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Masquerade Part 2.2: Klaatu, Barada... Necktie


Nanami Touko
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Character sheet!

Current Chapter List:
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 2x

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Continued)

Chapter 4: A Royal Headache (Continued)

[spoiler=Nefarious]"Sir, I've returned," she said, heading into the dimly lit office space, and coming up to the desk. She hung her head and scowled.

"You failed then, did you? What of the new bodies? Where are they?" He didn't lift his head, simply continuing to watch his quill write, making sure it was taking his thoughts down properly.

"They were... Disposed of. A group of mercenaries made short work of them. I do not think they would have made able bodies, if they were dealt with so quickly." She tried to excuse her failure, hoping it would slide.

"Then, since you survived, I suppose you would make an able body?" He asked, glancing ever so slightly towards her face, which was now turning from shame to fear.

"Sir, I, I-I've always done my best to help you... Please. One more chance. I have a feeling they'll be making their way here. Their leader questioned me about the note that was left. I am sure such powerful people would jump at the chance to explore the unknown. If they come here, you'll have more bodies than you'd ever need for your work." She smiled a bit, trying to hide that fear. Much to her pleasure, he looked back down at his paper.

There are never enough. His face twinged with anger for a moment, but settled back into apathy. "I suppose," he mumbled, "but you will go to meet them, and see if you can take care of them before they reach the castle. I don't want to have to clean up any messes inside. It would make the current subjects rather... Unruly. You don't want that. I don't want that."

"Yes, sir. Of course." She bowed slightly, and thanked the stars for her luck, despite having to go back out into that cold. Even if it meant giving her life, there was no way she was dying on a testing bed.

----------

The morning after came slowly for everyone, Makin, Ingverd and Vriska included. Despite normally being an early riser, presumably, having extra heat in the bed made Makin sleep a lot longer than she wanted to, even if there was no rush to leave quickly. She collected her things and herself, and yawned her way into the foyer, hoping the mercenaries would be ready and raring to get walking. And as inviting as the couch looked, to sit on while waiting, she decided that it would be best to stand and wait. She might've fallen back asleep if she had.

Someone else was already awake, though, and getting their wagon ready. Isabelle was outside, brushing her horse, and making sure the reins were attached properly. Perhaps she didn't seem like one to be proactive, but when it came to making sure her own properties were in check, she was always on top of the ball. She'd even made space for some of the mercenaries to sit if they got tired of walking for too long. She wasn't entirely inconsiderate. As long as they didn't talk to her...

Ingverd had woken up after Makin, but was far slower in his getting ready to leave than her, still fiddling with clothes and his weapons. Part of him really wanted to stay here longer. Maybe with more effort and time he could make a real impact on the place, rise through the city guard by fighting and working at the arena, get close to Marius, make a difference... But it seemed all so unrealistic, if Marius himself was still unable to make a change from the inside, with all his influence. And then there was Valha... Things had taken a turn for the better, at least in his mind, but he didn't know how to make them go any further. Was she even ready for that? Was he? He didn't know. Playing around was easy; you just didn't get attached, but now that he had... Well, new emotions are difficult to deal with, even for adults. He sighed. He got dressed. He wandered downstairs.

"Morning, elf," Makin said with a wry smile. "You seem tired. Not much sleep?"

"I suppose you got a lot... No, not really," Ingverd responded seriously. "Too much on my mind. Hopefully some old fashioned mercenary work will help clear it up. I need to get the blood flowing back up here so I can think straight."

"Oh... Well, I hope you get the chance to." Makin was a bit surprised. Almost disappointed, too. She'd sort of wanted some of his witty banter to wake herself up more, but if he really wasn't feeling it, she'd have to wait for the rest of the mercs to wake up. Someone could provide, she was sure. Wonder what's on his mind that's got him this shaken up. Might be the town. Wouldn't be surprised...

All the while, Vriska continued to snore.

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Always an early riser, Valha waved at Makin and Ingverd as she lounged on the couch. "You two so tired you didn't notice me?" she asked. "Well, I'm all set to go. It was pretty nice to be back here for a little, I think, but I'm glad we aren't stickin' around too long either, you know? Still not too comfortable with it. Guess you aren't the only ones sleepin' in, though."

