Adventure #10: Never Again

It had been two weeks and a day since Ronan's brother, Sven, was born. In that time a horrid animal that went by no name took over Jamaa. It was a lion, but that was the only thing that you, Ronan, and everybody else in Jamaa knew about him because it always wore a metal mask. This lion had a lot of nicknames, though. People tended to call him things like "Little piece of elephant dung" and "Worst leader in history." Ronan's mother, even though usually being the calm type, thought a few swears were suited for this being.

"Mother, you better be careful. Sven might learn from you." Ronan joked.
"I know, I know." She sighed. "But this tyrannical leader of a lion is starting to force people to give up their young children to him so he can raise them for his army. If you couldn't tell, he ALREADY has about 34 children kidnapped, not to mention enslaved Soul Swallowers. If we don't destroy this threat while it is still small, we might never be able to bring Jamaa back to its old state again."

Ronan agreed with her strategy. He looked at his mother again. "What happens if anybody resists against him?"

Cynthia only looked at the ground. Ronan guessed that it would be something simply horrific, like being locked up for the rest of your natural life or even being killed. Hopefully he probably wouldn't have it in him to torture someone to death. Or.. Would he?

That night Ronan wrote a poem.

The lion who seeks a bloodthirsty path
Only gained more power
He had no friends because of his wrath
His anger became a tower

Stacking his problems and regrets on top
Of his growing tower
Rebellious animals their plans he did crop
Animals who met him would cower

~~~


Ronan woke up at dawn only to see his mother trying pleading to a figure at the door. "Please don't take him!" she cried. "Take me instead! I insist!"
She had been badly bruised from the look of it, so that meant that she had already tried physically attacking the threat.
"Please don't leave with Sven!" Cynthia was in tears by now.
But the figure only shook its head. Ronan's face along with his mother's turned pale.
The jammer at the door walked in more, revealing the body of a lion.
No! Please tell me it's not!
But the truth could not be changed. 
It spoke in a mock voice, trying not to reveal its true one.
"I'm afraid that I cannot accept any adult animals. They have opinions, and could rebel against me any moment. Children, however, can be swayed to a different lifestyle within less than a month. Their opinions can be changed. Their thoughts are fickle!"

Ronan's mother, unable to fight back, handed over her young child. Her arms shook as she did, but her heart had been shaken more.

~~
Ronan could only try to go to sleep the other night. While it was hard, he still
had gotten some rest at least. Cynthia suggested that he should go to bed because it was healthy to get sleep. But from what Ronan could tell she had dried tears on her face. She must've not wanted him to see her cry.

She had probably told Graham, too, because he was racing around, anger flashing in his eyes in every glance Ronan got of them. Finally, the monkey alpha huffed something.
"Ronan come with me."
"What?" He said, looking at his father.
"We're taking back Sven."

Cynthia whipped around from whatever she was doing. And said in a hushed, worried voice "Please don't take him."
"It's for the best. He is a very experienced jammer of Jamaa. He knows his history and is skilled in combat."
"I know that. But so am I, and look what happened to me. What I'm saying is that throwing yourselves into this mission alone is like suicide! I'm begging you not to leave!"
But Ronan was already walking out the door, being guided by his father that hadn't even asked his opinion.

~~~
You saw Ronan walk up to you (your character had no idea what had happened at his house).
He explained that he needed you to go with him to stop the lion, and that he had other bad news.

"The seals and penguins were smart and evacuated their children into the oceans. They were safe, until the lion had captured a Draco Venomosis Monstrosequus. I'm sure only Zios knows how he managed to enslave one of those things. But before we go and confront him, let's visit the Bottlenose Brigade, and then try to travel to houses to comfort mothers who lost their child."

You nodded, and ran to the entrance to the oceans of Jamaa in Crystal Sands. You knew that there was a new admiral in the Bottlenose Brigade being assigned to guard the entrance. You beckoned her up. As her head popped up out of the water, her armor shimmered in the afternoon light. As Ronan looked at her, he blurted out "Holy Zios, you're BEAUTIFUL." There was an awkward silence, with a lot of blushing, staring, and embarrassment.
"Uh, so, what're you here for?" She asked.
Ronan gathered himself up. "We need you to inform the rest of the Bottlenose Brigade that there is a Draco Venomosis Monstrosequus trying to capture baby seals and penguins in the ocean. By the way, on a less serious note, what's your name?"
"I'll tell them right away. And it's Taffy." The dolphin said. "My name is Taffy."

