Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[GoldsbroTSG]

The girl, despite nearly drowning herself in a sea of breakfast, made sure to keep up with the conversations as best she could. Some coins that left twelve-thousand between the group. A little... small, but they'd make due. That was what they do as mercs. Maybe some more luck will fall their way in a bit. She pulled herself back up, a belly full of food, and a great mood. As far as she was concerned, the day was saved. She wiped her face with a nearby cloth, and directed herself to a nearby conversation.

Specifically, what caught her mind was Nyx's exchange with the butler. Gean interjected some, but mostly it was the former two. Something about... a former, dubious past. Really, that part peaked Miria's interest more than scared her.

"Ooooh, Nyxi, you used to be a troublemaker?" She tried to find the best word to use as she spoke in a tone to try and keep the talk between the trio of her, Gean and herself. "That sounds so cool~"

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Favio opened his mouth to reply, when two of the Tigers popped into the conversation, and completely ignoring that he was right there at all. It wasn't all an annoyance; Nyxi--or some variant there of--called the young woman from the inn a noble. It seemed like she wasn't supposed to have said something like that, but what was he supposed to know about a Glacian noble? More importantly, neither needed to know anything about what they were speaking of. "Yes, I was a former knight who had been pursuing your friend here. That's a time long past; I only have connections to the knights by friendships now, and my first and foremost priority is that of Liste and Sarasin. Both of which the Tigers helped to protect, which means you too." He patted her on the shoulder, before leaning up into Nyx's ear, "I thought you might have known what the real leadership of underground was like... but perhaps they're more organized and secretive than I thought. Keep your eyes out, Luthier, in particular, has been active recently." The man leaned away, and began to make his way back towards Sarasin, in case he couldn't talk his way out of the problem of his own making. 

---

This Alvira was intent on making her point by taking a knife, stabbing it into his heart, twisting it, leaving it there, and then smashing it with a hammer as if it were a nail for good measure. The mental damage was swift, and painful, but Sarasin kept a smile on his face and a jovial tone. "Alvira. That is quite the lovely name, and it appears that I've tripped into the dragon's horde so to speak. I am no knight, so instead I choose to walk away with my head on my body!" The man chuckled masking the gaping wound in his psyche. "In any case, I believe my messenger should be here within the hour; Saiga is a rather prudent messenger, not like Saya. That should provide more clarity into the outside situation." 

Sarasin scanned the room, and it didn't seem like there was movement towards them. "Hmm... I know Tio and Elisa had a long night, but it's not entirely like them to be absent--they did okay my request to bring you all here. I wonder what is keeping them... Perhaps it might be better for me to explain what I explained to them the night before, and for them to fill the gaps as they arrive." He turned over his shoulder, and suddenly Favio was at his side as he had been moments before. "Ah, Favio." His body relaxed somewhat. "Finish your errands? I saw you talking with one of the Tigers. An old friend, or perhaps an old flam--" 

"I'm sure that I'm nearly double most everyone's age standing here, Sarasin. That would, probably, include her. An old friend? Yes. An old flame? No. There was just something I needed to ask her. About them." 

Sarasin flinched, "...Is she?" 

Favio waved his hand, "There's nothing to worry about. There wasn't much to find there."

Sarasin briefly nodded, before fixing his glasses some. "Favio, be a good man, and go and see if the Evokers are on their way, I believe I should probably begin proceedings, then." 

"Of course." 

With nary another word, Favio glided across the floor, and out of the room. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

"It's not about cuddling, I just don't like it when weirdos look at yoUR!?" Alvira squeaked and lost her footing, sinking further into Nat for a moment, slowly picking herself up and pulling away from the tiger. "Hah, hhhh... Grrrrhhh... Th-That's not fair and you know it, Tasha..." Face much closer to matching her hair now, Alvira sat down again, closer to Tasha, pouting, arms crossed. "Within the hour could still be a bit... I'm also a little worried about what's taking Tio and Elisa, but given that Renais isn't here, she's probably what's taking them. For good reason, at least; she wouldn't waste their time with something petty." Alvira nodded, sighing, the excitement of having her horn touched slowly leaving her.

Sixteen was restless, though, despite having heard the time they would need to wait. She almost moved to creep after Favio as he glided away, but then a question came to her mind, the creation slinking out of her chair onto all fours to walk next to Nat, sliding up to a squat once she was close enough. "Boss, boss, I've got an important question! Where's our next stop? Is it a big city? A small place like Liste? Will there be a bunch of racist knights there too?"

[MRDRHAWK]

Nyx couldn’t help the loud snort at Miria’s nickname for her - the kid was really enthusiastic to hear about her criminal past, apparently! One that she… still hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to Nattie about. Dammit. Well, not like it was an issue, or anything, seeing as how nobody was rushing to arrest her or whatever. Favio seemed to take off after that, but not before whispering in her ear.

Nyx froze. The what now?