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Having gotten a good night's sleep in preparation for their next job, Angus was in a pretty good mood when he woke up. As he gathered the few belongings he'd bothered to unpack over the course of the trip, movement outside of the room told him that some of the others were rising too. Several minutes later, with his things packed and ready to leave whenever, Angus left his room and found that the foyer was surprisingly empty, aside from the boss and a couple of the others others.

"Hey." he greeted the other early(ish) risers with a wave as he walked over to join them. "I guess everyone else is still asleep or something? It's almost like they want to stay warm in bed instead of heading to a frozen tundra." Despite his snark, the archer was pretty excited to get out of the city and start their mission. How many people could say they'd journeyed to Karstell and back? Compared to that, the prospect of cold didn't really bother him that much. Not yet, anyway.

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[spoiler=What If...]

Lanos found himself deep in the slums. The space was pretty much closed off with discard crates and other junk that he didn't want to climb over. It seemed familiar yet new at the same time, something was off. Regardless, the space was hidden and difficult to simply wander out of. But he already knew what was, what had, happened and how to get out which was, once again, very strange. He couldn't fly, though it felt like he should be able to, so he had to climb on top of crates to get high enough to climb ontop one of the buildings. He immediately knew where he was and where to go to get to the upper rung, another oddity, this was his first time in the slums and it was dark.

He ignored the weird feeling and followed his instincts, arriving at the upper rung with little difficulty. Everyone in the Upper Rung was taller than him and looked down at him with disgust in their eyes, he could almost feel their gazes trying to drive him away. He shyed away from the main road and into a side street as he continued on his way. For some reason he was drawn to the building that looked even grander than the buildings in the current rung. Without knowing where he was, he wandered into the the Noble's Rung and then even further up into the Council's Quarters. There were only five houses, if they could be called such, up there and he wandered around until he found a name he recognized, Cedric Larson.

He simply wandered up to the door and opened it. The lack of a guard bothered him -especially since it was well into the night- but, like before, he still didn't know why and brushed the feeling off. He wandered the empty halls looking for any sign of life and found it, at the end of a hallway there was a door slightly cracked open and he could hear voices. Familiar voices, the only voices he'd ever heard that he could remember, the voices of his parents. They didn't sound happy though, they sounded angry, something he hadn't really ever heard before. He hesitantly approached the door and peeked inside. Cedric was standing and his back was to the door. Tayrn was seated, her eyes were locked on Cedric and her features looked tense, as if she was holding something back.

"How could you do that, Tayrn?! Now he's out there all alone with the worst of Felson, who know's hoe long he'll last!

"It's not like I just dumped him on some corner, Cedric. No one will find him unless they're specifically looking him and I told him to wait there, he'll be there for a few days for sure. Just let me go get him."

"So you can runaway with him?! I can't let you do that." Cedric brought his hand up and smoothed his hair before collapsing backwards into his chair and sighing. "I can't lose you both."

Tayrn stood up, maybe to simply leave the room or perhaps to try and go find Lanos, but when she saw him in the doorway she froze for a second before running over to him and wrapping him in a near crushing embrace. "Lanos! Lanos, h-how did you get here?"

Lanos was confused by his mother's question, he didn't even know how he got here, he just did. "I don't know."

