GRIMMFALL: THE GOLDEN CASTLE
Gold.
It was all gold and he was so close to having all of it for himself.
He had cornered the brat son of the former King of Thieves on the floating hand in the center of palace that had been turned to gold.
"Sa'luk, your battle is with me!" The elder man called out.
"Don't worry, Dad, I can take 'em alone." The young fool replied, getting ready to fight...
Or die.
"But you're not alone. Not anymore." The man whispered, holding up the treasure they had come for. "You want the Hand of Midas, Sa'luk? Take it!" He threw the golden to Sa'luk.
Sa'luk shoved the boy aside and caught the Hand. "The Hand of Midas is mine!" He sneered at the elder man. "And also, the life of your brat."
Oddly enough none of them moved, both of them just staring at him. After a few moments this quickly became irksome.
"What are you staring at?" Sa'luk realized that he caught the Hand of Midas by the golden part. He dropped it, watching the golden energy from the Hand travel down his body, changing his skin from flesh to solid gold.
"No... no... No... NO... Ahhhh!"
It was too late; Sa'luk turned into a golden statue, letting out one final scream as he was petrified into a statue showing his horrified reaction and fell into the water, remaining in the golden palace as it sank back into the sea, never to be seen again.
Xxx
Opening File: Blind Archer Clan
Located on a mist shrouded isle that is fairly small, though large enough to support a vast and dense forest. The island is located in a moderate climate, since the island is shown as experiencing both the seasons of Autumn and Winter.
This island is home to the legendary Blind Archer Clan.
Long ago three warriors fought their way to an ancient well said to grant wishes to whomever and made their wish to be the greatest warriors. The well made them great warriors by robbing them of their sight but hearing makes up for it many times over. Their hearing had become like sonar, and can pick up even the slightest bit of sound or disturbance of air particles. In addition to that they gained unparalleled precision and accuracy and their shots never missed their target.
Their skills were soon honed to absolute perfection, becoming able to shoot and reload at extreme speeds and soon enough they made a name for themselves as the Three Blind Archers. It was said that their skills were so great they could slaughter entire armies of Grimm in mere seconds. They soon amassed a larger number of followers, forming into a clan that made the mist shrouded isle their home. The Three Blind Archers trained their new disciples in archery and how to hone their senses, teaching how to use more than just their sight in battle.
And so the Blind Archer Clan was established, its members hailed as among the best marksmen in the world.
Close File
Xxx
He listened for them.
The buzzing sound that imitated the insects they resembled but they were far from simply insects.
The three Lancers shot forward, moving to impale him and he swiftly pulled out an arrow and aimed, despite the fact that he was blindfolded. He aimed and pulled back, targeting the middle one. His senses were on high alert, acting like sonar and even allowing him to picture the attacking monsters in his mind.
He waited, his aim settling on the approaching attackers and…
Released his arrow.
The arrow shot through the air, too fast to evade and the attackers too close to react. The arrow embedded itself in the head of the lead Lancer and shooting out the back, hitting a tree as the Lance fell to the ground and dissolved into black smoke. Just as the first one fell to the ground, he swiftly pulled out another arrow, aimed and fired, hitting another Lance through the chest. The third one screeched and reacted to avoid suffering the same fate, jerking to the side as he pulled out a third arrow and fired.
The arrow missed the head and chest but managed to clip its wings, leaving it to slam into the ground. He pulled one last arrow and shot the Lance through the head, finishing if off. He lowered his bow, his mental clock telling him that the entire confrontation lasted only twelve seconds.
"Well done, young Bow." The elderly voice of his master came from behind.
He turned around, his blindfold still on but he was smiling. "Thank you, Master. Forgive me for not noticing you."
"You were busy focusing your attention on the Lancers. With the nest cleared out the young students will not be in danger out here." His teacher said as Bow removed his blindfold.
Bow was a dark skinned young man with a mix of brown and purple hair, wearing a white and gold sleeveless top and blue pants with white boots. He carried a collapsible bow and a quiver strapped to his back for his arrows.
