Sown Dreams

The castle lorded over the lake. The speckless white walls and azure roof tiles, decorated with majestic golden edges, regaled the castle's steadfast victory against age and grime. Overshadowed by the dozen-floor castle, the calm lake shone with a crystal radiance and reflected the castle from nearly shore to shore. Golden stripped ivory tiger statues dot the corners of the highest roof, sitting with with attentive guard over the area.

The young Faol man followed his band of merry men and women past the three meter steel wall, with blue tiles overhanging off the top, and into the courtyard of that daunting building.  Welcoming them to the castle were a number of Faol soldiers wearing modern armor and weapons crafted to resemble traditional Faol military equipment. Their karuta armor were expertly made so that not even their fur could slip past the tightly laced steel plates. Every soldier carried a rifle on their back, a spear in their hand, and several rectangular canisters of attuned magidust. Two soldiers saluted the group, tenting their hands in a triangle in front of their breast, before leading them further inside.

As the group walked through the large oak doors, they were greeted by a majestic ivory room. The floors were made of tatami, many tiles of bound rice straw, while the room and hallways leading out were lit by modern magidust powered lamps covered by traditional, decorated paper lamp shades. The walls of the entry room were painted with large, colorful imagery of Faol fables before breaking into pristine white walls.

"Have we ever been somewhere so bright before, Yoshitaka?" The young Faol man said as his wolfy snout wiggled.

"The lord certainly shows off his wealth and power..." Yoshitaka replied to the young Faol, Makoto. Yoshitaka was the newest recruit to their mercenary group, the Bronze Lions. He was fairly large for a Faorian, standing nearly 210 centimeters tall and a muscular body with regularly groomed, dark brown fur. Yoshitaka kept his claws well trimmed for dexterity but sharp enough to use if disarmed. His shokushin plant, a symbiotic plant that all Faorian need to live and implanted to the center of their chests, was carefully taken are of underneath his chainmail and that showed in the neat, tiny red flowers that Yoshitaka tends to around his long, pointed ears atop of his head. Yoshitaka kept his pistol on his right hip's holster with three different canisters.  On his left was his family's heirloom sword, a long, curved single-edged blade inside an intricately designed sheath. The handle was wrapped in high quality cloth with the pommel replaced with a modern magidust device.

"I only hope that the lord is not frivolous with his wealth and helps his people." Yoshitaka added.

"The people love him! I bet he is a respectable and kind lord! He did hire us to take care of a scary monster. He can't be that bad!" Misaki butted in. Misaki is the only non-Faorian in the group and is a Quetzal that came from the mainland. Only the captain, Takato, knows her real name as she adopted the name that the captain gave her. Misaki is a reptilian woman with leafy green scales. As Quetzal are closer in height to humans, her 150 centimeter height makes her seem small in comparison to her companions. Like all Quetzal, she has leathery wings covered in a myriad of colorful feathers attached to her wrists and hips and hangs down by her feet. She used custom tailored clothing that opened the sides of her shirt and chainmail, with the bottom down below her hips so her wings would be unobstructed. She often kept her arms crossed so that her wings would cover her torso and form a beautiful, rainbow robe. Several red and blue feathers stick out from above her eyes and back across her head. The only weapon Misaki carried and used was a collapsible, long barreled rifle that she kept hidden underneath the brown cloak she draped across her neck and down her back.

"Captain Takato thinks highly of Lord Hidetatsu, so he must be a good person." Makoto replied. Makoto was an average Faorian with black fur and shorter pointed ears. Makoto's fur was slightly longer than many others which worked with his sleek build that commonly belied how muscular he was. Makoto's long, bushy tail had a habit of revealing his emotions. He wore a blue kimono with cloud iconography over his chainmail and carried a halberd slung over his shoulder. He kept a pistol inside of his kimono in a single-strap vest that also kept two canisters of magidust. Makoto's shokushin plant faintly glowed a pale blue just barely visible from between the kimono's overlapping; a glow that is reflected in Makoto's blue eyes. Anyone familiar with Faorian culture would understand that this meant Makoto had a deeper connection to his plant partner than most Faorian. A single bright teal flower sat above his brow and between his eyes as one long vine that slipped upward between his neck and chainmail and draped over his right shoulder. Similarly thin, rooty vines slip downward and wrap around his tail.

Captain Takato, a large 240 centimeter, white, grizzly furred Faorian with black diamond stripes, snow-white flowers around the top of his white glowing eyes, and an even larger two-handed axe, glanced back at the trio before letting loose a muted but deep laugh. "Lord Hidetatsu is the most popular samurai lord across the islands. Even the emperor himself relies upon Lord Hidetatsu's council and strength."

"We should not be gossiping about Lord Hidetatsu inside of his own castle, lest the ears and spirits choose to turn on us." Shoji, the second-in-command, pushed back. Shoji was a very large and organized Faorian who wore simple glasses upon his face. His shokushin plant shone with a pale black light, dotting smaller black flowers across the bottom of his neck.

The group was brought through hallways and stairs until they reached the second highest floor in the castle. Atop of the stairs laid large wooden doors, twice the size of Takato. A soldier leading the group opened the doors revealing a spacious room with large white pillars on either side of a white and blue rug that led from the doors across the room to a white, ornate oak chair decorated with carvings of tigers on top of the back rest.

Sitting in the chair was a Faorian man as large if not larger than Takato with pristine white fur and three blue stripes of fur across his arms and cheeks and going towards his back. The man had piercing black eyes that glowed stronger than Makoto has seen outside of temples. His ears motionlessly faced forward, attentive but unstrained. He wore a white silk kimono with a single black tiger image stitched across the whole robe. A black flower sat on the back of both of his large hands and at his neck like a bowtie.

To the right of Hidetatsu was a human woman, just slightly taller than Misaki and dressed in a simple white robe. A hood draped over her face, hiding most of her features as she kept her head lowered. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, revealing white painted nails.

"Welcome, Bronze Lions! I am pleased to finally meet the illustrious mercenary band famous for their might and charity!" 

Our group stepped towards Hidetatsu before kneeling down on our knees and hands, our faces inches from the soft rug that had a faint, metallic smell of magidust.

Captain Takato was the only one who only kneeled on his knees but kept his back straight and eyes locked onto Hidetatsu. "You honor us with your hospitality, my lord. We shall leave in the morning to save your lands from this beast. If you would be generous enough to grant us much of your knowledge as you can, so we may guarantee swift success."

Hidetatsu laughed, "I see the rumors from the other nobles were not misplaced. Rest and eat tonight; my advisor shall prepare a document with all we know about this demon and direct you where it was last seen."

"Thank you, my lord." Captain Takato stood up and bowed deeply. Hidetatsu gave a slight bow of his head before waving to his soldiers to show the group to their rooms. That night, we would feast on delicious curries, fruit, and sake before leaving early in the morning to the north.