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

[Phoenix]

Intrigue All Around

Viveka: (He's fine holding them? But they weigh a ton. Well ... if he gets a kick out of that then I guess it's fine. I just don't want him to hold them for so long that he gets too tired to help put them on that wyvern.) I'm going to time you to see how long you can hold those, okay? Teehee.

As Ixion and his soon to be guests began to leave, Lev turned back and headed over to them with obvious unease in his face. Daneka kept her eyes on him the whole time while Alphonse waited.

Viveka: Where's that wyvern of yours?

Lev: He'll show up once the coast is clear ....

Kamilla?!

When Shamus found a nice secluded spot by the edge of the city, he turned into a dark alley and ran over to a shadowy spot with the bag over his shoulder! He placed it on the ground and instead of untying the knot on top he yanked out a knife and cut a straight line down the bag and ripped it open!

Shamus: KAMILLA?!!! ... huh?

The only contents of the bag were potatoes and another bag inside full of who knows what that gave the shape Levski desired. Shamus grinded his teeth in absolute fury before standing up and shouting at the top of his lungs!

Shamus: LEEEEEEVSKIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!

[Dark Sage]

As Geraro headed out of the torture chamber, his nerves relaxed, suddenly a pig masked axemen teleported in, a hooded girl in his arms.

"What the-who the hell is this...beautiful lady. Hello gorgeous..." Geraro said licking his lips. "Where'd you find such a...prized specimen? And how'd you get here?"

"Oh sir Geraro. I am one of the men based in Septimus, observing Jace and-"

"Yes, yes. I know what the Septimus based people are doing. Anything interesting so far?"

"Jace...he's tough to spy on. He's paranoid, so it's very hard to get in a spying position, much learn anything from him."

"As usual. Ah well, can't expect much from grunts like you. Anyway, what's the story with her?"

"We found her trespassing on our territory and we prepared to eliminate the threat. She's a thunder mage though and quite a strong one as well. Killed two of the men. I was lucky and knocked her over the head with the flat of my axe. One of our priests realized how...useful she would prove. So he warped me here and requested me to get her recruited here."

"Yes...excellent. You've done very well. I'll take her off your hands for now. I'll inform Lord Ferris of new blood."

"Could you get my name in?"

"What is it anyway?"

"Gunner Stein."

"*snrk* Hell no. Sorry, should've had a better name," Geraro snickered nastily, taking the girl into his arms and heading to Ferris's office, entering the double doors.

"Geraro," Ferris said cool voice, turning around, Njordjenka right behind him.

"Ah Lord Ferris. I was just here to-"

"Geraro, Njordjenka told me the stunt you pulled in Burgosas. Murdering people in the market place? Screaming your intentions? Are you nuts?! You nearly jeopardized the mission! All our hard work and planning, nearly gone to your bumbling incompetence."

"You little rat! I'll kill you! I'll tear your eyes out!" Geraro screamed, dropping the woman to the floor, charging to Njordjenka, his face wild with rage until he found Ferris standing in front of him, Ferris's dagger aimed at his privates. With a animalistic growl, he took deep breaths and picked the woman back up, and propping her upright.

"Your behavior is unacceptable Geraro. For now, you are hereby demoted. You are merely a squad leader of the third division of assassins we have. Until you've proven yourself trustworthy again, your only involvement in this affair is to lead your squad to attack that group when I tell you to. Is that understood?"

"...Yes Lord Ferris..." Geraro said, calming down.

"Njordjenka, for your settling of this situation and your excellent track record, you will be taking his place in this affair. Now Geraro, tell me the story of this woman."

"One our men spying on Jace came across her on their base of operations. They attacked her, but she killed a couple of the men before going down. One of the healers warped one of the men with her. He thought she might serve a purpose here."

"Hmmm...Interesting. What type of fighter is she?" Ferris said, scratching his beard. Njordjenka was merely staring at the woman with interest.

"A mage it was reported. Qutie powerful to boot."

