Sasan Kingdom

[Apollymi]

Sasan Kingdom (ササン王国, Sasan Ōkoku) is a small and landlocked religious country surrounded by mountains on all sides. The country produced a vast natural resources of iron, gold, silver and other metals from the surrounding mountains, and its noted for having the world's highest quality. Because of its difficult terrain, the country itself can only be reached by foot.

Because of its religiously devoted culture, the country is often called as the Land of Purity. They revealed to be descendants of the original humans from Alma Torran. And they worshiped Solomon as God of Sasan, although his name was long forgotten by the Sasan people.

[Bloodedge]

Mid-day, the small country known as the Kingdom of Sasan was approached by a single male figure. He was lightly clad in the armor of the Kina Kingdom with long, black hair cascading over his back in two layers, one being a ponytail for aesthetic purposes. The blue-eyed young man set foot in town after a long journey through the mountain range. 'Finally,' he thought. 'I wonder where that Dungeon might be...'

[Apollymi]

Random citizens from Sasan were moving about as this young man entered and many seemed to be extremely wary. Small children who had been at play were hustled away by their mothers and guards seemed to be staring at him intensely. There was a however an aire of piousness all around as everyone seemed to be scrutinizing the newcomer. One guard in particular was a young man posted with his back against the wall, and it would likely be him who would answer the newcomer's question so he did so aloud before it would even be asked. "Outsiders aren't allowed to interact with citizens and come nightfall you will be escorted to the visitors only center where you will be locked in for the night." said the guard with his bangs cut so that they hung over the left side of his face. One would notice all women had their hair cut in the opposite manner regardless of the styling of the rest of it. This was just one of the many peculiarities of the Land of Purity.

[Bloodedge]

'Hm?' The outsider felt it strange how the citizens of this country reacted to his presence, but he could not say he was very bothered by it. In fact, he was only perturbed by the words of the guard who approached him shortly after his arrival. Interacting with the citizens was not something he cared for, so long as he could find that which he sought. However, the idea that he would be dragged into any place and locked there without his say was absolutely repulsive. "I won't be going anywhere. I came in search of this land's Dungeon. Show me where it is, and I'll be on my way to capture it. I don't really care about anything else."

[Apollymi]

The guard looked at this man completely confused by the word he'd chosen. "Why on earth would you want to be jailed?" asked the guard who couldn't think of anything that would be called a dungeon that wouldn't be involved with the innate imprisonment of the persons therein. Beyond this point many of the people who had been walking away from this man looked confused and suspicious as well. This was shaping up to be a very odd encounter.

[Bloodedge]

The guard's look of confusion was met by the outsider's own, as his assumption that a Dungeon was akin to a jail was utterly mind-boggling. "Not prison! Dungeon! Dungeon!" As he spoke, the raven-haired male flailed his arms about as if to mime the portrayal of a massive structure. "Big, mysterious building with a door of light, filled with riches and mystical power waiting to be claimed by the chosen capturer!"

[Apollymi]

The guard heard out what was being asked by this young man and eventually given the gesturing and legitimate explanation of what he was looking for was able to figure out what a corresponding structure was to the one he was looking for. "Oh! You were looking for the Holy Pillar." said the man who went on to explain. "The Pillar contained the power of god and was bestowed upon the Knight Queen years ago. After she claimed the power of god which was rightly hers... the pillar disappeared." he said. Apparently the appearance of the dungeon here was tied into the religious piety of the region. This guard didn't know if the information he conveyed would be received properly but was at least happy that this young man wasn't trying to go to prison. Though not trusting of outsiders he bore the lad no ill will either.

[Bloodedge]

'Holy Pillar?' This man's choice of words was strange, but he certainly spoke of the same thing. The outsider understood that this country was quite shut off from the outside world, so it was likely to him that they simply thought the Dungeon to be something else. It was quite a problem for the young man that someone else had claimed the Dungeon without him having any knowledge of it before coming here. "Knight Queen, huh? Take me to her. I need to confirm this for myself."

[Apollymi]

This man seemed relieved that he could help out this traveller, but the man's next speech made the one visible eye on the man's face widen. "One does not simply take an outsider to the Knight Queen." said the man who seemed shocked at how much information people from the outside world seemed to be lacking in all things pure. "Though she should be walking through the main street soon. But you can't speak with her... that is simply not done." said the man not sure if an outsider would understand what kind of grave insult it would be to try and speak with their leader.

