Log:Castle Above the Clouds

The Fall of Riddersholm 2018/07/03 Jak Amara 4

Jak completes a circuit around what he can only assume is a small shopping center near SCEPTRE, being sure to window shop around first before deciding to buy anything. He's always looking for the best deal despite making more than enough money to live on. Still- being thrifty helped him stay warm and off the streets many nights growing up. Its a lesson he won't soon forget- even with money being less of an issue for him.

He reconsiders the size of the island and realizes that distance is less of issue here thanks to the teleporter network that seems to exist here- and even still it looks like height is a major factor here- wherever here is. He wonders the city's breadth and scope as he looks skyward for the first time and seeing the towers literally threaten to scrape the sky. "Woah." He says as the view finally sways him. He turns on his heel back to where he came from- back to the street vendor selling the yoctotech hardlight board that supposedly integrated into any existing shoe from the 'Mainland' or right here.

A few minutes later he's watching the tutorial on his smartwatch's holo-projector.

A few more minutes later and Jak, the rogue teleporter is highlighting his way across the sky- well he's really wobbling all over the place and being outpaced by pidgeons but he looks mighty cool as he streaks upward- spiraling his way up and around a tower to get a view of the city from its highest point as he would do in almost any other city he'd visit- just with a new method of transportation at his disposal which his thinks is so damned arid he wants to scream.

In between the tall towers he shouts, "WOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!"

Jak completes a circuit around what he can only assume is a small shopping center near SCEPTRE, being sure to window shop around first before deciding to buy anything. He's always looking for the best deal despite making more than enough money to live on. Still- being thrifty helped him stay warm and off the streets many nights growing up. Its a lesson he won't soon forget- even with money being less of an issue for him.

He reconsiders the size of the island and realizes that distance is less of issue here thanks to the teleporter network that seems to exist here- and even still it looks like height is a major factor here- wherever here is. He wonders the city's breadth and scope as he looks skyward for the first time and seeing the towers literally threaten to scrape the sky. "Woah." He says as the view finally sways him. He turns on his heel back to where he came from- back to the street vendor selling the yoctotech hardlight board that supposedly integrated into any existing shoe from the 'Mainland' or right here.

A few minutes later he's watching the tutorial on his smartwatch's holo-projector.

A few more minutes later and Jak, the rogue teleporter is highlighting his way across the sky- well he's really wobbling all over the place and being outpaced by pidgeons but he looks mighty cool as he streaks upward- spiraling his way up and around a tower to get a view of the city from its highest point as he would do in almost any other city he'd visit- just with a new method of transportation at his disposal which his thinks is so damned arid he wants to scream.

In between the tall towers he shouts, "WOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!"

There's quite a view as he starts to get a view of the city. Many of the buildings look like vertical forests, a mixture of white walls, blue glass that reflects the pinks, peaches, and lavenders of the setting sun, and green foliage. Not just for the fresh air the pants provide, but for the peaceful aesthetic it provides. Nature and technology interwoven.

Far beyond the expansive city, the buildings give way to forests and farmlands, green and verdant. But several biomes are represented on this unusual island nation in other areas.

Jak soon finds the skies are busier than he's used to. Flying vehicles designed like cars, and boats, soar and float through the air. One grav-boat is hovering next to a rooftop terrace park where children play and parents and couples relax. It looks like the Riddersholm equivalent of a food truck, where a very animated android is cooking several dishes at once. Not out of required programming, but out of a passion to see how humans react to its culinary creations.

Another hardlight boarder spirals around Jak as she ascends, looping around him as she whoops a polite greeting or warning. The boarder equivalent of "on your left". He gets a view of the woman as she waves while passing by. She appears to be about Jak's age, wearing a red sleeveless croptop and dark green capri pants, and a long vest that looks like a sleeveless duster. Her skin is a light caramel color, and her short hair is worn natural.

In just a few seconds, the woman vanishes up above the cloud cover, leaving a light trail disappearing in her wake.

Jak is lost in the amazing views this method of travel provides here in the city- he's absolutely awe-struck by the color palatte chosen for the buildings & the aestetic of it all. He's absolutely speechless- and what strikes him to his very core, is that he's seen all this before.

He's starting to mist up at the thought of having finally found his way home when all of a sudden he rises into regular traffic.

He teleports out of the way of an oncoming automated delivery vehicle and out of the way of a hoverboat which absoltely gobsmacks him.

He's twisting around to get a better look at that when all of a sudden a cute girl passes him up. His inner swashbuckling gunslinger can't have that so he leans into the nose of his board to speed up a bit ignoring all the rest in favor of this new challenge that's risen to the forefront of his attention.