"Good. We could have use for her. Geraro, you will erase her memories and indoctrinate her. I will have use for this woman soon. Njordjenka, once she's done, I'll partner her with you."

"T-thank you my lord," Njordjenka said, bowing. "Though is it wise to lend her to Geraro? He might go too far with her. He's quite wild..."

"I know what I'm doing," Geraro said simply. "Mind wiping is a skill I'm quite good at. Besides, I hate to marr her beauty...Mmmm...." Geraro said, saluting Ferris and walked out of the room with the woman.

Beautiful...now let's see her skill Njordjenka thought.

"You are dismissed Njordjenka. You will take over Geraro's previous mission. Prepare yourself accordingly and once the woman is finished being brainwashed, you will take her with you and go. Attacking them should be avoided, but if necessary, do so. They're probably onto us already."

"Sir," Njordjenka said, bowing and heading out of the room, leaving Ferris back to his plotting.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Psych]

Pary:

"I have a meeting with Lady Charlotte's prime advisor, I'm practically her right hand. Look, I'll show you."

Pary brought the man up stairs, before walking over to Morgan. "This man seems to be content with throwing me in jail. You may want to explain the situation."

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

Rita:

Noticing the others heading to the same room, Rita tried to stand. Her vision blurred, and starting to sway, Rita balanced herself against a wall. She shuffled her feet slowly across the floor, before falling on Viveka, trying to get her footing. "Help...my head." Rita closed her eyes, starting to sink to the floor.

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

Cess:

"I'll go take a look around. I can't sleep." Standing, Cess took a quick walk around the camp, trying to get Rita to respond to his doll.

"That's weird. There's no response. We're....along for tonight."

[Dark Sage]

"Ah....all done..." said Geraro, letting the hooded woman go.

"Excellent. And still awake too. Mmmm.....what's your name lady?"

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "What is the situation?" she asked. "I have no idea why they would be incarcerating you in the first place."

[Dark Sage]

"Knowing him, everything," Reika said rolling her eyes.

[Snike]

Holding Contest?

"... Alright, if you want to," Derek said, slightly confused. He didn't ask why, because Viveka then turned to Lev and began to converse with him. It seemed like it would take a little while, but, the cavalier could hold until Krinkov returned.

Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking

"... Assault, resisting arrest, theft, and jail-break, now," Alex said, approaching the shamaness, or rather, the old priest. "Probably another count of assault, and this is after immunity. Come along now, back to your cell."

My Name Is...

"... Elle...," the woman said, tonelessly. "My name is Elle... What is it, that you need of me...?"

[Dark Sage]

"Elle...Beautiful...Excellent. First, you will show me a demonstration of your power. Come with me," said Geraro, leading him to the prisoners in his torture chamber.

"These men are evil. Punish them for what they've done. Show me your power."

[-Cynthia-]

"If I recall events correctly, doesn't being part of Charlotte's entourage or whatever put us outside of Septimian jurisdiction for the time being?" Morgan asked Alex. "Or perhaps I understood incorrectly, politics are not my strong suit."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Luc only listened to some of the nearby banter with half-attention, rarely catching more than a keyword of import before ignoring everything else for his own thoughts again. The only real interesting thing was that fool Pary trying to weasel out of whatever blackhearted act had brought him to jail. Bah, Luc should have had him tried in Directus for his crimes, but things had been so hectic that it was so far beneath notice that Luc hadn't even thought about it until this second. Bah, Luc really should have gone over and straightened things out. Especially since as a Priest Pary would be useful in the coming ambush.

But...

Dammit, it would be utterly disrespectful to help him. But just as disrespectful to need his services and not have them and end with more death or worse in the future. Luc should have asked for a healer from Directus to accompany them as well. But it was far too late for that.

Luc looked over at that little gathering. If Morgan couldn't get him free, Luc might have to try. And damn all the circumstances that led to this miserable choice.

