audit." he brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the table, "I don't want to let the thing that Lowenthal worked so hard to bring up just die like that... but the guild is nothing now that I am the leader. People nowadays are either keeping to themselves.. or shooting for the big leagues." He pushed himself up from the table and stood, looking over at the other members of KoB. "Now.. I know you're probably going to ask if I want to merge our guilds.. I think I'll leave that up to the others, whether if they'd want to apply to join or not if the guild does not make it. As for myself.. I'll have to see where life takes me."  His voice was still soft and full of sadness, but he kept a slight smile on his face. He gently placed his hand on Opal's and tapped it lightly, flashing her a quick smile. "I'll be in touch."  and with that, the man turned towards the open doorway to the bar and made his way back outside.

 

- Jomei exits stage left -

[Opal 0]

He had left without a reply back, Opal watched from her eyes as the men carried on with their drink and food. She had not realized what she had done to the man subconsciously. It was perhaps wrong to poach on some of the players, but she had no clue of who he had spoken to in the past about the Velvet Room. Had he stayed, she would have made things more clear to him, "You are a silly man, Jomei..." the woman said bringing the mug to her lips, the liquid washing down as she looked around and gave a sigh, "What does it matter if one is in one guild or another? It childish to think...that numbers in a guild are what matters when we are all striving to survive...That's the important thing here. Not which guild someone belongs to..." that is what she had wanted to say to him, but he was gone quickly and without reply. 

A hand stretched upwards digging through the ebony locks of hair as she pressed the silken strands behind her ear keeping it in place. No, she couldn't feel bad for him or his guild. Everyone had to make a decision in their life and she had made hers a long time ago. She would see it through the end, uniting everyone under the same banner...Not the banner of the KoB, but the banner of freedom. The Knights were just a means to get to that goal, but these were people who were willing to bleed for their goals, to fight for their freedom and to see an escape from this. Until that occurred, her Crusade to strengthen the bonds of this guild and those in Aincrad will never diminish. She stood up to refill her mug, the long white skirt billowing behind her as she turned to face the people have come. 

She took a minute to reminisce about her beginnings, and how far she had to go to get to this point. Had she not trained under Master Myoga, had Lindow not died in battle...Would she be standing here looking at all these people, laughing and carrying on? Or would she be somewhere else...discarded as another tool for someone else. Her eyes shifted to Teselmar; the player known as Martin. She gave a soft smile but it had quickly faded from her lips as she took a drink from her mug. There will come a time for all the people in this room when the decision they are about to make will mean life or death and what they will do after that decision is made. It saddens her to think...that anyone of them could die in the future. But that was something she was not going to allow to happen. She would refuse it...She peered down at her mug, the Commander seemed to be enjoying himself, she had seen little of him only the few times they had met, but they kept in touch via mail system. They were on the same page of the same book, this guild will be Aincrad's Aegis, and Heathcliff and Opal will be the Sword. 

[Seul 1]

(Fashionably late.~) 

How anyone could oversleep on today of all days was beyond him. Some things would never change it seemed and the thought clouded Seul's mind as he charged down the streets of Taft at full speed; only skidding to stop before the tavern that housed members of the guild he was determined to join. These next few moments would potentially change his life in Aincrad for good. The Knights of the Blood were quickly growing, in both fame and number, so as such it was only natural that one would want to be in their company. Until now the boy had kept his distance from guilds; the responsibilities that came with being part of such an organization seemed more bothersome than beneficial through his eyes. Still, fights weren't going to get any easier moving forward. Each cleared floor only increased one's odds of dying and as such it'd be in his best interest to lend his blade to a group sooner rather than later.

The inside of the tavern was bustling with many recruits wandering about here and there. "Uh...?" It was intimidating to say the least, especially since things seemed to be settling down now and his tardiness probably wouldn't leave a good impression with the higher ups. The best he could manage to do was glance around for the first person who seemed to have any information for players interested in joining.

[Mack 0]

Mack listened and observed as things went on around him, taking everything in and weighing the various options. In truth, the massive man had felt for some time that he was ill equipped to lead as massive an undertaking as the Crimson Blades had become. He had always been more of a small unit sort of leader than a grand general. Let someone else strategize everything on a grand scale while freeing the ginger headed man to focus on his own objectives within that greater scheme. Lacing his fingers together, Mack cracked all of his knuckles like a pianist and rolled his head around on his neck with another audible pop, his mind made up.

"My oath shall remain my own, for the time being," Mack rumbled in a low tone, his hand tightening around his tankard. "But, the Blades and I will accept the offer of the Knights of the Blood Oath, provided we can retain a few of the old symbols of our Guild for the strike force members. I'll be taking Hirru, Macradon, Grave, and Beoreson as team members and we'll leave a few more spots open for others as they join the Knights."

[Macradon 0]

More people would come and settle in and sit around in the tavern. Macradon sat there with his glass of water, taking a sip now and then, that was until the woman known as Opal would stand up on the little podium and begin a speech. A long speech that was. Macradon would stand up and listen as most of the others did. After Opal's speech, a man would enter the podium and hold his own. It was the big shot, the main guy, the commander of the guild, Heathcliff.  Macradon would stand up straight and mutter his oath for himself "Let my blood be spilled, if not I can complete my task. May I protect those too weak to defend themselves, save those in need of help and aid the people of Aincrad to escape this game". He would clench his fist and hold it over his left chest, around the heart area. He would look forward, straight at the commander as he would step down from the podium.

[Opal 0]

Opal shook her head giving a small laugh, the antics of the tavern were filled with high spirits as everyone seemed to enjoy the company of one another. Clearing her throat the woman spoke up once more, "Thank you everyone for attending today! The Commander and I are proud for you showing up. Those who have taken your Oath, we proudly accept you with open arms to the guild. From this point on, you are proud members of Knights of the Blood Oath! Your Oath is now bound and sealed to you forever in the cause of your life. Take heed to the words you speak and show great pride of your guild wherever you stand. Cheers!" the woman drank from her filled mug and placed it down on the table. 

Making her way to the front of the building, she placed a hand over Seul's shoulder, "Looks like you missed most of the action. It is alright, this was just a meet and greet. There will be many others like this in the future which I hope you will attend to. If you are still fully interesting in becoming a Knight of the Blood, I ask you simply place a personal Oath to yourself. It can be whatever it is, but it must be one taken to the heart. Think it through and when you are ready, wear the colors of the Guild and walk amongst brothers and sisters all around." 

Once more the woman turned around, a hand still firmly on the man's shoulder as she spoke out loud, "Finish your drinks! Have fun and have a great night! Starting tomorrow The Knights of the Blood Oath will kick into gear and there will be much training to be had from all of you. Wear the colors with pride, honor your Oath, and be the best person you can be!" She looked to Seul and gave him a friendly clap to his shoulder, "Drink with your comrades, I'm sure they'd like to meet you." 

The woman walked towards Commander Heathcliff and sat down next to him, "Seems like we have a good bunch this time around. I wish Azide was here at my side, he has a way with words much better than the ones I can conjure from my own thoughts. But it seems like we'll be the Torch of Aincrad soon enough. Your dreams will be forever be etched in this world, Commander. I only hope I can continue to prove myself to be amongst one of your finest." 

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