Of course he is no where near as confident about his skill on his hardlight board as he is in just about everything elses- but he fakes it very well, though his pace may give him away. He breaks the cloud cover after her and is scanning all around for her streak of light or the shape of her in the distance.

He can see her trail of light--her board currently set to a magenta glow--still spiraling and looping up and ahead just above the clouds, and the girl not too far beyond it. She crouches on her board and dips her fingers through the cloud cover, looking as if she's surfing the clouds.

Ahead of her, Jak's eyes can guess at a potential destination. One of the highest buildings pierces the cloud cover, topped with a massive, majestic castle. Compared to everything new in the city, this castle looks old, but very well maintained and clean. Tall white banners fly, waving the emblem of the nation, a circle ringed by triangles to signify the sun.

Jak is shaken by the sight. The skyline of the castle breaking the clouds majestically is something he saw many times whenever decrees or City/State Citizen Alerts came out- so now there is no question of where he is. He's home. Now if he could just remember anything else- like where he lived or something.

He shrugs and makes what most people would consider an error. He speeds up to catch up with the young lady riding towards the castle. He smirks, loving the feeling of flying despite being a 'World-Class Teleporter'. There's osmehtign so visceral about it.

He should probably slow down to think things through but he instead flies towards one of the ramparts to get a good look at the castle upclose. Something he's quite certain he's never done himself before.

The sight of the banners fills him with a strange feeling he has not felt before, something he doesn't yet have the words for.

Up close, this castle is in pristine condition, lovingly restored and maintained. Jak remembers from his childhood that the castle is ancient, from Riddersholm's early founding. But in those days, the castle didn't sit above the clouds. That came later.

Riddersholm has had no war or metahuman criminals on its soil. So while well armed to protect itself, there is no armed response for a wanderer getting too close to the royal palace so far.

The young woman doesn't have a sense of restraint either. She shifts her rear foot back and down to cause her board to fly up and over the walls, before diving down and swooping into the large walled courtyard. The ramparts and walls are impressive, an extension of the castle proper. She slows as she gets near the hedge gardens of the courtyard, finally landing. Her lightboard turns off and she leans over, lifting each foot in turn to pluck off the converter attachments that generate the lightboard.

Jak's gawking catches the young woman streak over the wall. He shifts his hips to the right and wraps around an outer bailey and then twists to the left to go around the cylindrical structure before going through a pair of merlons on the upper battlements. "This place is even more arid than I thought it was as a kid." He says to himself appreciatively as he attempts to cut off the young woman who's just taken off her converter attachments.

"Whats up, Rider?!" He asks excitedly, since she's the first person he's seen with a lightboard. Jack believes in making friends (and enemies) quickly.

The woman is just starting to stride forward, looking like she owns the place when Jak abruptly cuts her off. So in her own world, she's startled by this lack of...decorum. It's understood among Riddersfolk that while the castle is open to citizens, one does not just come unannounced. But Jak was a child and never had a chance to learn this.

"Hvem er...wacht. You speak English?" She goes from suspicious to excited just like that.

It's obvious english isn't her first language, but she pronounces it well, albeit with a faint accent that smacks of someone from a Scandinavian country.

"Yup. Learned it the hard way too." Jak says proudly, though he doesn't mention how he came by it. Typical Jak Fortune- all boasting with no detail. He leaves it for people to fill in the blanks themselves, they usually do anyway so this way he's out ahead by resetting the expectations of others early with his boastful attitude.

If Jak is aware of this unspoken rule of decorum he doesn't show any indication of it. In fact he seems positively casual as he twists his ankles just so deactivating his lightboard & drops to the ground. He walks towards her with a swagger that might make Amara think there's another contender for the crown- or at least for the deed to the castle.

"You do too? No 'Bot? Arid!" He says, getting excited for totally different reasons.

Amara claps her hands together once and clasps them, smiling brightly with a row of perfect teeth. "You learned by watching American movies with subtitles, too?? Isn't it so much better than with dubbing?" she asks with growing excitement. "I know they saaay the automatic dubbing simulates their voices and tones perfectly in Ridderspeak, but there's just...-something- about the original voices."

Jak pauses a moment and nods. "So much better. Worlds apart." Of course he means by having it beaten into him, or by painfully struggling with each word to get his point across with someone who wasn't hustling the streets. That rarely worked. The beatings were faster- and often got him TV time, which really helped him learn. They thought he was stupid, watching shows meant for kids less than half his age - especially when he'd get excited about them. But in truth it was because he was learning and it was the only time he wasn't hungry in those first years. He really hopes he doesn't have to work so hard to re-learn the language of his birth.