The two started to get into a small conversation, and then a friendly argument. You sat there, bored, just listening to their words. Finally you decided to interrupt them, but you said it more firmly than you thought you would.
"Guys, we're wasting time with this petty talking! We must get a move on!"
The two stopped. Without another syllable escaping from their mouths, they went back to their previous tasks. You just followed Graham and his son.

First, you visited a house with a rather petite fox. She said that she didn't have any children, but the lion had harassed her. After you comforted her, she thanked you. You moved on to the next house.

And the next house.

And the next house.

Graham got pink-cheeked when a jammer, who had no lost children, asked for his autograph. Just because he was a rather friendly alpha, he signed their picture of him.

A few houses later, they were in for a surprise.
They caught the lion in the act. Without thinking, Ronan slashed his robe, revealing his body. It still wore it's metal mask. Without time to remember to use it's fake voice, the lion screeched. "No!"
But the monkey who had destroyed its robe recognized that voice. And then the appearance came to mind. Everything suddenly solved itself, like a puzzle being completed. This lion was an alpha, and his name was Lint. Not a very noble name, but everybody, for years, knew the lion alpha as one of the smartest alphas there were. His strategies were beyond effective, and he was very useful. But now here he was, stealing children and taking over Jamaa. Ronan had already had sealed anger building up for the lion, but now it rose so fast that it had crossed the line.
"Look at my face, you disgusting, filthy rat!" He yelled out. "What did you so with my brother?!"
Lint turned to face the shouting jammer. When he had turned, Ronan was right in front of his face, only about a few inches away.
"Ah, I knew you'd be back for me. Whats-his-face is somewhere in a room right now, unable to voice his opinions in a proper manner. He has no words memorized. You treat him like he's some sort of miracle. Well let me tell you this. He's not. He's just the same as all the other children being trained. You sure you'd rather be killed over something not worth saving?"
"How about you shut your face so I can be a little bit more satisfied with your pathetic being? Sven is almost everything to me. Do you not know emotion?"
"Actually, you are pretty correct. I have never coped well with emotion. Whenever I was happy, my laughs were blindly hysterical. I don't think I've ever felt sad before. And whenever I was mad, I felt the need to injure something. I have been called many things by doctors. Insane, mentally challenged, worthy of an asylum. But for years, nobody has bothered to deal with me because they thought I was too busy doing alpha things. I am taking over Jamaa, and my plan seems to be working put well. Now, allow me to take this child as I put it in a room with all the others, like Sven. Just like all the others."

By now, Ronan was about to burst.

"Never again will you be the same in my eyes... You will never be forgiven. You have chosen to treat one of the few things I love like it was a worthless ragdoll. You are in need of your karma, traitor!"

He pulled out his sword and charged at Lint. While they battled with the fierceness of a crocodile mother protecting her babies, the monkey alpha told the mother who had been watching the whole time to come to you. He told you to evacuate her and her child. For now, that was all you could do. You guided her swiftly and safely.

~~~

You returned to see the father and son duo lying on the floor. While Ronan only looked like he was sleeping, Graham looked near dead. Although, he was breathing. You shook both of them awake.

Both of them were too weak to get up. You insisted on helping them, but THEY insisted on you helping the rest of Jamaa.

"The lion had left after attacking us, but he is hard not to smell. Even if you can't track smell that good. He's not stinky, but he's probably been in the robe for a while. It has it's own scent to it." Graham said. He handed you a map. "I managed to get a map of inside his fortress. Follow his scent, and then use this to find your way inside. He has lots of guards, so be careful."

You nodded. But before heading out the door, Ronan advised you to take Farren. The kid was young, but he said that he'd been training him very hard.

So after you got Farren, you explained to him the long story. 

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Ok guys! So you can choose to either:

1. Gather more adventurers (roleplayers) before entering the fortress.

2. Just travel directly to the fortress with Farren.
3. Join somebody's roleplay (if they chose the first option).

When you get to the fortress, you must develop a strategy to eventually make your way to Lint's bedroom using the map you were given.

Here's the link to the map: Link