Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 3: A peaceful respite?

[Kanami]

With Esphyr calming down, the group picked up their pace as headed for the location Chase had mentioned, "Umm, not to be rude or anything" she started this time hoping she wouldn't get snapped at "How exactly are we supposed to get to this hideout? I doubt the guards at the gate are going to let us pass, not with that still looming over the city" she said indicating the trail of smoke coming from the inn. "Leaving in a hurry now is like asking them to suspect us?" she stated to the closest person.(*Can be anyone)

[Ansem]

Helios noticed Esphyr fall. "Can you heal her" He asked Tessa. Then he noticed a lone knight approaching. Mark. "Lo-" Helios threw his Elwind tome at Marks face. "Woops that was my fault". "The book slipped out of my hand". Mark approached Damian. He remembered what Helios told him. "Sir Damian allow me to fight with you". "Helios is a friend of mine and i wish to fight with him".

[Balcerzak]

[[OOC: This post is 100% in the past. It covers me catching up to when the burly men come out. I will continue to catch up in further posts, as I sift through what has happened and craft some way to fit in/summarize. My actions won't directly affect anything significantly as it's all already happened, but they can add in flavor, or perhaps additional information. It's also my policy to make sure my character actually acts or at least observes as she should whenever present, as best the flow of the narrative allows it, without just leaving chunks of missing time.

First relevant post

Last relevant post

Oh, also Nadesico, Tessa actually can fight with a sword, she just wasn't carrying one with her at the time (no need), which makes Kamilla's observations all logical based on provided evidence, even though they were truly incorrect. I don't know if this will become important or not.

]]

The waitress had expressed a bit of skepticism or maybe surprise when Tessa had told her the name of her branch of the faith, and proceeded to explain the common local variants, the Septimian reform and the Lunaism heresy. She did acknowledge that some sects had pretty much not gotten involved with the recent happenings, and at this Tessa nodded and chimed in a bit.

"Yes, yes. That definitely sounds like the policy of the monastery. The history of The Lord and The Lady is a long and varied one, and while yes, certain recent events have had large and notable impact, they are certainly not, nor should they be, the be all and end all of one's devotion to The Lady or one's opposition to The Lord. To believe otherwise, and to put too much stress on the issues of the immediate is too shortsighted a path, and so for much of this we have remained withdraw from these ongoing factional politics."

After this, the waitress continued to try to allude to the possibility that Tessa were a spy working under cover, and seemed to be doing her best to cast as much suspicion as she could on her, which Tessa found most annoying, but she had no other defenses to add, so kept silent with a slight scowl crossing her face every now and again.

When she'd asked for information on revealing details specific to the group, she had remained tight-lipped on the matter, following Morgan's advice from yesterday about not revealing too much, and how she had disapproved of Helios offering up information to Katie unbidden. Arrin as well was evasive on the subject, though in his case it was more likely that he simply didn't know, so she let him take the lead on things, and simply followed his example.

The interrogation kind of broke down, as they seemed to have fulfilled the goal of uncovering the information that Morgan intended them to find out, but were unsure how to proceed with further negotiations. At first it seemed the woman wanted them to bribe her, but that fell through quickly, then she continued to press for information on the group composition, which they were unwilling to provide. The were going nowhere, and quickly, until some others who'd been passing through the hallway had joined in.

It was Isotov's appearance in particular that set things off, as the waitress suddenly took quite defensive measures. Isotov only worsened the situation by suggesting they take the woman hostage, and flat-out admiting to being a criminal. Tessa's opinion of him dropped like a rock. What else had this man done on top of the arson from yesterday? She certainly hoped she never had occasion to find out. However, it might have just been some poor attempt as a joke, as he just turned and continued on his way. Nevertheless, Tessa could not approve of a joke in such poor taste. Could he not read the situation at all?

In Isotov's wake, Morgan stepped forward out of the shadows, where she had apparently been listening the whole time, and seconded the notion of taking her hostage. At this, Tessa was forced to actually consider the merits of the idea, and forced to admit that there were indeed some benefits, although she still couldn't help but find it more than a bit distasteful. At any rate, she looked to Morgan with a questioning expression on her face, hopefully conveying that she was curious whether she had done all right at the given task of questioning. Morgan seemed to have understood, as she replied with a slight nod before continuing as she was while Kelas was trying to argue for more moderate measures. Tessa found herself continually looking back and forth between the women, and unable to really come to a clear conclusion on which was the better way to proceed. Morgan decided that decisive action was better than wasting time discussing it, and stepped forward and grabbed a tome from the waitress, provoking some small retribution before she managed to wrest it away. Tessa recognized the spell, though she'd never seen one cast that was quite that weak looking.