”Wh-“ But before she could say anything, Favio had simply left the room. Damn. Nyx looked at the glass in her hand, trying to find answers, but all she found was more juice. “Why th’fuck does tha’ name sound so fuckin’ familiar…” Nyx muttered to herself, having seemingly retreated back into her defensive shell again - albeit this time with a purpose.

Just why the hell couldn’t she remember?

[scorri]

Cinaed had settled in, a bit away from the goings on with the Commander and Sarasin, a decently sized plate of food and some juice in front of him. He was close enough that he could overhear the conversation, enough to hear about the reward and shake his head over Alvira's actions, We're in a noble's house, you have to have more tact than that, come on..., but far enough away that he wasn't in the middle of all of it, and could mostly be left to his own thoughts. Thoughts that weren't especially happy right now. The Evokers are still not present... I need to talk to them, sooner rather than later. This reward from last night, doesn't feel like I deserve it. Not after what happened. Maybe I just give my portion to Siorel or the other newcomer, Ullr? I think? That'd be more fitting. And then there's news to come... News which, combined with what happened last night, sounds like it's not going to be good. Something to make our journey harder no doubt. I just hope I haven't become a liability to this group right when everything starts going sideways...

[Ursali]

Alriana had set herself down at the table with a big, for her, plate of food and a cup of juice. She hadn't eaten much at the inn and the emptiness from her deal with the fox hadn't entirely left yet, so she was looking to fill herself with food. The entrance of Sarasin was louder and more superfluous than it ever needed to be, but if it was his house then he was at liberty to act how he wanted, as annoying as it was. Sixteen was startled by a bird under the table, which was weird, and even more so that Sarasin seemed unaware of it, but there wasn't much point in chasing after it. Alvira's possessiveness of Tasha was new, or at least this was the first time she remembered seeing it on full display, in front of a noble no less. It was amusing in its own right, and a small part of her wondered that if with all Versaris' talk about loving her he would react in a similar manner. A glance was given to the not-elf, but she doubted he would know the reason for it as she returned her attention to her food.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Ursali

[Nanami Touko]

"Hey. Heyyyy. Cin? Ciiiiin~?" Siorel was poking at the dragon who appeared lost in thought. She'd been quiet about the proceedings since she was very, very new to the group, just looking at people as they went about things. Alvira was super cute, standing up for her girlfriend getting stared at. The possessiveness was a little cute, even if it was also a little alarming. I hope I never get that bad... She huffed, picking up a fork and sticking a piece of ham she'd cut to bite sized. "Say aahhhhhh, Cin~"

---

Versaris sipped tea as Alvira went about her act, giving Alriana a glance afterwards. The girl had spotted Javier leaving the room, but her reaction was about as expected. Then, she gave him another glance, one that didn't really give him anything... He smirked and waved at her, hoping she was enjoying her extra breakfast. From what Javier's telling me, the Evokers should be here soon, anyway. Seems the talk with Renais is going well...

[scorri]

"Wh, I-mmph?" The second Cin turned to Siorel, mouth opening to respond to her proddings, he found a forkful of ham quickly taking advantage of the opening. "Imph canff..." Muffled protests over being fed were given up on soon after they started, as he pulled his mouth free of the fork, chewing the ham before swallowing with a minor grumble. "I can feed myself you know..." He shook his head, sighing quietly before wrapping an arm around Siorel and pulling her closer for a second, before returning to the food. "Thank you. I wonder what's keeping the Evokers? Renais probably found them since she disappeared, so maybe she had something to talk about, not just finding them to bring them here. Mmm..." He popped another bit of ham into his mouth as he considered. I wonder if she's finally talking to them about her magic...

[Billy12510]

Well, he’s certainly… interesting to say the least. Syndra was taken aback by Sarasin’s display. It was showy in its own sort of way, in a similar fashion to the spread before them. There was even wine. It seemed more like the thing for an evening social gathering than anything else. Apparently they were still waiting on the Evokers to show up. Surprise, surprise. I guess they had a longer night to be fair, having to rush into town because of the fight.

She noticed Sarasin’s attendant went off to speak with Nyx about… something, but Aegean and Miria were already there, so Syndra didn’t feel like she had to go over there as well. No, that wasn’t entirely correct, Syndra did want to go over, but she’d already ruined things enough for one day, so she just stayed where she was by herself and helped herself to a glass of wine. 

[Xinnidy]

The food had already been enough to cheer Üllr up for the moment, who'd taken a plate and sat down after picking a hearty meal with its share of meat. No point fretting over the man that invited them, supposed mayor of Liste. If they accepted clouded and monsters in the place, Üllr figured he wouldn't struggle dealing with this one --more than could be said for yesterday's knights.

Üllr watched Sarasin idly as he came to congratulate, not minding much the man's way of carrying himself. A human that wasn't imposing came as a breath of fresh air. "Mm..." Sixteen's question was curious, though, if a bit out of the blue. "Why did you ask that?"

Seemed like the man was intent to give some explanation to the crew in general, as well as remuneration. It was a good way to make Üllr pause expectantly. Gold, huh... will be nice to be able to buy things.