"Well it doesn't matter, just that you're home."

~~~~

It was another boring day in paradise for the teenaged harpy. He spent most of his days the same: reading, talking with Tayrn about trivial things, maybe playing a game or two but not much else. Everyday it felt like something was missing but he couldn't quite place what so he did nothing about it, continueing his easy life. One day, when he and Tayrn were forced to hide because Cedric had guests over he realized what it was he was missing: freedom. He was always confined to the mansion and never outside. He still remembered his trip when he was four, and how it could've gone horribly wrong if he hadn't somehow found his way back home. but it did little to deter him from wanting to see the outside world, to be more than a bird in a luxurious cage.

One night he got his chance, the guards were being beyond lax in their duties and had left the hallway unattended. He took a bit of gold with him, in case he wanted to buy something, and snuck out of the mansion. He made his way to the Upper Rung with ease and wandered around the place like an excited child. Just the change in scenory was enough for him. Once again he could feel the gaze of the people on him but it seemed much less harsh than all those years ago, more like passive agressiveness than disgust. But he wanted to see it all and so he wandered into the Slums.

The smell revolted him but he tried to put it aside as he explored the place. It was much less vibrant than the previous rung and the gazes on him were filled with wonder, hate and greed. It shouldve been enough to turn him around, make him feel scared, but he felt invincable and so much more powerful than anyone there. He continued on his tour until two men approached him though they completely ignored him.

"Think he stole all that?"

"No way, he has to be a pet who was let too far off his leash."

"Well he doesn't need that if he's just a pet.

A sinister look flashed on the men's face and Lanos finally felt scared. He tried to fly away but one of them grabbed his leg and threw him to the ground. He tried to pick himself but the other man already had a dagger to his throat. He desperately slashed at him and managed to get him across the face it didn't move him like Lanos hoped it would.

"Looks like this isn't a pet but a rabid beast!" one of the men exclaimed, chuckling.

"You know what you do with those right? You put them down."

Again, Lanos tried to slash the man but his wings were easily caught now that the man expected. He was held in place as the other man moved over him, in his hand Lanos saw a rusty sword. Before he could register what was going to happen to him another entered his mind. This was wrong, it shouldn't be happening, incoorect, false, a lie. It was anything but true. When his focus returned to the men the sword was already coming down on his chest...

Lanos shot straight up as he woke up. He was sweating and his talons had accidentally slashed the blanket a few times. Oops. What had started out as a pleasant dream had become a nightmare before it ended. He felt himself over a few times, particuarly his chest, as he slowly realized it had only been a dream and let out a sigh of relief when he found he was entirely intact. That was crazy... he thought to himself as he got ready for the day. Once he had everything ready he took one last look at the bed and sighed, better talk to the innkeeper about that...

When he walked out of the room he saw that several people, Angus, Makin, Ingverd and Valha were already up and waved at them. Though instead of walking over to them, he walked over to the innkeeper. "I kinda, uh, slashed through the blanket in my room in my sleep a few times... Sorry about that, I'll pay for it if you want me to."

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Maja was brought awake by the sunlight slowly invading her room, to her own chagrin. Hngh, already? I don't want to rise yet... She pulled her blanket to cover her face, trying to hide from the daylight. Maja exerted herself so much physically the past couple days that she felt about as tired as she went to sleep. It hurts to move, why did I get a room with a window to the side of the morning sun?

Much as she tried to go back to sleep, the heat beneath the blanket basked in the sun wouldn't have her. With a deep sigh, Maja flung the blanket away, exerting herself to get off of bed. Slowly, she made her way to her belongings and shifted from her chemise to her newly bought pair of clothes, which at least brought some of the girl's mood back (while also probably feeling too warm until they reached the tundra). "Much better. I hope I don't get to use those again." Keeping a mental note to get her old change of clothes sewed by someone skilled, Maja started packing her belongings. At a turtle's pace. Her body just wasn't all prepared for an early rising that day.

---------------------------------------

Having arranged a room easily, Kadin went to sleep as quickly as he laid down to bed.

His eyes sprung open in the morrow. Kadin looked at his surrounding as if to reassert what had happened. That's right... I have actually slept, somewhat. His soul more loose to his new body than in real life, the trail of time did not escape Kadin during the night, giving the impression he had slept for ages. It... does not seem like I oversleep, the sun is still low. Sizing up as he brought himself up, his body showed no fatigue like a long sleep would. I suppose sleeping will take some time to get used to... again. In no time, he dressed himself up for the trek, from helmet to boots. It's better to not take chances while we are still here... and then, it will be cold enough to justify. Dutifully packing his belongings (which only really consisted of some pouches of coin and spare clothes), Kadin quickly left his room.