Kamilla was now clearly at a disadvantage: defenseless, unarmed, and surrounded. At least until a nearby door burst open, and some rather rough looking men poured out.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas stepped forward, slinging an arm around Esphyr's shoulders before she fell over backwards. "Over here," she sighed, half-carrying the swordswoman over to the packhorse.

Esphyr fell forward, leaning against the saddle, and Kelas picked up her left foot, bringing it up to the stirrup. She got her arms around Esphyr's waist and lifted the swordswoman up a bit, and Esphyr, vaguely recognizing the situation, kicked her right foot out, barely clearing the horse's back. Kelas didn't let go, but shoved Esphyr into the right position in the saddle, then tied her into place with a couple of extra belts from her pack, as Esphyr complained, "Sir, I assure you I am... quite... all righh..."

"There. If you pass out, you won't fall off. Arrin, keep a good hold on the lead, I'm going to stay next to her. Amari, se."

As the group finally began to move, attracting various stares, Kelas said loudly, "Really, Milady, you mustn't get into the poppy so much! You worry us servants and guards so!" The crowd dispersed a bit, shaking their heads and muttering about "fool nobles."

A little further down the road they were met by an unfamiliar knight, who greeted Helios. The man strode up to Damian and began to speak. "Oh gods, more?" Kelas groaned.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Ether]

A knight had approached Damian asking to fight.

"It's not my decision,but if you'll be useful and not cause too much trouble,then no complaints."

The knight nodded,and Damian turned to Kamilia.

"I apologize for all of this,but we have been rather on edge lately.Still,that is no excuse." Upon saying this,Damian bowed his head in apology as well.

[Kanami]

"Taken aback by the sudden apology, Kamilla quickly bowed head towards the soldier "Uhm err, no the faults all mine I'm sorry" she blurted out, not really sure what was her fault but it was usually the best way to get out of trouble. "I was a bit upset over having my tome confiscated" she said, placing an affectionate finger over her tome, "but she doesn't seem like she's as bad as she acts, though a bit paranoid" she said looking towards Morgan who seemed to be in somewhat of a bad mood after being knocked to the ground and receiving the puppy dog kiss on her cheek.

As Mark filed in with the rest of the group she couldn't help but wonder, how many people were in the group. It seemed to be increasing with each passing moment. It wasn't uncommon for mercenaries to team up, but this group was so big, it was like asking people to notice them. She recalled her original view of the group, "soldiers, mercenaries, mages, sisters and nomads......." There was no way of convincing anyone that this was a troop of soldiers. She glanced at Esphyr who was kicking in her sleep like a dying cockroach, the man(Kelas) seemed to not mind her kicking and simply led his horse away. "Such an odd group" she said quietly to herself

[Ansem]

Mark nodded and headed to next to Helios. "Did you find your sister" Helios asked Mark. "I have" Mark said. "She is home right now". "They raised the bounty on your head a little more". "They are growing desperate". "Whatever happens you mustn't die". Helios listened to what Mark said. They want the crest of Tora. Those bastards are going to burn. "Mark for now you will not refer to me as Eluress or your lord". "I am under the Alias of Helios". "I dont know if anyone in this group might turn me in but i would rather not like to risk it". Mark nodded.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[Balcerzak]

[[OOC: Continuation of the catching up. Still 100% in the past.

Last relevant post]]

The timing of the thugs bursting out of their room was matched nearly exactly by the return of Arrin, who had gone to fetch Damian. Only, he hadn't actually brought Damian with him, rather the arson mage and the mute sorceress. Isotov provoked one of the men, who grabbed him by the collar, and then all too quickly, Tessa watched on with horror as a billowing plume of flame suddenly erupted and engulfed the man!

Tessa quickly scampered forward, and put her hands on the ash and muttered earnest prayers, but it was to no avail. Even if she'd brought her staff from the room with her, it still would have been far too late. A few tears rolled down her cheek, and she quickly wiped them away, leaving a streak of ash on her face. She was more angry than anything else. Angry at the quite clearly disproportionate level of response to the threat offered by the man. It was no better than a common criminal killing a man in cold blood. This was no fight, merely slaughter.