As he said this a large gathering of knights carrying lances began a procession through the streets. At the head of this was a woman who wore both a red kimono and heavy armor pieces. Her crimson hair up in a pony tail, aside from the part which covered the right side of her face in accordance with their religion. As she moved through the streets her head was held high and keeping up her ponytail was a large hair pin made of gold which had in its centerpiece an eight sided star denoting its use as a metal vessel.

[Bloodedge]

"Main road. Right. Thanks," he said, moving right along from the guard knight. In a matter of minutes, he was on the sidelines of the main road, where a crowd had gathered to watch the march of the knights. He was quite sure this woman at the front of the group was the Knight Queen the guard spoke of, and as he looked at her, he was given confirmation. On his right pauldron, the eight-pointed star appeared in a circle of light, as his Metal Vessel resonated with the Knight Queen's. Paying no heed to the guard's words, he called out to the woman. "Knight Queen! I hear you're the capturer of the Dungeon that appeared here three years ago!"

[Apollymi]

The knight guard returned to his duty without fail, seeming to completely disregard the traveler thereafter. The crowd that had gathered on the road to look at the passing Knights all seemed enthused at the sights of their Knight Queen, and everyone was shocked when the young man a stranger among them spoke to her directly. In fact the crowd practically parted around him as if all wanted her to know it hadn't been them who spoke. The red haired woman's eyes darted to the side but she did not speak, instead it was another among the Knights who spoke. "The Knight Queen was bestowed with the power of god. It is not your place to question her outsider!" it was a command the likes of which was very normal in this highly devout place. As they continued their procession without a hickup.

[Bloodedge]

A scowl crossed the outsider's face when this Knight Queen looked his way only to turn her gaze immediately after. This was followed by the parting of the citizens near him, and the warning of another knight. He wondered who this man thought he was to say such things to someone they didn't know. "Oh, I get it. That's what the other one meant when he said the power of a God. Well, you're all wrong, but if she won't respond to me..." As he spoke, the black-haired male raised his right palm toward the knight he spoke to. A Magic Circle appeared on the back of his hand as he aimed to use his Metal Vessel's magic to take control of this man's mind. "Maybe you'd like to get her attention in my place."

[Apollymi]

This Knight who'd spoken didn't see anything, he was obviously not magically inclined. The Knight Queen however saw this and took pause. But there was nothing he could have done to prevent the Knight person from being taken over. Whatever would happen with him would determine her reaction. She couldn't well stop her procession though so everyone continued to walk. And she waited to see what kind of power this man apparently could manifest.

[Bloodedge]

In addition to the knight, this man took over the minds of the nearby civilians who thought to avoid him. It was his will to have the group stand in front of the Knight Queen and halt her movement. He would also have the knight specifically address her about the Dungeon of Sasan. "That should do the trick. Surely this Knight Queen won't ignore her own subjects."

[Apollymi]

As she walked she soon found that the Knight who'd stopped to address the outsider was now standing before her stopping her movement. The woman paused to look up to the man who proceeded to question her in a manner rather odd. "Did you capture the Dungeon that the people know as the Holy Pillar?" questioned the Knight guard much to the surprise of the others around them. The woman looked at this man and for the first time she also looked at the rest of the citizens who were no longer standing within the lines previously prescribed to them but instead in front of the queen which was a grave mistake. "To question the Knight Queen is to question the will of God. This is heresy." the woman said as she reached for the pin in her hair and the unswayed Knights began to move. "To question the Knight Queen is heresy. The heretic must be punished." they all surrounded the guard and the civilians who had dared question the words of their queen. It was common knowledge to all that the Knight Queen had entered the Holy Pillar and come out with the powers bestowed upon her by God. Such a thing should lead to an immediate execution of the Knight who dared question the embodiment of their God's Will.

But this wouldn't lead to a swiftly met punishment to this guard by the queen. Instead the hairpin she now had in her hand spun for just a moment before water began to accumulate and spread around it. The Knights all bowed ready for the woman to met out whatever punishment she saw fit. As the water settled and solidified it turned the hairpin into a large blue sword which held the same eight pointed star the hairpin had. "The sword of God." a second thereafter a cyclone of water would manifest around it but instead of shooting it through the man who stopped her she shot it at the man who also held a metal vessel. "You've committed heresy. To be against me and my Knights is to stand against God." she stated as she aimed to puncture this man's body with her water enhanced weapon and thus end him and whatever control he'd managed of her people.

"The Queen knows when she is being deceived. The Queen will protect us from the powers of evil and its prophets." the crowd of Knights gathered behind their Knight Queen on bended knee. Admiring her ability to sort out this situation and not wrongly punish the Knight among them who was taken over.