Going downstairs, Kadin took a look around, noticing a handful of the mercenaries were up and, presumably, ready to go. "Good morning. Will we have something to eat before we leave?" To be honest, Kadin wasn't sure he *needed* to eat again, and taking off the helmet after all the trouble would be bothersome, but it did raise the his curiosity. Nothing wrong about showing up physically and effectively masked to the majority of the mercenaries who did not know what happened to him, however. Nope. Not weird at all.

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Vesta grunted, wiping some drool off her chin. Somehow, she had fallen asleep just outside the door to her room and decided that it was an alright place to spend the night... There was something that she had to do, but in her drowsy stupor she was not entirely certain about what it was. She pondered for a moment.

Something to do with cold, something to do with freezing and the undeniable fact that man (and horse-man) was doomed to perish and that mortality was creeping up on her... She grabbed the old secondhand cloak she had purchased yesterday, it had seemed important. As she rubbed her face on the plush fabric, her visage paled.

Today was the day they were supposed to go to frozen-death land. She groaned in a particularly undignified way and threw the cloak onto her satchel, securing it there for when she would inevitably need it. She figured whatever she had thrown on yesterday was probably clean and warm enough to make do for a while as she trotted down the staircase to meet the others.

"Mornin'" she mumbled, waving to what she assumed was the motley crew standing in the lobby, "y'all ready to probably die? I think there's a pretty good probability that we'll all bite it. At least it'll be a good time, am I right?"

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Despite the brutal punishment Raith had put his body through the previous day, he felt like he had managed to hold up pretty well. Sleep had come with no trouble at all, and the night had passed without consequence. But of course, it wasn't until the sun began to paint it's colors across the sky, that the pieces began to fall together, and his body began to "normalize". Every nerve, in every tissue, in every muscle, in every part of his body, began to sound off in unison: "Hey Raith, thanks for making us suffer with not just one, but two arenas! Enjoy the rest of your day feeling sore all over!" Someone just kill me now...

With a grunt and a groan, he managed to haul himself up found his resting post along the backboard. Ah shit, we're going off to the tundra today, aren't we? Guh... The prospect of leaving Felson seemed pretty nice yesterday. What with all his talk of "riches galore" and "vacation castles". Now however, during the early parts of the day, he wasn't feeling too keen on it anymore. Sigh. Shame though, vacation time was over, and he really didn't have much of a say in it anyhow. He slid off his bed, groaning all the while. He spent a couple minutes trying to stretch out, and get the blood flowing again. Whilst the stretching was underway, his mind started to wander a bit. He thought a bit about the fights from yesterday, that guy who challenged him in particular. It would come as a bit of a shock, (and a bit of an embarrassment) when he would find out that that man was none other than Marius Typhus, captain of the guard, and seated upon the council. Though, that wouldn't be until after his return. He thought about the night prior, and in fact he thought pretty hard about it. It came as a bit of a disappointment that he'd have to wait until after they came back to Felson to engage in anymore "bed sharing" as it were. Though, maybe if she's feeling particularly frisky we could... He let out a soft chuckle. Yeah right, as if...

He let his mind wander a bit more, and images of Alicia began to creep up. That's where the wandering stopped. "I think I will not think about that," he thought aloud. But to no avail. The image remained static, and Raith's resistance began to wear out. Whatever... Eventually, he'd become engaged in something else until it passed. And that something, he decided, would be getting ready to go downstairs. He changed into something more presentable and washed up. It seemed as though some of the patrons of the inn had yet to awaken, but still others were already moving about downstairs. With a final exasperated yawn escaping his lips, he slowly began to trod downstairs, ready for some food

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Morning came and the last thing Sonia wanted to do was leave her bed. After however long on the road, the two days she spent not sleeping on dirt and stone wasn't nearly long enough, and she figured that there was no need to rush out when the others probably felt the same. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

Of course, that was two hours ago, and now she was probably at the point where she was going to get left behind, which still did very little to motivate her. Where were we going, anyway? Karstell? ...Karstell! And there it was. Within minutes, she was up and ready, hastily scanning the room for any leftover belongings. Not that doing so took very long, either.

A few moments later, she was out of the room and at the bottom of the stairs, uncharacteristically excited at the prospect of adventuring (and only just noticing the new people). "Good morning!"