"I was making plans to check out the beach and make sure it was all cleared up." Bow said.
"Very well. Just make sure you restock before you go. I would not want you to…run out in mid battle." His teacher chuckled.
He was quite different from his student. He wore almost nothing except for a red loin cloth, a false beard and had absolutely no hair aside from eyebrows.
This was the typical appearance for a member of the Blind Archer Clan.
Bow had been found and adopted when the boat his family was on was sunk by a Grimm attack. Bow washed up on shore, his memory nearly gone and his new name was given due to his talent in archery. Having trained in archery since he was a child Bow's skills was impressive, even for the clan that had adopted him. He could fire and reload in half a second, hitting something as small as a grape with perfect precision and he has even learned how to fire on Grimm while blindfolded.
"I will make sure to restock." Bow said with a smile, beginning his trek back to the village.
The village surrounded a single stone tower where at the top, the Well of King Ozric rested. This island had been the clan's home for centuries, since the three Blind Elders had sworn to protect the Well from anyone seeking to make a selfish wish.
"BOW!" His master suddenly shouted and pointed in the direction of the village.
Bow looked forward and saw smoke rising. His eyes widened as he realized the same thing as his master.
The village was in danger.
"Let's go!"
They took off, sprinting through the woods and came upon the village, seeing it was under attack.
However the attackers were not Grimm.
They appeared to be machines of some kind but technology was a rare sight on this island. They were humanoid statues made of a silver-like material. They had large round faces and small facial features and wear light pink shirts, hot pink ties, black vest-suits, hot pink trousers and black pointed shoes. They attacked, firing bolts of light at the village.
The archers were already fighting back, firing arrows at the machines and taking them out with deadly precision. However the machines had the numbers and they were pushing the archers back. Bow rushed forward, grabbing another arrow.
"Bow, wait!" His master called out but Bow was too focused on protecting the village.
As the battle between the archers and machines continued the Archer Master noticed something in the sky. Two machines, carrying someone to the top of the tower…
Xxx
"At last."
Atop the tower, three figures landed near the Well of King Ozric. Two of them were silver-like humanoid statues with big muscles and well-shaped faces. They wore black bow-ties, white cuffs in their wrists, black briefs, and magenta shoes with heels and small black ribbons on them. The one they carried was different from them and the other robots.
He had shiny golden skin and hair, wore a grey suit, magenta ascot with black pants and pointed shoes.
"The Well of King Ozric." The golden man said, slowly approaching the well. "It looks so…underwhelming."
"Stop right there!"
The golden man slowly turned around, spotting an elderly looking man, aiming an arrow right at him.
"Oh my, whatever shall I do now?" The golden man deadpanned, unfazed by this threat.
"Put your head between your legs and kiss your butt good bye, perhaps?" A second figure answered, perched along a different section of the tower's battlements.
This one was a woman in her early thirties, dark hair bound back in a braid and the traces of a black and red tattoo poking out from the collar of her shirt while green eyes bore into her target. She was clad in black and green attire typical of the clan, sacrificing protection for increased mobility, and came with a mask attached to the top of her tunic which covered her lower face.
"But first, I'd step away from that well." The woman added. "I've got a nasty habit of putting an arrow somewhere that you'd find incredibly uncomfortable."
"Oh my, such spirit." The golden man clapped slowly. "You really live up to all of that hype, don't you? You and your precious clan."
"You know not what powers you will be tampering with." The elder warned.
"Actually, the scary part of this whole thing is: I actually know full well…and I want it all anyways." The golden man grinned. "But if I need to put a few aspiring Robin Hoods in their place, well…boys?"
Immediately, the two robotic bodyguards interposed themselves in the archers' firing line just as they each released their first shot. The elder's dug into the chest of one while the young woman's broke clean through the outstretched hand of the second. In a display of their clans' skill both archers demonstrated an ability to tuck extra arrows under the fingers of their hands only to flip them up and into position on their bow strings. In essence, it allowed them to nock and draw their next shot far quicker than any normal archer would be capable of and allowed them each to get off three shots before their respective foes got too close for another shot.