[Mercakete]

The sky was dark, giving the nightime cover for the young wyvern rider as his mount glided quietly over the cold drafts that aided in keeping the two aloft. Tas, the rider, held the reigns with one hand and a curled-up, young wyvern snuggled between his other arm and his torso. His precious cargo was strapped between the shoulders of the greenish-brown beast just behind Tas so that the wind did not break upon their bundling. Tas had wrapped his blankets about them and his coat around the hatchling he held so closely to himself. The rider himself, however, could not keep from shivering in the cold altitude of the atumn wind. His lance and his javelin were trapped down with the eggs for somewhat easy access, though it was hardly possible to gight while steering one wyvern and holding another. The soft ffwp of the larger wyvern's wings was but a rhythmic echo with the dying sighs of the wind. It was still numbingly cold, but Tas began feeling less light-headed as they gently decended towards the castle below. As usual, his breathing had to be regulated with the replenishing of his decernment to shallower breaths than the thin air above had forced him to take. At last they had arrived at Septimus Castle. Surely there would be people here who could afford to take care of the three eggs and small, crimson hatchling that currently had his little tail curled around the torso of his heat source and comforter. If he had the option to, Tas would have reassured the little wyvernet and stroked his soft, scaly hide until he fell asleep. However, both his arms were busy and he had to focus on landing. And then, there would be no time to coo the baby wyvern. Instead, he would have to find him a decent home and master.

[Inactive Account]

"Where'd she go? Er..." Arrin leaned against a nearby wall for a moment, dizziness taking over. Carefully he stumbled along to the next room, poking his head inside.

Tessa was not there, but some of the group were. "I should probably sit down," Arrin mumbled, sinking into a chair at the back of the room. Unconsciousness quickly won.

The cat jumped down into Arrin's lap. Something was obviously very wrong with the boy. The cat curled up, a little disappointed. He supposed he'd gotten a little attached to this human... well, he'd best get better; the cat didn't want to have to find someone new to feed him. He began to purr: hopefully that would help the boy to get better.

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

Amari looked up at Kiev after grazing some more. The wyvern looked properly forlorn; he'd obviously been hoping to play. She trotted over and gave him a friendly shove: now wasn't the time for sparring, but she wasn't angry with him.

It had been a long day and she was tired. One of the humans was keeping watch, but she didn't trust their mediocre vision or depressingly bad ears. Kiev might be able to watch for a little while... which was all the sleep she needed, really. Still, she should check over the camp before sleeping.

She trotted around the perimeter. The staff user was asleep... the sword man who she didn't like was watching... Kelas was... was...

Amari snorted. Well, if they were moving away from the others, and thus the related danger, she supposed it was less of a terrible idea... but... but she didn't have to like it... She gave another snort of vague disgust and headed back over to Kiev, satisfied that they were at least safe for the moment.

She looked over the wyvern. So far, he'd been good about not trying to eat her... Still, he was a predator. But she needed to sleep... she supposed she should trust the wyvern, at least for the short time she needed. She gave him a warning glance, then lay down to sleep.

[Phoenix]

Watch Wyvern

With his rider passed out on the ground and the hero horse Amari not being in the mood to play with him, Kiev was bored out of his mind. He sat with his head held high for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do with himself only to be approached by the hero horse herself, not once but twice. The second time, she gave him a strange stare that he could have sworn he'd seen before. It was a mission face. Before he could figure out what the mission was, she went off to rest.

A minute of thought and he reached his conclusion. Amari and most of the others were asleep. That one human was on watch, but obviously he would go down in one hit. He didn't have enough scales to stand up to a real threat, and he certainly couldn't cause much damage with that tiny flat fang he carried around ... not to a wyvern at least. He wondered why humans didn't carry around larger weapons.

None of that mattered though. The simple fact was that one human alone would be toppled in a real crisis. Only a hero could protect this group of adventurers. Amari had become too tired to be the hero, so she was relying on him to step up to the plate in her stead. He wouldn't let her down. He would prove that he could be a hero just like her, only able to fly and eat enemies like mischievous rabbits and the like.