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Angus just shrugged at Vesta's comment, still feeling optimistic about the trip. "You worry too much." he told the centaur. "All we need to do is get through a bit of cold and we'll be fine. There can't be much out there hiding in weather like that, can there?"

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Heather rose somewhat early, readying herself for the day. She hadn't managed to find the naga in question she had been told to meet, so she headed down after dressing herself up nicely, and sure enough found who she'd hoped to. "Are you Makin Tiarn? You must be- I certainly can't imagine too many nagas around here. My name is Heather Rhodes, and I was referred to you by... Isabelle, I believe. I'm interested in your journey to the tundra, and would join you if you're interested in hiring me. I'm a former merchant and a rather skilled marksman, so I can assure you I am more than worth your time- if it's not too short of notice, of course."

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"Hey hon, can I have a cuppa coffee?" Vesta asked the lady behind the counter with a yawn, "I think I'm gonna wanna be awake for this one..." she added, punctuating her sentence with a wink.

"It's not the cold I'm so worried about. I got plenty of padding to help with that," She chuckled, tapping her tummy, "It's the local wildlife I would be worried about to be quite honest. There's probably a mess of bears and wolves and nasty things that are too big with too many horns. That and hidden crevices as deep as my- well, deep as all hell. Still, I reckon with all of yer help I'm sure we can pull through. Was mostly bein' facetious about our chances of dying. Figure it would be easier to swallow such a bitter pill that way. Chuckling at the reaper and all that."

She shrugged, looking away for a moment. Her experiences in the wilderness typically didn't end so well, although she figured that maybe a troupe of traveling mercs were maybe a bit hardier than her typical company.

At least she hoped. It was getting a bit difficult to keep getting close to people who were inevitably going to get eaten by a bear.

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Finally done packing up, Maja slung her backpack over her shoulder and started the walk out of her room with a grunt. Still not fully well from yesterday's fire magic show, the backpack's strap grinding against her shoulder felt more akin to a cheese grinder. Is there another type of training tome? Fire actually hurts.... The hallways had a chilly quietness to them that happily contrasted the small murmurs and noised coming downstairs. Taking a good breath in, Maja could feel her soreness go away at the shadow and mild temperature the hallways offered this early in the day, if only for a moment. Exhale. Maja leaned against a wall, deciding she'd rather take her time again. To think of their destination for more than a glancing thought, perhaps, and such she decided would be nice.

It's meant to be really cold... I wonder how cold that is? Only having memories of a coastal winter gave the girl a growing curiosity of the habitat they were to trek through. Would I be able to cover in as many blankets as I wanted at night? Ah, that'd be so nice to sleep in! Maja ended the thought with a slight smile. Her childlike interest making it so easy to ignore the possible, numerous downsides... but if there was one thing Maja was good at, it was looking at the bright side of things. A yawn escaping her, she finally decided it was time to head downstairs. Now resigned and used to the stings her body felt, her pace was once more normal, and her face, though not quite as bright as normal, brushed off most of her tiredness.

"Good morning." She greeted all those below in general, a passing glance telling her pretty much all guild members had already gone downstairs... well, most everybody, anyways. I don't think I see Vriska... Is she feeling beat up too? Oops! And now part of her felt silly for all her complaints to get out of bed. Well, I'll check on her later, as for now... that cou-- food, yeah, food! Trying very hard not to give in to a nearby, sleep-lulling furniture, Maja slowly forced herself the opposite direction --to the counter! "Hello...? Are you already serving breakfast? If so, could I have something simple... some bread, and juice, please?" Maja asked the employee behind it, continually fighting an ever resurfacing torpor.

--------------------------------------

Kadin was somewhat surprised he hadn't caught the attention of any of the mercenary group so far, or any other customers, at that. Not that he minded, sort of preferring to be low-profile. Maybe he was thinking too much like a ghost? One thing he did not enjoy was the topic of death in Karstell some were talking about, though he quickly shrugged off the notion. I made a promise not to die again... If I need to fight harder, I will. "Pardon me, but I think you shouldn't be too concerned before we head off. Our group is big enough that, should it prove too much a challenge, we have a good chance to escape. If we reach the castle, then that is when we should be more careful --we don't know what unnatural traps might lie there. Only rumors." He offered his questionable comfort words, resounding from his helmet, to the archer and centaur.