"Leslie, stop him!" The elder called as he rolled under a haymaker that shattered some of the stone battlements behind him.
"On it!" The dark haired woman performed a stationary back flip, landed on the arm of the robot bodyguard as it passed beneath her and kicked off of it, used the robot's head as a stepping stone and launched herself over the golden man, firing off another barrage and twisting her body around in mid-flight to keep him in her sights until she landed between him and the well.
When she turned around she saw that every single arrow had been stopped cold by what looked like a ribbon of liquid gold extending from the golden man's sleeve.
"That's a total of seven arrows you've used." He commented. "And you had to fight your way up here in a hurry, meaning you had to have been loose with your ammunition to an extent, perhaps reserving at least half of your quiver. So I think that puts you at…three, maybe five shots left?"
Leslie had six left, but she wasn't going to correct him on that.
"Think you can make them count?" The golden man challenged. "I'm interested to see if the legend of your clan is true. The one regarding what one of you do when you're down to your very last arrow." He whipped the golden band outwards and sent the arrows flying back towards Leslie…who slipped between two and plucked a third out of the air before sending it flying back just as fast.
What transpired in the seconds that followed was a frantic game of catch where the golden man would catch and send Leslie's arrows back towards her while she would catch and re-use one, taking several steps forward all the while. This tactic of recycling her arrows bought her time that she would have lacked with her depleted quiver alone and kept the golden man entertained until Leslie was almost five feet away.
"And I believe this makes one." He taunted as he caught her next shot and flung it back…but was surprised when Leslie slid under it and swung the center of her bow towards him.
A metal guard over the grip opened with a click just before a small Dust capsule within exploded, generating a burst of concussive waves that knocked the golden man back several feet, making his feet scrape along the stone beneath them before he came to a stop.
"A nifty little trick." He complimented, smoothing out his suit. "But it lacks that punch you'll need if you want to get the best of me…Leslie, was it?"
"Leslie Vale." Leslie pulled her last arrow. "Remember it when you land in Tibet after this."
"I've had fun, but now it's time to bring this little warm up to an end." The man sighed and looked towards Leslie's feet where he'd left a sprinkling of golden dust. "Tell me, have you ever sneezed out enough money to make you rich? What's about to happen isn't too far from that."
The gold dust shot up, immediately blinding Leslie to all around her as the particles focused on her position. Her mask shielded her mouth and nose from inhaling the dust, but her eyes still burnt, forcing her to shut them.
"And like that we can consider this fun little distraction at an end. My compliments for…" The golden man trailed off as Leslie immediately aimed towards him with her eyes closed. "…oh, right. Sonar hearing. My bad, completely forgot that." He already had formed a protective layer of liquid gold between him and Leslei. "Well alright, see if your last shot will really do any better."
He noticed something about the tattoo peeking out from Leslie's shirt collar…it was moving, shifting like an animated picture and even seeming to stare at him with one bright red eye before it slithered out of sight…down her arm and onto her exposed wrist and hand. It resembled a dragon which began to surface from Leslie's flesh in the form of a luminous, serpent-like form and coil around the arrow until its open maw was parallel with the head.
"Ooh…seems the legends were true." The golden man mused. "Well that-"
Whatever he intended to say was drowned out by an explosion of pure energy once Leslie let the arrow fly. As soon as the arrow and its draconic passenger struck the shield it unleashed a burst of concentrated aura that tore through the liquid gold like tissue paper…as well as the man standing behind it. When the light faded all that stood before Leslie was a stain of gold on the scorched stones behind where her target had stood.
"Damn straight they were true." She folded her bow back up. "Too bad for you."
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that."
Leslie's eyes widened and she spun about, only for something to clamp around her neck and squeeze until her airway was blocked. She gagged and clawed at the solid gold vice that had formed, falling to one knee as the golden man, unharmed, emerged from a cloud of golden dust.
"Gold clone." He said as if that was all the explanation needed. "Another benefit of my semblance. It takes a certain extra amount of effort to pull off, but as this fight demonstrated…well worth the effort."
He flung Leslie aside, slamming her into a low wall at the edge of the tower where the vice reformed to keep her pinned by her neck, no longer strangling the life out of her as a slight comfort.
"But credit where it's due: if I'd actually been standing there I'd have been in trouble." The golden man commented. "So I think that hard work has earned you a reprieve today, Leslie Vale."
He turned towards the well once more…only to frown as he saw his body guards disposed of and the elder archer, bruised and bloodied but still on his feet, standing in his path. "Oh for Glob's sake."
"You shall not pass." The elder vowed.
"Oh don't be dramatic, everyone who's ever said that ends up having a bad time." The golden man rolled his eyes. "My patience for this adorable resistance of yours is at its limit."
"Then turn around and go." The elder demanded. "Turn away from the terrible fate that would befall you otherwise. My clansmen will soon finish with the rest of your robots and will converge here. Even you cannot hope to face us all."
"Maybe." The golden man nodded. "Fortunately, I don't think I'll be here nearly long enough for that."
The elder soon realized what this meant when he felt a burning pain from his chest. He gasped and fell to both knees, dropping his weapon and clutching at his chest. "What…have you…"
"Gold dust in the veins." The golden man explained. "I coated both of my bodyguards in it, but in the midst of an intense battle I imagine you didn't notice it. I just needed enough to clog a few veins. You lot aren't as into material possessions as everyone else, as for me…well…I found quite a few extra uses for gold that not even the richest men in the world have considered. For example: inducing a heart attack."
"Master!" Leslie coughed and tried to free herself from the clamp around her neck.
The golden man stepped past the dying elder and stopped before the well. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes…" He reached out towards it. "Well. I wish to know where to find the Hand of Midas and the Vanishing Isle."
The surface of the well bubbled as if a fire had been lit beneath it.
"Your…wish is our command…" A deep, croaking voice that seemed to originate from every bursting bubble replied. "The Vanishing Isle is not in any one place that can be accessed, yet…it soon will be. Momentarily."
The golden man saw the surface of an ocean, vast and blue beneath a clear sky. Then he saw the water begin to bulge upwards, rising with a colossal figure that emerged from the depths…the figure of a city made entirely of gold. He felt himself give a gasp at the sight of such majesty as it became fully exposed to the sun.
"The city of gold…" He whispered. "And the Hand of Midas?"
"Deep…below the sea." The well responded. "It would be…far more difficult to reach."
Suddenly…he knew. One moment he had dreaded having to scavenge every inch of every ocean's floor, the next…he knew the exact position of his prize down to the last square foot. It was deeper than anyone could survive unprotected, deeper than perhaps any regular submersible could go without crumpling like a tin can. But there were ways to go down so far…
"There we have it." The golden man chuckled as he found himself standing before the well once more. "I think I'm all wrapped up."
A moment later he felt something impact him in the back before ropes wrapped around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides.
"…to be fair, I did walk right into that one." He admitted and turned around to see Bow, joined by a dozen other clansmen with arrows aimed directly at him.
"He has spoken to the well." One of the man whispered.
"Then he won't be leaving." Bow frowned.
"Did I forget to mention that I had my boys put a little something at the bottom of the tower?" The golden man asked rhetorically, eyes wandering up to where a small, avian shaped drone circled the tower from overhead, observing the battle field. "Because now that I've had my chat with your well…"
The base of the tower rumbled and blew apart, compliments of several explosive charges that entirely destroyed the foundation. The archers cried out and stumbled as the tower began to dip heavily to one side, giving the golden man the distraction needed to quickly cut through his bonds and leap up, latching onto the avian drone with one hand as it flew in low.
"So long, suckers!" He cackled, waving mockingly as the drone carried him away.
"Everybody jump!" Bow shouted as he helped Leslie to free herself.
Two of the clansmen picked up the fallen form of the elder and leapt from the tower's edge to find that down below, dozens of their kin had spotted the danger and reacted with clockwork efficiency. They fired arrows that carried with them ropes, forming patterns beneath those who leapt from the crumbling tower. This served as a net which spared them death or injury.