Viveka (Cause I'm not naming anyone else right now)

A quick glance and Viveka noticed Pary speaking with Morgan and Alex not too far away. She gasped at the mention of imprisonment but hesitated to approach. Suddenly Rita fell into her!

Viveka: Hey! Watch it!

She made the other woman stand and then turned to Derek with a look of slight dismay in her eyes.

Viveka: Okay what's going on? "Prison" is not the kind of word you want to hear when traveling with a group with this one's reputation.

She then looked back at Rita who was relying on her for support much to Viveka's annoyance.

Viveka: And what the hell is the matter with you?

[Snike]

Imprisonment is a dirty word

"I believed it was absolution of previous crimes related to the border incident," Alex said, tersely. "That does not change the fact that he committed those crimes I listed after the fact. If you need another healer, I can procure one, but, as of right now, I would consider this man arrested."

"Pary got jailed, and... broke.. out?" Derek said, wondering why he was standing over near Morgan. "Apparently, the General doesn't let grudges go so easily."

Release

"... As you wish," Elle said, bringing up a spell circle. Swiftly completing the formula, the sage waved her hand around the room, encompassing all of the prisoners. One by one, bolts of lightning were conjured into existence, each striking a prisoner. Within minutes, the stench of cooked flesh filled the room, as the last prisoner slumped over, skin charred from the electrocution. Finished, she turned back to the white-faced man, face neutral. "Was that... Passable?"

[Phoenix]

Oh No

Viveka: Oh no.

Thoughts started racing through her head. She wasn't as concerned about his actual crimes as the need for healers in the group, and Pary was her friend. At that point she wasn't sure what she should do. If Pary was guilty then she couldn't defend him. She wasn't a lawyer. That's when she quickly turned back to Derek to get more information.

Viveka: Okay what is he being accused of? (What's he been doing while I wasn't looking?)

[Dark Sage]

"Glorious," Geraro grinned extremely wide, the scar on his face extremely visable. "You are one of the best here. Now your assignment. You are partnered with a man named Njordjenka. He is pursuing our enemies, gathering information on the Ivanko Mercenaries and a man named Heinz. He is also keeping an eye out on when to strike this group Heinz is traveling with. In there is an agent of ours. Long black hair, thief girl. Her name is Reika and do not attack her unless she gives you trouble and even then, only put her down...so you can give her to me. She has a bodyguard named Alferis. Masked blond haired man. Carries an axe. Doesn't seem too bright. Not sure what he'll do though. He's not too important, but if he'll join, let him. We could always use new blood. Now you will head to that room over there," Geraro said heading out in the hall and pointing left.

"It's the second room down this row. Njordjenka will be there. He has long black hair and wears a fox mask. Black robes. You will help him with his plan. He's a thunder mage too, so you two should have a lot in common already."

[Snowy_One]

"Alf. If you don't mind, may I ask you a question?" asked Esphyr, approaching the older man. "You're older and more experienced than me as a mercenary and... well... With Damian gone, I don't know what to do. As a mercenary, my employer is gone. I'm 'free' of the contract as it were. Yet, Aiya is still here. Normally, if there is a significant other of the employer, I am supposed to listen to their orders. So do I listen to Aiya now? Even though she isn't... and... I mean..." Esphyr proceeded to facepalm herself. "Wow. Our relationship is really screwed up isn't it?"

---

Septimus Castle at Night

"Hey! You!" The voice of a older man run clear throughout the night air, directed at Tas. A moment later, the shouter approached the wyvern rider. He was a pudgy man well into his mid fourties, clearly in a poor state of health and seemed to have managed to fully exhaust himself in the simple act of approaching Tas. "Are you... *pant* Are you one of them? *pant* One of *pant* Lady Charlotte's *pant* wyvern riders? That Irina lass per- no.. you're a man. My apologies sir. There has been some *pant* some buzz about a princess passing through here with a wyvern rider in their midst. I thought you belonged to that woman's group. I should have seen the eggs. You are a breeder, no?"

[Snike]

What has to be done

"A few crimes, including grave theft and assault," Derek said, overhearing the other conversation at the same time. "... Wait, he's from Jerdon. Great. Just a second," he said to Viveka, before approaching Morgan and Alex, the latter about to escort Pary back to prison. "General, I have to ask you to postpone the healers' sentence."

"Why?" the Comet asked.

"He is a Jerdonian. If word got out that he was arrested, think about what it would do for the princess' reputation."

"... More ammunition for Jace. Right. Well, I can't let him go free, for that reason, as well."

"What if I took him into custody?"

"... What?"

"Well, I technically am the Duke of Munktan, one of the higher positions in our country. Perhaps he could be my 'prisoner', so to speak, until this mess is over. What do you think, Prince?"

Assignment Prep

"...Yes, sir..." Elle said, making her way over to the room the druid had directed her to. Upon entering, the man she was told about, Njordjenka, sitting at a table, seemingly absorbed in a tome. Not wanting to disturb him, the sage walked over to the table beside him, and produced her own tome, to study.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

"Sounds like a fine plan to me." Tristan said, shrugging. "I mean if he really is guilty of all those crimes we can't just let him get off free. But I guess, uh it would be bad to throw him in jail?" he said, furrowing his brow. "I don't really understand all the politics behind this myself."

[Psych]

Pary:

"She's just after me since we figured out her real identity. And I have robbed no one. They didn't have a soul anymore, so they didn't count."

[Dark Sage]

"Oh, you must be that woman Geraro found. My name is Njordjenka, and I see he's restored you to your senses. And that is a very interesting tome you have there. I've been meaning to study one like it, but I never found the time.

Anyway, did Geraro brief you on the way? I'll have to warn you though. Geraro is crazy. Completely. It's best to stay away from him unless necessary."

[riariadne]

Chase frowned. "What's the deal with Pary?" he blurted out to the arguing people. "He's a jerk. We know this. Can we move on?"

Conrad frowned. "Pary was arrested? Regardless of what happened, it's not good. He'll end up landing us in trouble if he can't keep himself restricted."

"All I'm getting out of this is that Pary attacked some important person and is now pretty much just being a jackass about it. I really don't see why the hell we should put up with him. He charges us ludicrous fees- which by the way, I'm never gonna pay- and now he's getting on Jace's bad side, which will affect all of us negatively? Okay, so maybe I do the last part a little, but I'm not making people PAY me for it! And we could just have Tessa or Charlotte heal us!" Chase ranted.

[Dark Sage]

"Heh. You're not as stupid as you look," said Reika, glancing at Chase.

"This man is a thief and a con artist. He is the representation of a corrupt priest. If he committed a crime here, then it's his own damn fault. Let him rot I say. If he escapes, kill him if he follows us."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Luc direly desired to take the offer of the General to procure another healer for the group. Even if it was a spy... No, as loathsome as this all was, things would still be slightly better off with Pary. Right? Well, since being a spy would be obvious, Luc could control information and...

No, those thoughts were too dangerous. The group had enough spies as it seemed already, another would just make everything more needlessly complicated. Not that Pary was intent on making anything easy as it was. What kind of idiot do you have to be to think that saying you know someone's secret out loud was an intelligent defense?

Bah, this whole situation was needless and idiotic. And Luc could just end it all by dropping some of the charges... But that would be such a disrespectful action. There was one other thing... If the others didn't pull him free, Luc had one ploy to use that might work. But one he didn't want to use.

[Mercakete]

Namid glided to a halt on the ground, folding his long wings after a few, light, wingstrokes to balance himself. Then, he settled down, allowing Tas to dismount while he listened to his fellow human. "Not myself, but I am attached to the wyvern-breeding business. I deliver the wyverns and eggs. However, our facility was brutally attacked, so I'm afriad that you won't be recieving any more wyverns from us. These are half of the last ones," Tas explained, holding Namid's reigns with one arm and the bundled-up baby wyvern with the other. The hatchling was still curled up with his tail coiled around the familiar human's torso and Tas was still holding him as closely as one would hold a human child.