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Trist swung off his horse outside the inn where he was meeting the rest of the group. Since he'd already paid for the other inn, he figured it best to just stay there the previous night, but now he was ready to go. He'd sent a message off to his former boss, and hoped the man would understand. Checking his saddlebags quickly, he verified he had everything he needed before heading in. Spotting the rest of the group, he headed over to them, sitting down near Valha, and nodding to her before leaning back against the couch, enjoying a last bit of relaxation before they headed out.

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Morning Business

Ingverd's expression softened as Valha spoke up. He really had been too tired to realize that she'd been there, so he was glad she'd said something. In a rather out of character fashion, he didn't say anything. He walked over to the couch, sat next to Valha, collapsed his head onto her shoulder, and sighed. "Thank you, Valha," was all he said. He kept quiet after that. Well, except for a small wave to Tristram, who had just come in. He at least acknowledged that the man was there. He was a fellow elf, after all. But... It was... Well, really weird, for Makin to watch him do that. Be so quiet. She didn't quite know what to do but stare at him and gape. It was... It was so odd!

"Y-Yeah, not the only ones, right now..." Makin did her best to tear her eyes off of him, as the rest of the mercenaries began to wake. And first to rise and come down, after Valha, was Angus. She could hear the sounds of others waking up as well, so it seemed she'd have her hands full with greeting her mercenaries. "Who wouldn't, Angus?" she said, smirking. "Myself especially; I'm a poikilotherm, after all. Need all the heat I can get. Don't laugh when you see me wearing at least two jackets, on the tundra." She gave him a serious expression. She meant the two jackets bit.

Next was Lanos, but... He seemed just as shaken as Ingverd, and passed them all up entirely. How odd. Did they both just have a terrible sleep? Geez...

The next two were Vesta, who seemed to be going on comically about dying in the snow (Makin hoped it was comical) and... "Hey, who are you?" She asked. Until he spoke. "R-Right, right! Kadin. Right. Sorry!" He'd taken the time to speak to her about what had happened with him and his body, the previous night. His new get up and his corporeal form were still taking some time to get used to. No matter, there were still more...

"Raith..." She smiled as he came down, locking eyes onto him. She would've wandered right over and slapped herself onto his arm, had another voice not addressed her. She was also caught by another 'good morning!', turning to see Sonia as well, waving quickly at her and offering her own rushed, "good morning, Sonia! Now..."

Another elf. Hired by their second one. Well... Another archer was always a boon, she supposed. They only had a few mages, the centaurs, and Angus. She didn't want their range to become a problem. "Right, well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Heather," Makin started, extending a hand to shake. "You should talk to Angus, and become fast friends! You're two of our dedicated archers, so make sure you get along. I feel you'll be spending a lot of time next to each other. And it's not too short notice, no... If you had any, other questions...?" She didn't want to just abandon someone she was hiring like that, as appealing as Raith's warmth was, currently-- "Oh, good morning, Maja!" she slipped in, barely catching the girl's greeting. This is a bit hectic...

And now, it was Sara's turn to be bombarded. She hadn't had so many people in her foyer at once, not for a long, long time. So keeping eyes on all of them was getting to her, just a bit. "Right away!" she said, to wards the request for coffee, and set out to boil some water to get a cup going. As for the bed... "Is it just the sheets?" she asked, with some worry. "As long as the mattress is alright, I wouldn't worry about it. Fabric's cheap here, as you might've found out, already." And then, a call for food! "Coming right up! Actually, I can do that right now." She grabbed a loaf out of the bread box behind the counter and cut Maja a generous slice, getting her a glass of orange juice just as quickly. "It's white bread. I hope that's not a problem. Plenty of people trying to eat really healthily, these days! I know white bread isn't everyone's first choice, because of that." Sara kept a generally positive attitude, as she'd probably have with some more food. Warm food... Kitchens...

Outside, Isabelle had gotten another hand to help set up her wagon. A certain weapons smith that had been welcomed along into the group.

Finally. Vriska stirred, yawned, and sat up. Her morning would start shortly.

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"Hey Trist! You ready?" Valha asked the horse-riding elf. "It's gonna be cold and a long trip, but I'm sure it'll be at least a little fun! Oh, you need to show me your horse more when we're traveling! Maybe you can even give me a lift when I get tired of flyin' around, huh?"

Suddenly, she was a lot closer another elf than she had been the previous moment, as Ingverd had collapsed just next to her. "Thanks?" she repeated. "But I didn't really do anythin'... you alright, Ingverd? Not like you to be so down, early or not." She perked up when Lanos mentioned ripping through blankets by accident as well. What's goin' on here? Did somethin' happen, over the night, n' I don't know about it? I slept early, but I was up early too... Valha sighed quietly, pulling Ingverd in a bit closer. "We're just gettin' ready for a big new job- it's a fresh start! Everything's gonna be fine, you hear me?"