However there was no time to be standing about, as the lingering heat, and sidedrafts from the main focus point had lit the floor and walls right up, and things were likely to turn into a small inferno. Having acted on impulse, Tessa found herself near the center, and with little room for escape, when suddenly the bulk of the flames mysteriously retreated, somehow flowing back into Isotov.

There were still a fair bit of residual flames, and she could feel the uncomfortable heat on her skin, and just knew that she was coming out of this with more than a few light burns, but she had to act quickly. She saw Kelas race upstairs, and quickly followed her, diverging when they went into their own rooms. Tessa grabbed her staff, her satchel, and any other belongings that she could carry, then hurriedly made her way out of the inn. As she did, she passed Esphyr, who had gotten water, and was in the process of dowsing most of the conflagration.

Reaching the knot of people that had formed outside the inn, she made her way to the rest of the group and was not surprised to find Morgan arguing with Isotov. She had clearly disapproved of the man's actions as well, and since she was currently on a roll, Tessa let her do all of the scolding for now, keeping quite silent until the young mage turned to her and asked if things were always like this. Tessa couldn't do anything but shrug her shoulders, as she really had no idea what was or was not typical. She opened her mouth to reply further, but then coughed harshly a couple of times, likely because of the smoke inhalation. She leaned on him for a bit of support, then looked up to see a contingent of soldiers headed their way.

It's just one thing after another, isn't it? she thought.

[Phoenix]

OOC: I should comment that I actually like what Bal is doing. The fact that he's so slow, or rather not on often enough is actually helping in the end. His catch up posts are useful for reviewing an entire set of events in one post, and they tend to update the situation, since some of us ... Kai <_< can't be bothered to check previous pages. Anywyvern ...

Iso walked along the wall trying to blend in forget about what had happened. It was easy to forget with Esphyr on the fritz. Suddenly, Irina came skyrocketing down! She swooped to a sliding landing, and then somersaulted off of Kiev! She landed in the middle of the group, and ignoring everyone else, she rushed over to Isotov and hugged him! She kissed him three times on the cheek and nearly crushed him!

Iso: Okay ... what did I miss?

Kelas: What did you do about the soldiers?

Irina: Iso, let me just say that, you are the best brother EVER!

Iso: I'm your only brother EVER <_<

Irina: Quick, quick! Burn down something else! I can make a fortune this way!

Kelas: What are you talking about? Did those soldiers hire you to find Isotov?

Irina snickered mischievously.

Irina: Yes 2,000 gold, my friends! Cursed weapons, my butt! I wish you were with me when I first started out.

Iso: Good, that should cover the cost of repairing the inn.

Irina: What?

Iso: If you're going to break Ivanko's mercenary code, at least do it for a good reason.

Irina: Okay ... you're right.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Phoenix

[Inactive Account]

Arrin overheard the green-haired mage talking to the newcomer. Nobility? Ah well... he had his reasons. Arrin saw nothing that required him to mention what he'd heard to anyone.

He looked over his shoulder, checking on the swordswoman: she'd slumped over forwards in the saddle, but wasn't going to fall off. Kelas was making sure she stayed in one place. He fidgeted with the lead rope. The horse seemed gentle enough, but it still made him nervous... and it shouldn't; he was born a nomad, if not raised as one...

He ducked as the shadow of the wyvern sailed over him, though the packhorse barely twitched an ear. And he was going to get used to this?

"More of the spectacular entrances!" Kelas exclaimed, though she barely cared anymore. "Anyway, now we're all here, and there's the town gates. Looks like we've made it."

[Balcerzak]

[[OOC: I know Kelas told Arrin to lead the pack-horse, I borrowed him as a support for a bit longer, before letting him do his thing.

Also, I'm just gonna say she got caught up in a bit of the weed smoke as well as regular smoke, but it affected her a bit differently than Esphyr. And now I'm all caught up and in the present. Someone will probably need to help Tess out a bit, though.]]

Tessa continued to cough for a bit, while leaning on Arrin, and things were a bit hazy and she was feeling slightly dizzy, and more than a little hungry. She was having trouble focusing on exactly what was happening. She saw the approaching soldiers, realized it wasn't really a good thing, but couldn't quite bring herself to care quite what was going to come out of it. Conversations were buzzing back and forth all around. Escape? Stalling? Misdirection? Hiding? Various alternatives were brought up, considered, discarded, or maybe even decided on, she wasn't quite sure.