[Bluemask 96]

Gean folded her arms as Nyx revealed her reason behind her earlier furrowed expression. Gean hadn't bothered to apologize for interrupting Favio's conversation, but did give him an acknowledging glance, to not be completely rude. Gean had no desire to pry further though, the next time Nyx shared information, it'd be on her terms.

Miria's chime in did get a chuckle from Gean, but she fell back into worry the moment Favio whispered something to Nyx, which caused the older woman to don her earlier expression. "You sure you doing ok? Need a healer or a chance to rest?"

Bringing up the need for a healer brought Gean back to the other conversation in the room. The Evokers had yet to make their appearance today, although Gean knew the reason why. She hoped Renais conversation was going well though. Hmmmm, maybe I should find some time to spend with her next town, or when we get to a larger city...

[Nanami Touko]

Siorel chuckled as Cinaed tried his best to protest with a mouth fool of food. "I'm sure whatever's keeping them, whether it be Renais or morning woes, is nothing serious. They're ridiculously powerful. Someone would have to get the jump not just on one of them-- probably Tio, she looked pretty squishy --but both of them to defeat them. That'd be a feat that no one could manage... Unless they were like, strong enough to blow up the whole residence, at which point, I don't think we'd be talking anymo--"

Siorel stuffed her own face with a piece of ham to cut herself off, maybe giving him a jump at the sudden ending of her words given the incredibly unrealistic threat... Then again, that fox... Oh well. If she was gonna kill us, we'd be dead.

"As for your ability to do it yourself, I don't care~ Now say aahhhhh~" She held up another piece to ferry into his mouth, giggling the whole time, living for the lovey dovey nonsense.

Sixteen spun back around and stared at Üllr, nodding and smiling. "Cuz! Cuz! Cuz! I wanna go around a town and not be chased out with weapons and fire and shouts! Everyone was so afraid of me whenever I tried to enter a place, but if I'm with the group, or even just with someone... Oh! Ahah!" Sixteen slammed a clawed fist into an open palm as an idea blew up in her mind. "You can take me around the next place we stop in! You're way more normal than me! They won't attack you... So as long as I do my best to walk around like a normal person and not climb stuff and not get surprised so my eyes do the lizard thing they do-- Things should be fine! Do you wanna go around a town together, Üllr!?"

Edited August 30, 2022 by Mel the DM

[scorri]

"Ah, heh, even Tio would be hard to take by surprise I think..." I really need to apologize to her... "But I agree, it is hard to imagine anything bad happening to them. And any threat that's big enough to take them out, well, we would be useless against anyways. So. Mmm..." He sighed, shaking his head. He would be especially useless given the current state of his magic. But the people he needed to talk to about that were the exact people that weren't there. Just wait until tonight. Everything can wait until then...

Like magic, as soon as his mood started to dip back down, Siorel was back at it, trying once again to feed him. He grumbled quietly, feeling like a child a little before an idea occurred to him, causing a slight smirk to sneak out onto his face. He allowed her to pop the food into his mouth, but as she leaned in to feed him, he quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. "There we go. Now you have better access. And I can maybe even return the favor, hmm?" Picking up a strawberry, he dangled it in front of her. "Come on now, open up!"

[TheRoon]

After enough time had passed, a certain pinkette walked back into the lobby with a huff. It seemed like she was less concerned than before, her expression was a bit lighter now. "...oh good, I didn't miss the refreshments." She stepped up to take a small drink. She looked over a wine cup. 'Mm...I shouldn't. I don't drink often...but...well maybe a little wouldn't hurt.' She took the cup and with a huff she took a small sip. "...mm, not bad." Not enough to have an effect, but it was refreshing if nothing else.

The Score of Magic

Spoiler

Finally, after a rough and long day, Renais was in a room with two of her favorite married mages. It’s quite strange though, she had a lot to discuss with Elisa and Tio, but once she got to this point her mind went blank for a moment. “...mm, I want to thank you both deeply for agreeing to meet with me so very early. It hasn’t been an easy time for me but…” She sat in her chair a little uncomfortable, as evidenced by her shifting. ‘Why is it so hard to find the words all of the sudden…’ “Ah well…first off, how are you two doing? Did you sleep well?” She was mentally beating herself, unsure of how to begin things.

Tio remembered that she had said that she would speak with Renais once she had time after the whirlwind of events from yesterday. What she didn’t expect was that the whirlwind would leave destruction of their plans in its wake, forcing the pair to be awake much, much longer than Tio wanted to be. Between dealing with the rogue captain, into realizing that their plans needed to be altered to accommodate the new information that they had, and the swelling numbers of the Tigers, sleep felt like it had only lasted for about an hour or so before she felt Elisa stir, and began her own morning routine. Not long after that, Renais’s voice was outside their door asking for the talk. 

If nothing else, Tio was a woman of her word. The dark haired Evoker leaned up against Elisa, seemingly halfway between sleep and consciousness and still dressed in a partially undone nightgown. “I… slept… okay, I… suppose. You, mmm… are you alright at least?” 