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"Yeah, just the sheets," Lanos affirmed, glad he hadn't cut into the mattress when he was flailing around, probably towards the end of his dream. His whole body shivered by just acknowledging that he had that dream. Usually his sleep was dreamless so he wondered why this one had been so crystal clear. Hel, he hadn't even had nightmares like that in years and even then it was never his life on the line like that. He was kinda glad it had ended there though, before anything worse had happened in that almost life-like dream. He sat himself down across from Valha, the other couch was pretty crowded, giving everyone there another small wave but still not saying anything. He leaned foward, resting his wings on his legs and looking at the floor. To be honest, he still felt tired but he didn't want to fall back asleep. For one, it was already (kinda) late and people were waking up and two, he had no idea what was waiting for him back in dreamland. He constantly rubbed his eyes whenever he felt like he was about to doze off again to hopefully keep himself awake.

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Yawning as he came down the stairs of the inn, Kendeall made a mental note to head back over to Burke's and pick up the tome he left there yesterday. Hopefully it was ready... the axeman figured he'd need it sometime soon, anyway.

Fortunately, his nerdy chill didn't kick in that morning, and this made Kendeall feel good. After all, any morning without the nerd grumping at him was a definite plus.

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Trist nodded. "Yeah, I've got all my gear outside, including a nice new robe that's apparently supposed to boost my endurance or something. As for my horse, sure. I bet you're light enough that she won't mind you riding with me. But yeah, this job should be interesting. My first time ever doing mercenary work and I'm headed off to Karstall, huh? Who woulda guessed?"

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Vesta laughed heartily as she pulled her flask of liquid courage out of her satchel, deciding that she needed something a little bit stronger than coffee as a little pick me up. She took a swig of the foul-tasting substance (which had the flavour of something that would be used to clean a latrine) and turned to her comrades with a smile.

"Well between you and Mr.Arrows over here I'm sure we can take anything that the frozen wastes and that nasty spooky castle can throw at us. We're gonna be team awesome!"

Now if only I could believe that...

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"Thank you, very much. That will do!" Maja gladly took her simple breakfast, taking a sip of the orange juice first. "White bread is fine. I'm sure I don't have to worry with how much I travel!" The girl waved her hand once in gesture, dismissing the comment.

With her breakfast in hand, the thought to find one of the comfortable couches resurfaced again. Ah... wouldn't crumbs fall off... uhh, I can take a plate! I just need to be careful. Doing so, Maja quickly turned to see the couches already occupied. Oh. She felt disappointed, until the moment she realized one of them were Lanos and the space besides him was empty, that is. "Hiya, Lanos!" She approached him, "Mind if I sit here?" Surely, since he's helped find Kadin with Vriska, they were totally good friends.

Shortly after asking, it came to Maja that Lanos was struggling to fight his sleep too, judging by his sleepy-looking eyes. "Had a rough night? I had some trouble sleeping too. Do you want something to eat?"

----------------------------

Beneath the helmet, Kadin grew a smirk at Makin's surprise. "That is fine. Don't worry." He quickly replied, turning to be amused at the centaur's new words. "Yes, well, let us hope so, even if it takes all the fight I have. I have no intention to meet my tombstone at some 'spooky castle', there is more I need to see." A second tombstone, no less.

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Heather shook the naga's hand as it was extended to her, smiling cordially. "I don't believe I have any other questions, no. Angus, then- I will make it a priority to get to know him. Thank you very much, miss Tiarn." The elven lady approached the archer in question after hearing Makin speak to him. "Angus, then? I am Heather, and I will be joining you all to the tundra. Makin advised we make acquaintance of each other, as we are both archers. It is a pleasure to meet you- how long have you trained in the bow?"

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Coming down the stairs, Kendeall noticed most of the rest of the group already engaged in conversation. Thankfully, none of the people around were giving off a nerdy vibe. Yawning and letting out a loud groan, Kendeall sat down near the bar; he figured that picking up his tome could wait until later. "Hey, any idea what's good for breakfast? I'd assume everything, but hell. I'll take recommendations."

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Thanks

Ohhh, this was tempting... Letting himself get lost in the comfort of Valha, resting his head against those soft feathers... He could probably have fallen back asleep there, but, well, she'd asked him a question. It'd be incredibly rude not to answer... But... Oh, alright. "Just thinking too hard about things. I'm good at that, you know. But, the thanks was for being here... Being here, and caring so much. I'll be fine, as long as you are." He smiled, and sat up, deciding to be a part of the conversation with Tristram.