A direct address from Helios snapped her out of her reverie briefly. He asked her to heal Esphyr, so she stepped forward a bit, wobbled, gave a prayer and touched the staff to her. It didn't glow or give any impression of having been successful, so she shrugged and told the green-haired man, "I can only cure the physical. If it's all in her head, it's out of my hands."

Kelas came forward, though, and took care of Esphyr, getting her set up, and ready to go. Tessa looked around for Arrin, but the lad was now running other errands, and she couldn't really trouble him further. Unsure quite what to do, she just stood there with a dumb expression on her face.

[Ether]

"Seems some of your tenants were drug happy."

Damian was annoyed.It seemed Tessa had been affected,less so than Esphyr though.

"C'mon Tessa,just come with me,okay?" Aiya said gently to the troubadour,bracing her by wrapping an arm around her back.

[Kanami]

Kamilla watched as the wyvern set down, it might not be unusual for a mercenary, but it was something that definitely drew attention in such a backwater border town. As Irina explained her story Kamilla frowned, she didn't think the guards would have enough money in their pockets to pay such a large sum of money, she wasn't even sure if it was enough to repair the damages done, since the innkeep would need to refund the other patrons, and demand excess for being put out of business. She frowned at Irina's joy, "No different from a common thief, probably worse" she muttered to herself.

"If she's having trouble walking maybe you should let her get on her mount?" she asked Aiya and Tessa, "Or perhaps ask your boyfriend over there to carry you" she finished indicating the clueless Arrin who looked like as if leading the horse was a life or death situation for him.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Nadesico

[Balcerzak]

When Aiya came up and put her arm around Tessa, she smiled, and hugged her back, and let the red-haired woman lead her around. They hadn't got too far before the waitress mentioned her horse. That seemed to snap her out of it quickly.

"Trevor?!" she panicked, and looked around for him, but upon seeing that he was nearby and unharmed relieved her completely, and she sunk back into mild complacency. She nodded to Aiya and pointed at the horse and said "Trevor~", with a voice oozing love, and a desire to ride him. The rest of Kamilla's commentary was either ignored, or lost in the haze, as she let herself be guided to her mount.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan was rather taken aback by Esphyr's sudden display of emotion. It was...unusual to say the least. However, her fainitng provided a valid explanantion for her behavior.

Morgan stopped Tessa "I'm not sure horseback riding is really the best idea right now, you're a little out of it and being thrown off would be... unfortunate" She grabbed tessa by the hand and led her away from Trevor.

[Kanami]

Kamilla watched in amusement as Morgan led Tessa away with Trevor trailing close behind them, "What exactly is she trying to do?" she asked no one in particular, when a man barked out "Halt." She turned around and sure enough they were at the gate, she wasn't sure what the group had planned, but surely they had some idea of how they were going to handle this, otherwise they wouldn't have ignored her questions until now.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Nadesico

[Phoenix]

OOC: Dang, Nady. I thought Kai was the one with all the initiative, and then up until last night, I thought it was me, but you seem to have no problem throwing the entire group into new situations. You may be able to help me start Shanice related events, though I need to take care of the first one myself as it's critical to Iso and Irina's backstories.

Iso kept his head down and hid both of his fire tomes beneath his cloak. The gate guards may or may not have gotten word about the inn.

Iso: -_-

Irina: :(

Kiev: :3

[Inactive Account]

Kelas turned towards the source of the command. A guard was standing watch. He looked more businesslike than those blasted border guards at least... "Dan, Amari, she told the horse, and held onto Esphyr while Arrin stopped the packhorse. She looked to Damian for orders.

Arrin remembered the guards in this town to be thorough, but not corrupt... hopefully, this would go well. The morning had already been too eventful.

OOCedit: ^Am I right in guessing that Kiev's thinking of eating the guards? XD

Edited May 5, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Ansem]

OOC: I had the state test today and getting the second third part tomorrow so i have to limit my posts

[Kanami]

As the group stalled for an answer, another cry rang out from behind them "Captain, they're at the west gate!" a soldier shouted as a few more came into view. The man that had paid Irina took a step out of the group, "Good work lass, though what's this? Friends of yours? I was right for ordering my men to follow you."