He smirks and says before laughing, "Is there any other way?"

"Pshaha, not for me. I just wish they didn't take so long between movie releases. All that time for them to complete the special effects? And they're so cheesy, it's good." Of course a Riddersfolk would find the biggest blockbuster effects unrealistic and dated.

"Ohh ho, but you didn't come to talk movies, I'm sure. Are you here for a meeting? I don't think I've seen you at the palace before..."

"Oh- no. I just thought... this was... like ... a tourist place. I saw your board- and I just assumed." Jak says looking around confused. Certain that most places he's been to do not do any actual government work out of an actual castle. A Palace? Sure. But a castle? That seems like something to snag the yokel and out-of-towner alike. And raising it to the clouds? Well he never thought about it until now.

His eyes narrow at Amara. "So- you keep a busy appointment book? I'm getting the feeling like I should know you. Like you're someone important- but..." He opens his hands and shrugs.

Amara stares at Jak like he grew another head, and it lasts for a good few long moments. "Tourist...place...? You...you don't know who I am?" She makes it sound like this is inconceivable.

"Well- I mean, I know where I am." Jak says n a manner like parts of that seemingly simple statement might still be up for debate in his mind. "I think." He adds before looking at Amara a bit more closely and pursing his lips together as he tries to remember her face.

THere is something incredibly familiar about it, but what it is he couldn't say. He's seen a lot of faces in his time as World-Wandering & Wayward Gunslinger. "I feel like I should know who you are, but for the life of me I can't place your face. Why have we met before? I'm Jak. Jak Fortune. And you are?" There he goes again, ignoring decorum. He just leaps right into what anyone with sense might take as embarrassment and attempts to clean it up with the corner of his shirt and a good spitshine.

Amara is caught off-guard by his answers, confident and uncertain at the same time.

"Me? I'm--" she starts, but then the peace and quiet is shattered by the sound of a giant explosion that shakes even the castle grounds. Amara keeps her balance through the rumblings, but she looks extremely alarmed.

The rumbling stops, but the castle buzzes with activity suddenly. Someone comes running out from the main castle. "Princess Amara!" calls the footman.

"What was that?!" Amara asks, forgetting the social meet-cute with Jak and trying to stride past him as she enters crisis mode.

Jak instantly goes into high alert mode himself, tucking his thumb behind his beltbuckle as he's seen countless cowboys and trickshooters do in holovids and online so most people think nothing of it. He is of course keeping his finger on the trigger of his personal forcefield generator, which he's had built into his custom beltbuckle. Its all part of the look- and staying alive.

He holds his hands out as the rumblings hit, but is nearly floored by the title and name given to the young woman he just decided to 'chat up'. His first instinct is to get out of there- but for some reason his legs just don't move. He's dumbstruck and the Princess is unobstructed as she attempts to stride right past him.

"I don't know," the footman says in a panic. None of them have experienced an earthquake or explosion first hand.

Amara Stops and looks back to Jak as he stays frozen, speaking something to him in Ridderspeak with authority before waiting expectantly. She doesn't suspect he doesn't actually speak the language.

Jak looks startled as he's noticed by the Princess again. "Ummm. Sure thing. Good luck- with all the ... trappings of leadership, your Highness." He says, waving towards her before turning to click his heels together and step forward so he can pop the hardlight board into existence.

He knows to get when the getting's good. Plus, from the look on the face of Amara and the footman- that rumbling was unexpected. Trouble and he might be able to help. He has no idea that he may have caused this trouble.

Amara gives him another funny look as he sticks with english. "You are sure you do not want to come to shelter?" she reconfirms in english this time. There really is something odd. She'd think he was a new resident, but his hair color is one of a native.

A look of recogniton rolls over his face. "Oh- Shelter. R-i-ght! I thought you were... asking me... to... umm. Shelter others. You know- go see if I could help. Help out. Yeah- so I should get to that."

He waves his hand in the air a few times and then bows to the Princess. "It was nice meeting you and all." He flashes his most disarming grin hoping that he could at least find his way home before stumbling into the middle of Regal High Court Politics. So far- he's not doing so great.

"If you think you can help, please do. But don't put yourself in any danger. We don't know what's happening yet. Probably some experiment gone too far," Amara replies, as invasion is the farthest from her mind.

More footman and footmachines come out to attend Amara and ensure she's safe. Things seem well in hand here.

Jak nods heroically and turn to take off on his board- arcing up and over the battlements before teleporting back to ground level so he can hide amongst the herd and figure out what the hell is going on here.