"I've never ridden either. Think it'd be too much trouble to let me have a go, as well?" He was already tall, so perhaps it wouldn't be necessary, but maybe it was fun, or something. "And, really? Your first mission, to a supposedly deserted ghost castle in the middle of a frozen wasteland... You sure do know how to pick 'em, haha." It was amusing that they had some first timers here, on such a harrowing quest. Amusing, and underneath that, a bit worrisome.

Keeper of The Arm of Man

Makin smiled, glad that this Heather was so quick to socialize. It was nice to have some more people like that. Some in the group were a bit too quick to keep to themselves, but as long as they found someone to talk to, it wouldn't be that bad, she supposed. "You're welcome," she said, watching her walk off. She gave a quick wave to a sleepy looking Kendeall, as he made his way into the foyer. Makin was now free to pursue her own interests, slithering over, and clinging onto, the arm of Raith. "Morning~ How'd you sleep? You look a bit tired... I didn't work you too hard yesterday, did I?" She'd hoped his body was keeping up. She was going to be clinging onto him a lot. No, seriously! Keeping her body heat up was important, she could die otherwise! And the best way to do that was with someone else's. Luckily she'd gotten close enough to make that a bit less awkward... She actually started chuckling at the thought of if she hadn't.

Bedding and Breakfast

"Just the sheets... Alright. It's a bit unfortunate, but it's not a problem. Don't worry about it!" she called out to Lanos, as he walked off. It was something easy to replace, as long as the mattress was really alright. "Take care of yourself!" she said to Maja as well, hoping the young girl knew that her metabolism could only hold out for so long! And before Kendeall even sat down, she was already starting to get the spices ready for a big breakfast. Her ice box was going to get raided faster than she could say 'served!' "Sure thing! I've got ham, bacon, potato slices, a few different loaves of bread, and any toppings you could want to slather on them! Take your pick. I'm getting the meat started." Which is exactly what she did, heading into the backroom (still within earshot), and getting that pan heated. Ding! Oh, right! "Always something else!" One poured cup later, Sara smiled her way back into the room, yelling out, "coffee's ready!"

Awaken, Nerd

Vriska yawned hard. She'd been sitting up in bed for a few minutes, struggling to stay awake, flopping between the dream world and this one. Eventually, she managed to wrestle her legs over the edge of bed and hop into a robe, combing her mess of long hairs and shaking herself awake. Tomes in hand and in pocket, she came downstairs, and found her way right over to Lanos. Maja was there, looking like she was going to sit down. Nope! Sorry Maja. Still tired, and rather not in the manners mood, she brushed past Maja and sat right down next to Lanos before he could answer her. She smiled to herself, and slowly started flipping through her thunder tome, to make sure she was ready to start casting it, if the need arise. They were going across that plain again, after all. Stupid centaurs.

Edited by I have opinions
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Lanos looked up at Maja and gave his tired eyes one final rub, hopefully it't be enough to keep him awake. He opened his mouth to say "sure, go ahead," but before he could get a word out Vriska appeared out of nowhere and took the spot. While he could understand her wanting to be close to him, he wanted to be close to Valha at the moment, even he was starting to get bothered by her behavior. He'd have to talk to her about it.

"Uh, yeah. I guess you could say I didn't have the best sleep. It almost feels like I'm more tired than when I went to bed." Apparently he wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping last night though, maybe it was something in the

water. "If you don't mind sharing, that bread looks like it'd be good."

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"Hey there," Raith replied, returning Makin's greeting with a bit of a weary smile. He tried to stretch some more, but given that one of his arms was now locked in place, he ended up looking like he was trying to perform some sort of interpretive dance. "I don't just look tired, I feel pretty tired too..." he muttered. "It's whatever though, I'll probably catch some sleep once we start heading to the tundra," he said. For as much as he complained, he was lucky he wasn't just an average foot soldier. "Marching" usually just meant saddling up and cruising on autopilot for a while. The real heavy lifter of the team was Ophelia.

"Seems pretty busy down here actually," he said, squinting over at the familiar, and not-so-familiar, faces that had gathered in the foyer. By the gods, where do all these people keep coming from? It seemed like everyday there was someone or another joining them. He wouldn't admit to it out loud, but having more people joining was getting a little cumbersome. More people meant less money to go around. And given his previous day's splurging, he was going to be hard-pressed for cash for a long time. This tundra mission better pay well...

Not only did it seem busy in the foyer, but it seemed busy in the kitchen too. The smells were starting to get a little hard to ignore, and Raith's stomach was roaring for a meal. "Heyyyy Saaaarraaaaaa, can you get me something to eaaaaat!?" he whined, loud enough that everyone in the room that hadn't noticed his presence, was no doubt aware of it now. Whoops. He yawned a little, and turned to Makin, who still seemed glued to his arm. "Hey uhhhhh, can we sit somewhere?"

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