Despite Tio’s perception, it had been a much more decent night’s sleep than that, and Elisa having a cheerful smile on top of being fully dressed was proof of that. Or, at least, the fact that she got a lot more out of less sleep than her wife did. “Come on, we both know you need at least three more hours than that,” she said a bit teasingly, rubbing Tio’s shoulder as she pulled the drowsy woman into a half hug. “Me, I slept great! A little less than I’d have liked either, but Sarasin does have some very nice accommodation. How was the inn, get to sleep with a cute girl?~” With Tio likely not packing very much wit at this hour, it was up to Elisa to do the teasing, and tease she would, as long as things didn’t get particularly serious.

Admittedly, being in front of two incredibly beautiful women (one who probably needs to fix their nightgown) was making Renais nervous, but it didn’t show until Elisa brought up “sleeping with a cute girl”. “?!” This got Renais in a coughing fit, the question had certainly caught her off guard. “W-what? Why would you ask…I mean…n-no, I didn’t.” She looked aside with a huff. ‘I didn’t sleep WITH Gean, just next to her. There’s a difference…’ “Mm…anyway, I wanted to tell you both something important that has been troubling me lately, but it was very personal so I wasn’t sure if I should have. We do have our mission after all…” She shifted again. “That all said, here we are so…I’ve been having these terrible visions during battle, fire, blood and death. It only happens when I see people injured before me, and the closer they are to death the worse it gets. Thankfully no one has died yet, but…it scares me.”

Elisa giggled at the response, practically exactly what she expected, but quieted down to listen to the rest. She said it was a personal matter, so it would deserve not being treated like a joke. “That seems like it wouldn’t be too uncommon for people not used to serious combat, but you’ve been with the Tigers for quite some time, right? So I assume there’s more to it than that.” She tried to straighten Tio out a bit, see if she couldn’t get her to wake up a bit more for the topic at hand.

Tio had started dozing a little when Elisa straightened her out some. She shook her head a little, before leaning back against her. “Elisa’s… right in believing that, mmm, there may be some more to this. You said… that it was only when people were injured, and that deg–” She paused into the middle of her sentence to yawn. “S-sorry. Degree. The degree affects the vision… as well. Perhaps… a memory of some sort? Is it a similar vision?” 

Tio cursed her reliance on a good night’s sleep. She had to focus, because she was so sleepy still, but because she was so sleepy she couldn’t quite focus and she both needed to and wanted to. “You, don’t have to say if… if it’s too troubling.” 

Seems like things are settling down for now, Elisa knew how to be serious when the situation called for it. When Tio chimed in too it got a nod from Renais in response. “It’s alright. I trust you both…but yes, it may have something to do with my memories. I can’t recall five years of my life for…some reason. It was so far back into my life I didn’t think it was important, but…well things have been changing in my life recently that might be connected to it.” She bit her lip a little. “When I was practicing tomecasting with Cin, my magic instantly took the shape of music notes. They even played music, and it gave me a headache. It’s…confusing to say the least.”

Tio blinked for a moment. “...Tomecasting? When were you… Mmm, never mind that, more importantly.” Tio sat up on her own before looking at Renais again, her eyes brightening a little. “They… took the shape of music notes? Mmm, magic, is… a sort of expression of both the world’s and our innate energies. As, as–” Tio yawned again, before deciding to lean a bit heavier on Elisa. “We are essentially… conduits for these energies, and it manifests differently in person to person. So,” She squeezed Elisa tightly, “Elisa’s magic tends to manifest in the way of spears; it’s, mmm, something fairly close to her and that she understands well enough that when she’s casting–giving shape to these… energies–they form in something that is well known to her.”

There was a long pause before Tio spoke next. She was a little too comfortable against Elisa. “It… probably does have something to do with your missing memories; do you recall anything having to do with music? Your… magic wouldn’t manifest that way if it wasn’t the case, and, mmm, headaches after using it aren’t typical.” Tio looked over at Elisa, “...I didn’t say anything off, did I? I’m… mmm.”

Magic shaping itself to be a form familiar to the caster was nothing special, but audible music notes was a bit esoteric, considering that was a very inefficient use of magic, as far as Elisa understood it. She silently wished Tio was a bit more of a morning person at times like this, although she couldn’t possibly ever be annoyed by her wife wanting to lean onto and hug her. “You left out the part where I had to train a couple years in using my magic like that before my closer-range spells started coming out as spears by default,” she corrected, feeling it was somewhat important with how spearfighting wasn’t a particularly early skill of hers either. “And I needed to figure something like that out if I wanted to try putting practice into the mana recombination theory Solara was researching at the time. But the way you said it happened, Renais, that’s just how magic naturally happens for you, like she explained.”

Missing memories, visions of death and devastation, headaches from music… It must have been some kind of trauma, but her magic retained imprinting from those times when her mind rejected it.

“A conduit…that all makes sense.” Renais looked aside and tried her best to recall if music was that important in her life. “...it’s so strange. I don’t listen to music often in my life, but well…” She looked aside. “I do remember during classes I was late, so I took a shortcut across the hallway straight toward the music room. As soon as I was in earshot of the room, I fainted. The next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary bed. My roommate Rose was so worried for me…” She tried again. “Other than that…mm, I don’t know. It’s frustrating, but it feels like something I forgot is locked up tight. I don’t know what to do…”

“Riight… I left a lot of that… out.” Tio didn’t really mind, Elisa would pick up the slack. She was a lot more talkative with Renais so she wasn’t as necessary to guide the conversation. Tio was starting to wake for real, but she was still rather tired. Though, something Renais said got Tio to raise her head. “You… passed out from hearing music?” That was a remarkably strange trigger. Or… was it? Tio sat up straight again, her violet eyes focused entirely on Renais. “I… don’t think you’re looking at that the right way, Renais. Your magic manifested as music notes, and even played a song. A song that… apparently gave you a headache. If… If I were to say anything, I’d believe that your memory is tied to a song.” 

Tio shook her head, trying to fight off her very strong desire to go back to sleep. “Do you remember anything about that song that played? If,” She yawned, and Tio slapped her own hand. “If we knew what it was, perhaps that might guide us to something. Or perhaps, it’s music at all that might trigger things.”

“Tied to a song…” She took those words close to heart as she pondered Tio’s question. “Hm, well…I do remember one yes. As a matter of fact, apparently I knew how to play the piano at some point. I don’t remember getting lessons of course but…we were looking for one the other day, I wanted to be sure I could play it. Maybe I could try recreating that song on the piano.” She lowered her head a little. “I just hope…this doesn’t lead to something bad. Maybe there’s a good reason why I forgot…”

It was at this point that a small black bird flew into the room, perching up high on one of the hanging paintings, head looking about everything without much direction.

“There usually is a good reason why people forget things so harshly,” Elisa simply affirmed, nodding to what the other two had spoken of. “But even if you remember something terrible, that doesn’t change the person you are now. The mental shock may be strong, but you’re still you. I know there are some things I’d like to forget about myself, and often do, yet if I try to cheat myself and say it hasn’t influenced me in who I’ve chosen to become, that’s wrong too. Whatever it is, I have to imagine you wouldn’t have become a healer without it. Because that’s what healers do, stop people from dying, right?” She may have been wildly off the mark, but it made sense to her, and Renais could use the reinforcement.

Briefly, she took note of the bird. It was as inconspicuous as a bird could be indoors, but that it was here at all told her whose it was, even if they hadn’t seen it before. I wonder what you think you’re going to find out from listening in… Whatever. He probably just wants to make sure nothing weird is going on.

“Hmm…” Tio tried to think harder, but the more she thought, the more she wanted to just flop back against Elisa and sleep more. Tio felt terrible that she wasn’t being anywhere near as much help as she should have been, and she couldn’t just push past it. “Like… Elisa said, you are who you are now regardless of what you may remember. You have the Tigers, and us as well, if things do truly become frightening.”

Tio shook her head, before looking at Renais with the most awake look that the still-exhausted Evoker could manage. “What follows is entirely up to you, Renais. Whichever you decide to do is your choice and your choice alone. We’ll do our best to help, no matter which you choose. If I… recall correctly, there is a piano here in Sarasin’s manse. Perhaps… that might prove useful?”

Renais failed to notice the bird at all, she was too busy stuck in her worried state, but Elisa’s words seemed to have reached Renais a little. She lifted her head up and watched the older woman. “That’s what healers do…yes, you’re right.” She nodded. “The very first thing I remembered is ending up in a bed practically an invalid, scared and shaking. I didn’t know what happened, but I knew it was enough to scar me. But my sister, Liza, she stayed by my side until I recovered. I became a healer to give back, to heal those in need.” Renais sounded more confident with that statement. “Whatever my memories may hold…knowing I’m not alone really makes me feel much better.” She turned to Tio, too. “A piano in the manor? I’ll have to see it before we leave, if that’s ok anyway…”

“Sounds like you’ve got a good reason to do what you do!” Elisa smiled to the acknowledgement she’d more or less been correct, happy Renais was both accepting and eager to solve her issues. How was another matter, but that they had a lead was much better than vague nothings, and even the possibility to get onto it before they’d continue on their route, should Sarasin be willing. And Sarasin was always willing if she was asking~

She shook Tio by her shoulder a bit, seeing she was at least very slightly more awake now than when Renais had asked to speak with them. “I can handle asking that from the big man, so you just rest up and get some food in you, alright?”

Elisa’s gentle jostling helped in Tio’s sluggish awakening. Food would definitely help in waking her, but today was going to be a long one. “I’m sure… that we’ll have time for you to check that piano. Sarasin… did want us to stick around for one of his messengers to return.” Tio stretched her arms, before she caught that she was still just in her nightgown. “Haha… sorry. It was a really, really long night. Was there anything… else you needed to talk to us about? If you’re here that means the Tigers… are too, and that means that Sarasin’s probably… waiting on us. So I… should get dressed. Mmm…”

Elisa’s encouragement was quite needed, it got a small smile out of Renais as she nodded. “I owe you a lot, Elisa. Thank you…” She bowed her head a little and looked to Tio. “Oh no, that’s about it. Thank you too, Tio.” She stood up and took another bow. “I’ll get back to the others then, let me know about that piano please.” She had to admit she was a little hungry from the trek, so with the promise of food in mind she quickly went to the door to leave. “Ah, actually, I just remembered! The commander wanted to see you both later, when you have the time. Anyway, thank you!” Out the door she went.

 

[GoldsbroTSG]

"Hmm..." Miria didn't have much of an input to add regarding Nyx's totally inconspicuous criminal past, but it was cool to Miria to know her now. She was a former criminal, at least, from Miria's understanding, so she had no issues with the idea, nor really had any intention to press on the idea at the moment. Maybe later, especially with the sudden look coming from Nyx. Miria got out of her seat, and walked herself over to just give her (normally) drunk companion a gentle shoulder rub, to try and help the woman relax. 

There wasn't much Miria could really add that wasn't I'll be here if you need something, but what really could Miria do aside from... exist? Helping Nyx with whatever was bothering her was probably a job better suited for Gean, or Syndra.

It was then the girl's golden eyes locked on a familiar pink-haired healer making her way into the room... going immediately into the wine. Miria snickered at the idea of drinking so early in the morning, but she wasn't going to judge. Instead, she rose up and started waving one of her hands to get Renais' attention.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Sarasin noticed the pink haired girl walk into the hall from the direction where Favio had walked, and where the Evoker's room was located. She must have been what was keeping them... If Favio hadn't returned, that meant he was probably assisting the Evokers along. That meant that it was best for him to get things underway, and let the Evokers fill in any gaps. The excitable clouded... snake? Lizard? Sarasin wasn't sure which but she was certainly intriguing. She asked the lovely commander about their next destination. "That is as good a segue as any." His lackadaisical and bombastic tone faded away into a more serious, focused tone. "Your next destination will be explained to you by the Evokers once they arrive, but it is different from your original plan. Tio's path had you avoid most large towns and cities, but, to my understanding, the Tigers have grown in size since the beginning of the request. As a precaution, I've pointed her to one of these cities to account for the swelling numbers. Though, this is only half the story, as I'm sure your fight from the evening before has told you." 

Sarasin pressed his glasses up once more, "Something rather dire has happened at the Axios Hall. For those of you who may be unaware; the Axios Hall is where the Axios Record twelve hundred years ago ended. It is the birth place of Amaranthe as it is today, and it serves as the resting place two of the twelve relics. The holy weapons that led the six tribes to victory over the Holy Lufirian Empire. They are national treasures unlike any other, and are heavily defended to the point thieves could only dream of possessing the strength and skill to break in and steal the weapons... yet that is exactly where we find ourselves. Against all odds, one of Hecatia's holy relics was stolen. The Knight of Altair are in an uproar and are doing everything they can to track down the thieves and bring the stolen relic back. Your fight yesterday was a microcosm of this because the thieves, allegedly, were largely clouded individuals. The messenger I am waiting on, Saiga, should have more information as to what the Knights have learned. However, I'm sure you see the issue." 

Sarasin looked around the room, gazing at the largely clouded outfit. "Because the Tigers are a largely clouded outfit, it's very likely that your mission will be hampered by the knights, and this turmoil. That is not to say that all of the knights share the same disgusting outlook at the men and women from the previous evening; Sylph and Amaryllis, guided by Celine Altair, wouldn't be an issue. However... the problem comes as I'm hearing that even Saint Veras is getting involved, given what was stolen. The formal Hecatian military may get involved if things aren't settled quickly, and if that happens, there may be more problems than finding our missing envoy can solve. Especially if the other rumor is true."

Edited September 1, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

Nothing new, as fat as Sari was concerned. This was information that head knight had blathered about while he was giving his speech the night before. What was actually worrying was the Saint getting themselves involved and this turning into a serious military engagement. We might have been able to handle a group of wayward knights that got full of themselves, but actual Hecatian military is going to be a severe issue. This is bad... Versaris cleared his throat and raised a hand to speak, addressing Sarasin with a smile. "And where, pray tell, is Celine currently? If you know, that is. I'm an... old acquaintance, haven't seen her in quite some time, but it would probably grease the wheels of our travel were we to find and speak with her. An errant group of knights is one thing; if an entire Hecatian militia detachment comes after us on the same suppositions that saw poor Üllr detained, I'm sure we'll be killed, or worse. Even with the Evokers present... There's only so much two people can do against that many bodies."

It was true that the Evokers were powerful and despite his words, even Versaris wasn't sure that an entire military detachment would be enough to stop them. Still, it would be better to ere on the side of extreme caution with this situation. "And, what was stolen, was... Escaflowne, yes? That idiot was babbling about it quite loudly last night. I'm surprised the whole country isn't aware of the situation with how much he gave away." It wasn't a terrible idea to prod Sarasin and see if he knew more than he was giving. Maybe he was just waiting for the Evokers to arrive before showing the rest of his cards. Couldn't trust these Tigers until he saw they were his favorites favorites~

Alvira was taken aback by the news, unsure of what to say. That dang elf rattled off a bunch of words that seemed to be prodding for more, but she couldn't really tell, these kinda of conversations weren't her strong suit. "If anyone else tries to do what those knights did, we just show them they're messing with the wrong clouded... At least, if talking doesn't work. I managed to talk one of them down... Even if I couldn't change her mind. Wish the rest had listened." She sighed, frowning and staring at the ground. She didn't like taking lives when it could be helped. Bandits, pirates, brigands; those were all one specific subset of people. They made their livings on the wellbeings of others and as far as Alvira was concerned, they gave up their right to life as soon as they took someone else's. These knights, however... They had been in the wrong, but they were still... Regular people. Sworn to an oath and, even if they had Üllr on display, it wasn't clear if they'd actually killed anyone. It had come to blows, but did it have to? Did it always have to...?

Sixteen slid off her chair at this point, approaching Sarasin with slit-eyed wonder, circling him quickly a few times before sitting in front of him in another squat, tail whipping behind her and making a myriad of shapes. "Tell us where we're gonna go! Give us the name! We don't need to wait for the Evokers for that, right?" She was almost tempted to touch him, but her senses told her otherwise. That man from before that had basically floated off, he was dangerous and he was protecting this Sarasin fellow. If she put a claw on him, even non-threatening, she felt he'd spring out of nowhere and try to remove it. She was getting goosebumps just thinking about it. I almost wanna try to test my reaction time... Mmmm... Time and place, time and place.

That left Siorel, who has been very suddenly placed into Cinaed's lap with a little yelp escaping her as she was. "Rude!" She snatched the strawberry out of his fingers with a quick bite, huffing and leaning back against him. "So mean~ Ask before you pick me up... Or don't~ It's fun for now... We'll see if it ever gets truly frustrating." She snickered and glared a playful look back at him, flicking her tongue out for just a second. "Maybe I'll have to show you what happens when you mess with me too much, Cinaed~" She wasn't paying too much attention to the reports, all things she'd also heard last night from that last knight. If they had to fight more, they'd do just that! They'd all deserved it, anyway.

[scorri]

"Hmm... You're cute when you squeak like that." Cin wrapped his arms around Siorel, enjoying the sensation of her against his chest, even as he listened in on the conversation at large, doing his best to split his attention between the two. "If you really want me to stop, all you need to do..." So clouded stole this artifact, that tracks with what was getting yelled last night, and to involve the whole military... "Ah, all you'll need to do is ask. I would never do something you didn't want me to do." The joking threat would normally have worried him quite a bit, he knew how forward she could be and didn't want to see what she could come up with if pushed, but he barely even heard it, having fallen back into worry as he thought through their predicament more. "I'm with Alvira, especially her second point. As many as we can talk down from fighting, the better. Bloodshed will just make things worse." Hopefully Sari can get in contact with this Celine. Get us safe passage perhaps, or at least give us something that could slow someone down long enough for us to talk them down... Things are getting complicated. But we have a job to do. So I need to be ready for the worst... He dropped one hand down and away from Siorel, back behind himself, almost as if he'd just needed to stretch his arm for a second. While it was back there, he quickly pulled up a flame, starting to run it through his normal exercises. He managed to get further than the previous night, but before long he could feel the flame change, start to coat his hand in what he knew without looking were fiery scales. He quickly dismissed the spell with a frown, bringing his hand back up around Siorel. I have to figure this out. And soon.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Sarasin cocked her eyebrow at Versaris, "An acquaintance? Intriguing... perhaps dropping the Amaryllis's name alone would be enough to guarantee passage, but I'm sure you already pulled that card. As for her whereabouts... all I know is that she's personally in pursuit as well. As I said, the Axios Hall is an incredibly well guarded location, and not only did people break in, they managed to escape with a relic. So Artorius would not be sparing anything in the pursuit to find the Escaflowne. The Amaryllis are performing their own search, as they normally do... perhaps if you manage to stumble upon one of them they could guide you to the lovely commander." It appeared that the name of the blade was already out. So there was no reason for him to hold it back. 

"I do have to say that it will be quite some time before the Hecatian military mobilizes if they are to mobilize at all. I sincerely doubt that your group will come across them before you're out of the frying pan and into the fire that is Islexia. I--" The excitable lizard asked, almost demanding to know the name of their next location. She circled, him, and then plopped down right in front of him. Sarasin blinked fast, bewildered at what had just occurred. "I. Hello to you too. Yes, yes, I suppose there is no reason to wait. You'll be heading to Cere--" As Sarasin spoke, he finally heard footsteps approaching from where the Evokers should have been, and sure enough, the two buxom mages finally arrived, Elisa smiling, and Tio looking still as if she had just awoken. "Aha. Speak of divinity and they shall appear..." 

[Nanami Touko]

"Coward~" Siorel chided, reaching a hand up to tap his chin before relaxing and paying attention to the conversation.

"Cere? Cere what? Hmm?" Sixteen wasn't happy about receiving half an answer, glancing past him to see the Evokers. "Divinity? Who's divine? Them? They're just people! Why do you call the Evokers Gods Mister Sarasin? Do you worship them? Del explained Gods to me once, but I didn't get it." Sixteen paid no mind to how embarrassed this might make Sarasin, simply too curious to be contained, especially after getting denied a proper answer.

Versaris merely put his face into his hand, glancing past a finger at Sixteen. She was going to get herself in trouble one of these days.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Mel the DM

[Xinnidy]

"Hmm? Oh, I guess... people aren't that friendly with me either, though..." Üllr wasn't exactly confident he'd help being much of a guide, but he trusted himself enough to protect Sixteen if something weird were to happen interacting with humans. He certainly seemed to understand how to deal with them more than her, if a little.

...Speaking of which.

"Ah..." Before he knew it, Sixteen was off on her own getting up on Sarasin's personal space. Thankfully, he was an agreeable human. This could be an issue to address later. "I think, he just likes them." Leaving his meal, Üllr stood up, slowly approaching Sixteen --having to mind for that tail, as well. "People say things but don't mean all of it." To be fair, it was one of the thing Üllr didn't fully get why, either. People were strange.

[TheRoon]

When Miria waved Renais over, the pinkette approached her friend and nodded. Before they could chat however, news about the break in at Axios Hall came into play. "...a holy relic, missing?" She turned in concern, and of course the Hecatian military was active as well. Of course that meant the group might be easier to spot out and confront if they make a wrong move, Alvira expressed a diplomatic route before an aggressive one which Renais could only nod in agreement. "...yesterday taught us a lot, and I'd like to progress without hurting others as well. I can't imagine it's going to be an easy road either way though, especially with such heavy news." Her worries for her sister's safety only grew on top of that, she couldn't help but clench the wine cup tightly.

[MRDRHAWK]

Nyx only vaguely registered the news of the relic being missing - she’d never known very much about them, besides the fact that swiping any of them would be the crown jewel in the cap of any legendary thief in Hecatia. She instead found herself cautiously comforted by both Gean and Miria, and Nyx sighed, perhaps too loudly.

”M’fine, ye two, really. S’not somethin’ ye can help me wit anyways.” The offer of getting a healer was tempting, but Nyx knew better. The only healer they had that actually, well, healed people around here was scared shitless of her. That would only make her anxieties worse. “Jus’ thinkin’ too hard bout shit. Really, m’good.”

She wasn’t, at all. Especially not with how she was noticing there was some very real issues with the clarity her memories surrounding the night of the Caravan Incident, and anyone really involved in it. But there were worse issues to be tackled than one woman’s memory problems, so she chose to leave it be. “S’nice that yer even botherin’ t’check up on me, though. Really, ‘preciate it.” A small statement, hopefully enough for Nyx to dissuade the two from pressing further, and revealing her being absolutely not fine whatsoever.

[GoldsbroTSG]

Miria continue to massage Nyx's shoulders despite listening that 'she's good'. Miria of course, wasn't that blind to Nyx, but she was going to push anything either. She was too busy thinking about what Sarasin had said regarding their journey, and it made Miria's skin start to crawl.

She really hadn't thought about the idea of... their actions attracting the attention of knights, organized military. It was one thing, to beat down bandits, pirates and criminals, but knights? And with this stolen relic, there's no telling if the knights would engage on site if the potential of the Tigers being thieves was there at all. 

That sucks for them, definitely, but it put a moderate amount of fear in Miria. It was one thing, running from home because of assassins. But knights? If they really wanted to...

Miria steeled herself. Instead of potentially worrying her fellow Tigers, she gave a light smile to Renais and Gean. "If we run into them, we just... gotta protect ourselves each other? Right? We gotta get our mission done." It was the best response Miria could give to her companions.

[Bluemask 96]

Well matters had finally gotten serious. Sarasin's update had confirmed why the knights from last night where acting out, and that the group's travel plans were making a slight change. Sure things might get trickier now but with the brains of our group working together, Gean didn't feel as worried. Still, for a group of clouded to not only infiltrate one of the most top security places in Hecatia, but also steal a legendary artifact from it was no small feat in the slightest. Gean was getting a nagging feeling from all this, but she couldn't understand why.

Thinking on it wasn't getting her anywhere, so Gean decided the best idea was to get something else to eat, maybe it was just her stomach. Before she made her way to the food table, she brushed a hand over Renais shoulder. Gean wasn't going to pry over Renais business, but it was good that she got her talk in with the approaching Evokers. Making it to the food table, Gean picked up a plate of fruit and ham as well as a fork.