"The enemy leader has escaped." Bow reported immediately after leaping down from the net. "And…the master has been badly wounded. Get the healers up here!"
"It's too late."
All eyes looked up to the makeshift net where Leslie cradled the elder across her lap. "He is gone." She said, closing her eyes to fight back tears which were shared by many of the younger clansmen.
Silence fell over the clan as emotions ranging from rage to melancholy flowed through each of them. Without a word they helped Leslie to lower the elder's body down to the ground where they lay him on a stretcher, arms folded over his chest with his bow folded up and tucked neatly into the embrace.
"…this will not stand." Leslie said, watching as the clan's eldest mentor was carried away through the wreckage left over by the attacking robots. "That man…he thinks that this is the end."
"He's wrong." Bow said, hands balling into fists. "This is only the beginning. We will hunt him down…and we will avenge what he has done here today."
"But first…" Leslie's gaze softened as she looked to the younger clansmen, some of whom were little more than children or teenagers. "We look to our own. Let us heal…then we can find that golden bastard. I don't know where he'll go exactly, but I heard enough to know what he seeks."
"What did he ask of the well?" Bow asked.
"…he seeks the Golden Castle." Leslie answered. "And the Hand of Midas. Either in the hands of someone like that is bad news."
Xxx
"The Hand of Midas can touch its curse at the bottom of the sea!"
The Hand of Midas was thrown into the water and sunk to the bottom of the sea, discarded by those who spent a lifetime searching for it. It touched the bottom of the sea and remained there, hopefully never to be seen again. The years passed, the legend became myth, and the exploits of the heroes who had braved the seas to find the ultimate treasure disappeared from history. The Hand remained at the bottom of the sea, seemingly never to be found again.
Until when chance came…
A hand reached, grasping the bronze handle and pulled the Hand of Midas out of the mud and dirt covering it.
And the Hand started to glow, its power reacting to the one that had saved it.
Xxx
(Starset It Has Begun starts to play)
The screen is engulfed by a golden light that eventually fades, revealing a blue sky as the title appears:
GRIMMFALL: THE GOLDEN CASTLE
Even a well lit place, can hide salvation
From the depths of the ocean rises a giant golden fortress sitting on the back of a gigantic turtle.
A map to a one man maze that never sees the sun
Inside the fortress a man made of gold sit on a throne, holding up a golden hand with a bronze handle.
Where the lost are the heroes
Living Bullet is then shown fleeing airships that fire on him.
And the thieves are left to drown
Danielle Phantom is shown at the bottom of the sea, passing by a golden ship with skeletons littering it.
But everyone knows by now
Inside the fortress, a group of people surround a giant machine.
Fairy tales are not found
The golden man holds up a golden crown.
They're written in the walls
He holds his hand and the golden chamber starts to shift and change.
As we walk in a straight line
A golden shockwave bursts from the city and spreads across the world.
Down in the dirt with a landslide approaching
Tiki Torch fights against a hulking golden man brandishing clawed gauntlets.
But nothing could ever stop us
Heroes and Hunters gather as golden armored men march out to attack.
From stealing our own place in the sun
The golden man holds up the crown.
We will face the odds against us
He places it on his head and a golden cloud surrounds him.
And run into the fear we run from
He then holds up the Hand of Midas, attaching it to his right arm and glows with a magical golden light.
It has begun
There is a bright flash, revealing the Earth now shining gold in space.
(Starset It Has Begun Ends)
Xxx
Name: Leslie Vale
Aura: Imperial Red
Semblance: Dragon Manifest
Description: Leslie is able to manifest a dragon through any of her attacks, including punches, kicks and can even manifest a dragon through the arrows she fires.
Weapon: Bow and Arrow
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Name: Billiam Milliam
Aura: Gold
Semblance: Gold Manipulation
Description: Billiam is able to control any form of gold no matter how large or small to such a degree he can use them as weapons, creating weapons made of gold and even use golden dust to infiltrate the bodies of his enemies and attack them from the inside.