Noticing Irina's shocked expression the guard smirked "You didn't really think we'd just hand you all that money and let you run off did you? It might have taken awhile for us to catch up, but we figured they'd try to leave town, just needed to know which gate, and the direction you flew off towards was more then enough indication."

Silence from the group allowed the man to continue "We patrol these rotting streets, we're used to the population not cooperating and trying to fool us, if I've learned one thing from this town it's to not trust anyone"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kamilla glared at Irina, "Good going"

Edited May 5, 2010 by Nadesico

[Ansem]

Dammit. I knew that kid was only going to slow us down. Not to mention his ditz of a sister. "What is the problem" He asked the guards. He already knew what had happened but thought that maybe he could bluff his way through. Mark didn't seem to see this as a threat. "We can always kill them and move on" He whispered to Helios. "If we do that then we will just attract more attention" Helios replied softly. "We cant bribe these bastards either". "Looks like we might have to be honest on this one.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas thought fast. She heard the mage's comment, knew it would never work... If Isotov was found out, the others would be too... while nobody was looking she loosed her hair from its braid, about to do something insane. We need a diversion.

"Arrin, tell them to get through the gate and I'll meet them later. Don't follow me," Kelas hissed, pulling an old unused journal, conveniently bound in red, from her pack along with a flint. The mens' attention was still on Irina... if Isotov and the others played along with this, they should be safe. She took the flint to the edge of the book's pages: they began to burn. Well, it looked menacing enough. Kelas ran into the middle of the group as though looking for an escape, and held the burning book aloft. Helios' mare spooked conveniently, and as Kelas cried in a slightly deepened voice, "Amari Dai Proxima!" her mare reared, charging one of the guards in feigned panic. The guards scattered at the threat of a spell, shouting, and Kelas set off running down the street. The soldiers quickly pursued, and Kelas heard Irina shout, "Get him!" Excellent, they were playing along. "Amari, lanpai!" Kelas called, but the horse was already running alongside her, and she sprang onto the mare's back, tossed the burning journal into a rain barrel, and headed for another gate.

Arrin looked after his sister in shock. Most of the guards had gone now... "Wait was that guy holding the Crimson Tome? How scary!" he exclaimed unconvincingly. "Come on, everyone, let's get going..."

OOC: Yes. Yes she did just try to impersonate a Crimson Wielder.

Edited because my adjective choices bothered me. Nothing important changed.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Kanami]

Kamilla looked at Isotov then at the nomad as he disappeared down the streets, most of the guards following close behind. Were all these people insane? A few guards walked up to the group, clearly to question the group on why the fire mage had been hiding among them. "So where do you think you're going?" one of the soldiers asked.

Kamilla opened her mouth, but decided it'd be better if she kept quiet, she couldn't speak on behalf of the group, she barely knew them, she saw Arrin trying to make something up, and shook her head, they had an unconcious girl strapped to the back of a horse, and more then one of them had black soot covering their garments.

"You were near the inn at the time it caught fire weren't you?" the guard asked eyeing Esphyr suspiciously.

"Why did you run? What are you hiding?"

*Edit, for some reason I wrote *Kamilla opened her "mind"* instead of "mouth" *facepalm*

Edited May 6, 2010 by Nadesico

[Ansem]

"Luna" Helios shouted. The horse was in quite some shock from seeing the fire. Helios dismounted. He started petting the horse. The horse calmed down a bit though riding it would prove rather rash and arrogant. Helios looked to see the Kelas ride away. She must have distracted the guards. Helios waited for everyone elses reaction before saying anything

[Phoenix]

Iso: (Grrr ... still one left ... ... tell hell with it!) Listen, pal, you don't want to do this.

Irina: >_<

Irina quickly knelt down to Kiev and whispered something to him/ into his (dragon ear?)! Kiev immediately freaked out, and bum rushed the guard! He was knocked onto the ground, and Kiev grabbed him by the foot and dragged him several meters across the ground! As he panicked, Irina grabbed Iso and ran through the gate! Kiev eventually flew the guard up to the top of the watch tower, the VERY top! He let him go and he was stuck up on the flag pole! Kiev then came down and ran after the others on all fours!

Iso: How many unique commands does that wyvern know?

Irina: One hundred and one :)

Iso: