Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 19: To catch a Priestess

[Snowy_One]

Kaileen looked up at the strange man as he approached, her boy clasping tightly to her hand as he hid behind her. She gave him a odd look, questioning, confused. She had spent most of her time in seclusion except for those who came to her at times to seek her healing. How did he know her name? "I am Kaileen, but not the woman you seek." she started, testing him with the lie. "At least, I don't think I am. You seek a holy mother, not a woman and her son, correct?" she asked. If the man knew whom it was he was actually looking for, she knew the fact she had a child would mean little as they would know about him. Yet if they were looking for a divine priestess favored by the goddess, the illusion that clerics were forbidden from the act of making a child would dissuade him. One could never be to careful with strangers on the road. They weren't like guards. They weren't confident in their armor as often and more likely to attack for fame.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

A Better Solution

Iso: We're not taking anyone else with us. It'll risk the whole mission. Both Irina and Aiya studied magic at one point, and if I have to I'll give her a refresher. Just have Irina hold one of the dolls and Aiya hold the other. Simple enough, but we're not taking anyone else (especially not Rita ... it's too dangerous for those kinds of shenanigans.).

Meanwhile Irina herself had gotten Kiev and led him over closer to the group before putting his saddle bags back on. She hadn't yet heard about what was going on.

Lev: (Irina with a spirit doll? It's true she did study magic with her mother and Iso in the old days, and she was far ahead of Iso at the time, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if she remembered anything useful ...)

[Snike]

Escape Artist

"... You scratched my armor, and passed out," Derek said, trying to polish the scratches out of his chest plate now that the princess had departed. "I was about to go get a healer. Oh, that's your friend, coming over here, isn't it?" he said, disappearing in the hopes that she'd be distracted by the shaman.

Game-Changer

"I am not sure, in reality," the man admitted, eyes still closed. "I simply am searching for a woman by the name of Kaileen, to pass a message onto, from the Goddess. Perhaps I am mistaken, but there is a certain presence that is similar to hers, surrounding you." He could sense that she was cautious, but let himself show no sign of it.

[Snowy_One]

"A message from the Goddess?" exclaimed Kaileen, her voice short as she gasped in shock, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Quickly, she turned to the child and whispered into his ear. The boy nodded understandingly and rushed over to a nearby tree to sit under it. "I am she whom you seek." she said, turning so that her back was to the boy. She reached around, putting her hand upon the mans shoulder as she tried to guide him off the road and away from the boy. "It's been so long since I talked to her. Ever since... that night. What... what does she say? Has she chosen to reprimand me at last for what we did?"

[Snike]

Message

"... I've no idea of what you speak," the man said, "But, the Lady bids that you stop the healing, so to speak. Perhaps you would know more about it?" So, he was right. Well, that was a step towards something, wasn't it?

[Phoenix]

Gambits and Speculation

Ivanko: Not convincing enough for you? Keep in mind that the offer is not a privilege but a once in a lifetime opportunity.

He slowly grabbed his mug while eying Svetlana and took another drink before setting it down and nudging the larger container to the edge of the desk.

Ivanko: It's a good year, if you want some.

Finally he sat down in his chair and leaned back a bit putting his fingertips together.

Ivanko: Dare I assume what got you in here was a one way trip? If not ... you might be in need of an exit strategy ... just in case you win.

Interesting Offer

Ixion: (Hmm, that's interesting. What Ivanko is up to isn't so incredibly obscure that a genius couldn't solve the mystery. After all ... I did. However I was not expecting this.) ... we just might be. Tell me of this offer.

Daneka: (Excellent. If zere is one zing I've learned from watching Jace work, it's zat anything zat isn't a flat out no eventually becomes a yes, begrudginly or ozerwise heheheheh.)

[Snowy_One]

"Aye, and I have done my part towards that end as much as I can." responded Kaileen. "I heal using herbs and nature, and not getting hurt in the first place. Whenever someone comes to me begging to heal, I instruct them to do their best to not be wounded so that the lady is no longer drained. Alas, the fact is, no matter what I say, the power of the staff is too great for people to give up the comfort for even a month. None can enter the goddesses halls any more, for they have all been cast out for various reasons, and the spirits sleep and no longer carry messages."

[Psych]

Cess and Rita:

"Owwww.....my head. ;_;" Rita tried to stand, wobbling at first, before Cess caught her.

"Morgan said she needed to use our spirit dolls for the plan. So I came to get you."

"Alright, let me come with." Rita tried taking a step towards the castle, before turning her head and vomiting. "Uggg. Everything is spinning. Maybe I should wait here." Cess helped Rita walk inside, before setting her down on a bench near the front. He went and got her some water, before going and retrieving his horse, and heading towards the others.

Rita took the doll out of her bag, setting it next to her, before laying down and closing her eyes.

[Dark Sage]

Heading to where the others were, Alferis saw Reika kneeling on the ground sweat pouring down her face. He kneeled next to her and pat her back, picking her up a bit with his arm.

"Hey, you ok? You're really sweaty and look terrible."

"I'm fine. Now get your hands off me," she snarled. "Anyway, we're going with the bigger group with Morgan and everyone."

"I know. Thanks anyway. I got briefed. It's...really not a good plan."

"Whatever. I don't really care."

"Mmmm....Hey everyone, when are we moving out?" Alferis called out.

[Ether]

Following the conversation rather loosely, taking in the information, of course, but not bothering with the minute details, Aiya piqued up when she was mentioned.

Hearing Isotov bring up his idea, Aiya spoke.

"A spirit doll? I guess I could use one, but I don't know all of the details about them... if I recall correctly, it involves sending a small spark of mana into the doll, and visualizing the other person with the doll. The doll carries the pulse of mana to the other doll, which the holder gets as a message... but if I'm wrong, I might need a refresher." Aiya finished, waiting for a response from one of the more recently educated magi.

*****************

With the traces of dark magic fading from the area, Damian sighed. The tension throughout his body began to fade, and his skin began to return to a more normal colour.

'If this works... then I guess I'll never have to go through this hell again...'

Newly resolved, Damian pushed against the ground, and brought himself up to a standing position.

[-Cynthia-]

"Hmm." Xenia replied. Maybe this plan wasn't as good as I thought, she pondered, looking out the window to see some dangerous looking wyvern monstrosity.

"Eh, what the hell, not like I have much better things to do." Xenia said, taking the large container and gulping down a substantial quantity of vodka. "I'll stick around and see what's going on, but I'm not making you any promises." she said to Ivanko.

[Psych]

Pary:

Pary stood, before clanging on the bars. "Oi! Guards! I hvae my bail ready!"

-------

Cess:

Riding up towards the smaller group, Cess saw Aiya will the doll in her hands. "It's not that simple. Me and Rita enchanted ours, so only we can use our dolls. Morgan gave you two a blank doll for anyone, but you'd have to be able to contact one of us. And RIta's gotten sick all of the sudden, so I'm to come with."

Edited September 20, 2010 by Psych

[Phoenix]

Vindicative Measures

Ivanko: Good. You've just made history (being the only deserter allowed back and not eventually killed by us ...) and you may do so again in the near future. Incidentally I'll need you to stay inside my office for a few hours. News doesn't spread as fast as I'd like around her and the snipers will be gunning for you.

He stood up then eyed Svetlana before a dreadful thought came to mind.

Ivanko: (Oh hell. Neither the doors nor windows are big enough for her to get back outside through. Maybe if she fold up tightly enough she can be pushed through? If not we've got more collateral damage on the way ...) Hm, best to get started and let you worry about the fishing spear getting through the door.

Spirit Dolls

Iso: (Miranda didn't even like spirit dolls. She liked it when I sent up flares. Maybe Kelas is right on this one. On the other hand this would be somewhat interesting. I'll wait around to see what everyone else thinks.)

Irina had heard Aiya's mention of the spirit dolls and tilted her head a bit. She'd heard of them, and seen Cess with one, but Aiya was going to use one now as well?

Irina: Spirit dolls? What do we need those for?

Lev: We're contemplating using those for you and Aiya to keep the two groups in contact with each other. Trouble is, I'm not sure how much magic if any either of you could manage.

Iso: She doesn't actually need to manage all that much in this case. Channeling mana is like learning to voice cast. It becomes intuitive after awhile. She could pick it up again naturally and even if her energy is weak now I could channel mine into her ... though ... I won't be feeling too well afterward.

Lev: Why's that? Would she really need that much energy?

Iso: She will. For experienced magi you can work efficiently with less and less energy as your ability to accurately distribute power grows, but for an amateur it takes up everything you have for basic spells. Irina can't cast at all and isn't even a mage so she'll need everything I've got.

Irina: I'm using the other doll? ... well ... at least I've got two good excuses now.

When Cess returned and explained the situation, Iso shook his head negatively.

Iso: No dice then. I'll use a flare. That's simple enough but we're not taking anyone else with. Remember the demons are weaker now so they're not going to attack just because we split up. We need the smallest group possible so we can't risk taking anyone else. We'll be lucky if they attack us as is.

EDIT: Added Cess related section

Edited September 20, 2010 by Phoenix

[Snike]

Confusion

"Perhaps I am mistaken, but, methinks that she meant that you could halt the drain from her, temporarily," the man said, doubt in his voice. "I was just in her halls some time ago, as that is how I got the message. I forgot to mention, but the Lady also spoke of freeing "Him"... Perhaps, you know of this person...? I apologize for wasting your time, if you do not."

Plotting Time

"Very well," Jace said, with a twinkle in his eye. "You see, we would need a few hundred men, split between Ilyphina and Burgosas, to begin. I would provide armaments and leadership, of course. Anyways, we would have the men... ... ...Inciting war. Now, considering that, your country would be greatly rewarded, should they decide to support our side. How does it sound?"

Bail?

"... Sir, there is no bail," one of the guards said, from across the hallway. "Generals' orders and such. You will be held until the rest of the visitors from the other lands depart. That should be in a few days, before you're applicable for bail."

Edited September 20, 2010 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

"If we're close enough to see a flare, we would end up being close enough that the demons would likely detect our presence and thus defeat the whole purpose." Morgan rebutted. "If you're concerned about group size, we could always leave Irina or Kelas in the larger group. A flare also does not give us an accurate location reading, and we cannot risk teleporting too far away."

Edited September 20, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Snowy_One]

"No. I know whom she speaks of. It is not as easy as it sounds though. I am but one person, standing in to try and stop the drain upon her from a world seeking her need. Nothing I can do on my own would stop it. Even if the three great nations were to stop all together with the healing, it would not be enough unless they laid off for far too long." she said before looking back over at the boy. "And with each passing day, more children could die, and I... It is a difficult risk to swallow." she said before looking away. "Listen, there are things you do not understand nor know about, and it is better that way. But, it is essential that the weapons, at least one of them, return to the Lord. It pains me to say this, but what we hero's did... was short sighted."

[Phoenix]

More Deliberations

Iso: Exactly how far away do you plan to warp from?

Irina: Oh! I have an idea! What if we use a crimson weapon!

Iso: Isn't that what we're already doing to get this plan to work?

Irina: No no no! What if one of the crimson weapon wielders who's not the bait comes with us? They'll leave their weapon the the big group and summon it when we get attacked. That way when the weapon disappears they'll know to come help us.

Iso: Err ... I don't know if that will work. In my case it wouldn't work at least. Proxima vanishes and returns to me if I get more than three hundred feet away from it. I don't know what the distances for everyone else's are.

Irina: ... this is why I wanted to be a wyvern rider. Wyverns don't vanish. Wyverns don't suck up all your energy just to use, and wyverns aren't hard to read.

Lev: Wyverns eat too much, defecate too much, and are expensive as hell.

Irina: Take that back >_>

That Country

Ixion: The current leadership there is unquestionably reclusive if not completely cowardice. For twenty-five years they have hidden within the walls of the mega fortress. They won't agree to help you, but they won't matter in the end.

Daneka: (Won't matter? He was right ... zey're planning to-)

Ixion: I believe there is a way we can help each other, Mister Jace. In exchange for the men you need, I would require a large some of live resources. These resources will be used to speed my current task and make the coming conflict far easier for you to win.

Daneka: (Live resources? Damn druid speak. He's talking about animals isn't he? It must be a means for him to make more of zose creatures zat were wiz him.)

[Inactive Account]

"I think we can afford a sixth person, but no more," Kelas interjected. "Unless you can come up with some truly excellent reason though, I'm damn well going with. Let's just bring Cess and whatever he's got and be done with," she suggested. "He's less likely than Rita to get us killed, at least."

[-Cynthia-]

"Far enough away that the demons won't suspect the larger group being nearby." Morgan answered. "If you do not want to use the spirit dolls, Viveka could go with the smaller group, since her strand should still be intact. That will either make your group larger or force someone to sub out of course." she added.

"Eh, I'll just break a window I guess." Xenia said, lounging about. Svetlana was quickly growing bored...and hungry.

[Phoenix]

The New F Team

Iso: Cess or Viveka? *sigh* You know what, I honestly don't care at this point. Pick whoever so we can get going.

Lev: These plan isn't very flexible. We're relying on a very specific response from the demons we might not even get. It's a bit late to be calling for extra assistance now so I guess we'll just have to hope for the best. (Where the hell is Krinkov? He should've been back by now.)

Same Old Same Old

Ivanko: Some things never change.

He headed for the door and once he reached it he looked over at the wall examining it for a moment.

Ivanko: ... big window, not the little windows.

With that, he left the building and headed out to the center of the fortress. The fact that he'd shown up armed only with his gauntlets and greaves and no weapons got everyone's attention. Normally that would be suicidal as Victor would almost always attack him on such occasions. As soon as the man with the maps returned to the fortress he noticed a bunch of the mercs gathered in a circle around Ivanko and came closer with a fish in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. He came closer to the circle as Ivanko began making his announcement about Xenia. Some of the men were shocked, some were a bit happy, others were flat out angry over the first reprieve and wanted to accuse Ivanko of being bias.

Meanwhile the man had gotten some unwanted attention with the items he was holding. One of the mercs immediately grabbed the bottle from his hand and cracked it open!

Merc: Hey, thanks, Pete! I needed a drink hahah!

Peter: HEY!!! That wasn't for you, that was for Xenia!

Merc: I'm more grateful than Xenia. Don't worry, you can still give her crazy wyvern that fish. I don't want it.

Peter: ... urrrgh. That cost fifteen gold and it wasn't meant for a guy. Urgh dammit all.

[Inactive Account]

"Let's just bring Cess," Kelas sighed. "He's here, and he won't try and make us bring a trunk full of clothes along. Come on, let's go." She turned to leave, leading Amari towards the gates.

edit: added last sentence

Edited September 20, 2010 by Kiryn

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, you won't be needing this then." Morgan said, taking the doll from Isotov. "Better not to rely solely on Rita unless necessary. Be careful, all of you." she aid sternly.

Charlotte stood close to Eric. "Will you stay by me Sir Eric? I admit, I...am a little frightened, but I would feel better if you were at my side." she said, grabbing his hand and giving it a light squeeze as the smaller group neared the city gates.

Edited September 20, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Inactive Account]

Shortly after they passed through the city gates, Kelas halted for a moment. "All right. This is going to be a dangerous trip. I hate having to do it, but I can't let this chance go. But... I don't want anyone else to get hurt for me, for my brother." She sighed. "I won't hold it against anyone who wants to turn back... and now's probably the safest time to do so." She gestured with one arm back to the gates, holding out the other towards the road. "I guess now's the time for decisions."

[Snike]

Resource Dealer

"The offer was made to the incoming administration," Jace said, face turning neutral. "Consider the resources yours. Just direct me where to bring them, and we will be all set. Pleasure doing business with you and your employer." Alright, now all that is left is the response of the Crimson Wielders... Then, we strike.

Everlasting Bond

"Do not worry, milady," Eric said, a smile on his lips. "This time, the tables shall be turned. We will succeed. But, to answer your question, yes, I shall stand close, if you wish." To Kelas, he said, "I'm coming with you. I've dealt with half of them, and I want to see the job done. Besides, I get smashed around on a regular basis. A little pain isn't going to bother me."

Questions

"... I understand less than you may think, Lady Kaileen," the man said, opening his eyes to reveal dull blue disks. "You see, I cannot recall anything besides that message. It is as if my mind was wiped, like a slate. I do not know why I met the Goddess, how I came to around these parts, or even my own named. But, I suppose I am a tool, for the Goddess, from hereon out, so I shouldn't worry too much. Regardless, could you explain, milady?"

[Phoenix]

Seeing Things Through

When Kelas made the offer for any of the five people involved to turn back, Iso frowned and rubbed his head. He appreciated her concern but the context was getting annoying. He wanted to speak up but quickly stopped himself when he remembered that he was the bait for the attack. He'd made sure of it already, so in essence she likely wasn't referring directly to him with the offer of leaving, but likely everyone else. A shrug later, and he was able to compose himself again.

Irina didn't bother speaking up and even kept her gaze elsewhere. She had no intention of leaving her brother and planned to do exactly as she'd said. Kiev also wanted to stay and help out. After all, he could tell this group departure was for something important. It had to be since not only was Amari the hero there, but so was the fireproof Isotov, and one of the healers. They were likely on a secret mission to save an entire city full of humans elsewhere to show the larger group that they were the best, the superiors. If that was the case, he would be extra fierce in the coming battles.

And The Deal Was Struck

Ixion: No the pleasure is all ours. We've been waiting quite a long time for this. As for the specifics, I will need them brought to the fortress here in Septimus. I cannot risk sending so many assets to Redwood all at once.

He held out a small piece of paper that had the exact list of resources and the number of each. Daneka leaned forward eying the note as he placed it on Jace's desk. She could just barely read out on of the animals on the list and the surprisingly high number next to it.

Daneka: (Zat would raise a few eyebrows ... ... a few zousand eyebrows.)

Ixion: I'll admit it is short notice, but I trust you can deliver.

Heading For The Source

She had heard the voice in her mind, the voice of the one whom had made her. She came flying from Redwood heading toward the source as fast as her wings could carry her, which was dreadfully fast. Not paying attention to how high she had drifted, the sea of clouds below her went unnoticed.