Castle of Loch Ness

[Apollymi]

The Castle of Loch Ness is a small citadel set up on the shores of the Loch Ness. It is claimed to be a mile-marker on the way to Camelot and seems to be a center of trade and commerce for the lower end of this particular area. The Castle itself is said to belong to King Arthur and as such as such can be taken as a Temporary Base whenever that person is below. The Loch is said to be protected by the Lady of the Lake and haunted by her counter-part Morgan. The town itself is nice and upright and it seems to be the last bastion of hope on this ravaged continent.

[Bloodedge]

Weeks. A single group had been traveling for weeks, making pitstops here and there for food and drink, rest, and the like. On red-haired jester, Dagonet, heaved one exasperated sigh after another as he trudged along. Cador, Hector and Elyan, a trio of knights with their blades raised under a new banner, seemed to be doing alright. At least, none of those three had any outward complaints to present after where their services had previously been. Ahead of this group was Arthur Pendragon, a would-be king with no kingdom to speak of yet. Ah, but on the horizon for quite some time had been the place to which the sorceress Merlyn led: Loch Ness. Arthur felt things were very strange in this world, what with all the coincidental links to the lore he knew, and even the names chosen by other players who appeared around him. Was this some strange form of fate? Perhaps it was, or perhaps it was all the fault of Merlyn. That damn woman had been leading him around for what felt like ages now, into all of these things that made parts of King Arthur's legend true. Even the knights who chose to follow him now, were his enemies in a sense only a few weeks ago. What more would come? Which version of history would he be playing out? Was this the same path his sister followed during her journey? There were so many questions, no answers, and only one option: moving forward. Now, with a castle that could function as their base ahead of them, this world's second Knights of the Round Table group could establish something solid. From there, Arthur Pendragon could seek his goals. Maybe he could even establish routes to locate his 'boss' from the other world. Maybe... just maybe, his presence here could even somehow alert his sisters to his location. He'd felt one of them prior to leaving Zuria; hopefully any of them could feel him as well. Ah, if only he could know for certain. . .

[Apollymi]

Who else was taking this long journey? Well, the two young ladies once part of Zuria's court. The would-be Queen, Guinevere who easily found herself enjoying this level of freedom after the fiasco which had taken place in her homeland. The ward of Cador a young girl known as Emilia who with her pointy elf ears and her overly pale skin was slowly but surely becoming more of herself. The very sweet girl was being responsible and keeping Guin company during this long hike across the continent. They'd passed many devastated and empty places... but the last woman in this group, a sorceress walking around with her face tucked in a deep hood said there was a place which could work for them as a group.

Ah, but what was Merlyn doing? Well, right at the moment she was peeking into the goings on around the continent. Watching the future unfold as events solidified over time. 'Ugh... that's a problem and a half. Still, they can at least have a good time, for now...' her eyes narrowed. There was far too much to keep track of, and too many lives connected to her finger tips. If she ever came across the other Merlin she'd have to ask how he managed not to be driven mad by it. Actually, he probably took the out of sight out of mind approach. Yeah... that was much more like him. Still, over the hill before them, a small citadel appeared. Walled in with fields and surrounded by a large lake with a bridge leading into it. "Oh? The Citadel of Loch Ness~ How cute!~" she said aloud. "You know Arthur, you own this castle~" she mentioned happily. A small base, a foothold in this shithole of a continent. Yep, this was exactly what was needed. The group was quite weary, perhaps such a settlement as this one, where they could actually rest would make it easier for them... well most of them. "It's one of the last defensible places in the area... it'd be a good place to start planning and looking for people. Normal ones I mean~" she stated. This had been the place they'd been heading for when she'd told them they were going on a trip. Though she'd been less than honest about why they were coming here, it was at least where they needed to be presently.

[Bloodedge]

Arthur owned this castle, did he? That made sense. If it was previously the property of Artoria Pendragon, it stood to reason that it also counted as his. It had clearly been around for some time, but as a fortifiable base to hold in case the former Queen of Zuria staged an assault for vengeance, it would more than suffice. "I own it, huh? If that's the case, I guess it's time to remodel," he announced. Special attention would be paid to the following words, specifically by Hector and Cador. As the knightliest of the bunch, those two expected to be doing most of the grunt work in restructuring Loch Ness. Little did they know, Arthur wasn't the type to make such demands. "There must be cannons, weapons and other such fortifications around here somewhere. Aside from a hefty cleanup, I'm sure it'll be easy to make things work here. Maybe this can be made a safe haven for everyone suffering because of Queen Kolin," he mused.

Arthur was working his way through a plan, which developed more and more with each step forward. First, there was making sure this place could be lived in comfortably for the group in his company. Second, he would seek any vantage points throughout the castle and surrounding town, ensuring to the best of his ability that all were properly safe. Third, he would look into methods of harboring the downtrodden in crumbled countries. Fourth... he would find out a fourth thing to add. Interestingly enough, making use of those who'd essentially sworn themselves to him weeks ago, was nowhere on the list. Everything Arthur thought, involved only a single worker: Arthur himself. In his mind, this was a lovely group of people, and all of them had been through enough already. Yes, it was high time they knew rest for as long as possible. Well... everyone except Merlyn, of course─

[Apollymi]

"Remodeled, huh?" Merlyn thought about this statement and her head tilted to the side. She saw Hector and Cador ready themselves, that was about normal for them... but they were in for a shock, finding out what happened when a day-worker and general good Samaritan became King instead of a spoiled brat. "Hm, a shining beacon of light on this dark continent. Fine~ It sounds like a great plan~" Merlyn's voice came out as a bit teasing, but it was the case that it always did. She turned herself taking up casual strolling pace between Hector and Cador and sought her own level of advice. She saw a couple of different ways for such an activity to go, knowing Arthur and this group of people, she had no idea which way was technically the right one. Was this to be another of those good moments along the way to bad ones? Was she to actively do something about this particular situation... or leave mundane work to be carried out by hand?

Though this place was left by Artoria as she made her ascension, it wasn't uncared for, nor had it been unmanned for any great length of time bar the end. It was reasonably fortified and well armed. Things like cannons and fortifications were left, along with large stockpiles of dried foods and gardens and fields which could be tended at their leisure. The rooms in the castle, were spread out clean but dusty given the amount of time this place had been inhabited. Ah, but it wasn't like it would take a long amount of time for the place to become habitable, but it all depended on how such a task was undertaken. "And how shall we enact this plan?" she asked. She had no faith in Arthur fully realizing how this could be undertaken, but knowing exactly where his mind was, would help out a bit. Merlyn had the necessary skills to turn this place into a working fortress within moments, but... this lad had already turned down her help in providing such comforts before... so was she to take that to mean he simply would never accept them? The white haired young woman was in deep thought as she considered how to broach such a topic.

[Bloodedge]

"A slight one, yeah," Arthur replied, thinking the castle was actually quite well-fortified by basically its structure alone. He imagined Artoria once had a decent stay here, and thought Camelot in its current state had to be something amazing to behold. When could he see it with his own eyes? Time would tell, but for now, there was a need to consider Loch Ness' immediate future. This could easily be a safe place to stay for the current group with what Arthur understood of its overall combat ability. If it could be made safe for the average person, however, it would be a wonderful start to... second Camelot? What would this place even be, with him being King Arthur? Well, whatever the case, it was worthwhile to find out. As for how this plan would be enacted, Arthur wasn't entirely sure. He only knew his intentions, which were of course to deal with most things himself while granting the others reprieve, but that was enough in his mind. "Like I said. I'll clean it up, make sure the defenses still work, and then everything can get started."

Arthur's response was... bothersome, at least to Cador. He'd always known Arthur was a bit of an oddball in this world, but the sort of selfless behavior being implied wasn't very kingly at all. "Huh? What do you mean you'll clean it up?" he asked. Arthur strangely seemed confused by the question, while Cador wondered why this new 'king' wasn't planning to make use of his people. Of course, Arthur didn't appear to have any idea what the problem was, and that much was clear when he answered. "I mean what I said, Sir Cador. Do you think I should be doing something else?"