Return of The Emblem Chapter Two: The Trail

[Snowy_One]

"I can tell you a story to pass the time if you so desire. A story of fiction, but one that will captivate your mind, stimulate the soul, and provoke the heart." said Daloth, one of the tales coming to the forefront of his head. "Would that please you, madame?"

[Dark Sage]

The Ursians are developing a new weapon and only the military can see? Whatever it is being developed, it's probably being targeted by that group. Even better, the fact there is such a weapon being developed and presented in a high level meeting with the military would be valuable information for the spies back at home. Traveling with these people seems to be working out better than I have dreamed, Domovoi thought to himself, satisfied by the information.

[-Cynthia-]

"Well they do not seem like they are open to diplomacy so far, so taking them on appears to be our only option. The question is how and where we strike at them. We don't have clearance for this Ursian military meeting, so our only option at this point seems to be to pursue the other names on this list. Do you have any information on the other people listed here, such as their location?" Veronika asked Rodrigo.

[Phoenix]

"Lemme see it." he said looking over the list again. "Military officer, military officer, noble, construction contractor, military officer, suspected criminal, and what do you know, another military officer." He handed the list back to Raquel before doing a bit of thinking. Now I have to wonder which side is in the right here, the big hidden organization paying everyone off, or these random vigilantes. It should be obvious but I don't want to just assume they're right about this.

"These people sound like they'll be harder to get to on average." Raquel commented.

"Another noble ... and ... hmm." he paused. A "Father Nihilus"? "Father"? A man of the cloth? What kind of holy man ... ... well that certainly helps their case against these people. I've never in my life had to pay a holy man for any favors or spy work. I'm the Phoenix, but my point stands. "You're definitely going to have trouble with some of these people, and I suspect half of them are just eyes and ears. What you people ought to do is arouse them a bit."

"Arouse?" Raquel asked scratching her head.

"Yeah, it's kind of like dragon slaying. Those drakes are pretty intelligent until you get them upset. From there it's just making sure the traps are working. They must have some kind of goal so impede them in it. That's a start." he explained.

We've got this fire emblem thing, and they want to take it from us. I guess all we've got to do is stay alive for now, but still. If we don't go on the offense soon, they might take us out. "I guess you don't know but, what do you think they're after at that meeting Professor Weyland's holding for the military?

"What do I think? Probably schematics. The thing is, Weyland's pretty clever. Has an excellent memory from what I've heard. He's rumored to never write down anything relevant or useful anywhere. Keeps it all in his head. It's probably why his weapon designs never get stolen or reverse engineered until long after they're fielded. With that in mind, I think they want as many people under their thumb in that meeting as they can get to share enough of the concepts for them to make one of their own ... whatever it is. The more people who see it, the better a picture they can paint. That's what I think anyway." he said to the women.

"Wait-wait-wait!" Raquel interjected. "How many of these contacts are going to be there?" she asked.

"I dunno ... at least five from the looks of that list. I know for certain those officers are going to be there." he explained.

Raquel quickly turned to Veronika. "We need to find a way into that meeting."

"Uh, invitation only." he said holding up an unsealed letter. "Anyone else caught in that meeting that isn't authorized gets shot like every other time Weyland holds a summit."

"Well ... we'll think of something. We've got a few days right?"

"Sheesh, you're really serious about going after this group, aren't you?"

[RPG]

Seliah found her interest piqued. "We may not find them for a while...very well," she said. "I'm interested in hearing one of these tales. If you can make a profession out of storytelling, you must be talented." She sunk back into her seat. "Please begin."

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, I have no experience at sneaking into events I was not invited to. Someone in our group may have more of an idea on how to get inside, if we think this is important. Thank you for your time Mr. Vasquez," Veronika said, walking away towards the docks where the pirate woman was.

[Phoenix]

"Or maybe not ..." Rodrigo corrected himself as Veronika began walking away.

Raquel quickly came closer demanding his attention with a simple stubborn look. "Please, you have to help us get rid of these people. Isn't there any way at all we can attend?"

She looks so familiar ... Rodrigo pursed his lips trying to at least humor her with some type of response. "You don't really have a way to get your entire group into that meeting. People with servants or armed escorts have to keep them outside and at a fair distance I might add. At best only a few of you could actually attend, and you would have to be with someone else who was invited." he explained alluding to something.

"You mean like a date or something? Is that allowed?" She asked tilting her head.

"Sometimes it's allowed. I didn't want to chance having a woman standing around all by herself in town though so I came on my own this time. What I don't get is why you want to get into the meeting at all. If all you want to do is prevent the officers from spilling any info to those people you're after, all you have to do is stop the officers before or afterward. If you try to do that from the inside, you're going to look suspicious." he explained.

"Well I was thinking that in the event we can't stop them, we could at least warn Professor Weyland that something's up." she said shyly.

"How do you know he's not on their payroll too? Might all just be an act."

"Ugh! Don't say that! I don't want to even have to consider that. Besides, if he was with them, they wouldn't need to send in people to spy on the meeting. Right?"

"Eh."

[-Cynthia-]

"Hello." Veronika said curtly to the pirate woman, who appeared to be staring out over the ocean. "We currently are trying to get into a secret Ursian military meeting. I was wondering if your travels along the high seas had given you any sort of...contacts that would allow us to get inside such an event," she said, carefully, looking over the ocean herself. I am rather far from home now, aren't I? Trying to sneak into Ursian military meetings...I've gotten myself wrapped up in quite the adventure.

[Mercakete]

"Yer trying to what?" Gytha asked, surprised and slightly dumbfounded at not only what Veronika was proposing, but also how casual she was about it. "Well..." she started, "Have to say I don't exactly have any contacts. I'm a mariner, so I guard cargo, get paid, take some time to relax and resupply, then start over. It's a good life, though not one in which ye meet too many people ye can call friends. Ye also don't get people indebted to ye, though I rather like that part of it."

Her expression shifted from nutrality to suspicious as she continued, "Though I have a clean record, ye see. If yer plannin' on breakn' into a secret meeting, I can't have a part in it anyway. It'd close off access to Ursium ports fer me. If ye wind up upsetting the authorities, I'll have to explain what happened if I'm asked. Savvy?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Maw had had enough of a nap for now. She lightly dropped to the ground and began trotting away; she was getting hungry and a fish market smelled somewhat close-by.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika raised an eyebrow at Gytha, a bit taken aback by her nature. "Er, if I understood that correctly, you said that you do not have any signficant contacts and that you wouldn't help us infiltrate them anyway? Your conviction is admirable, though I'm not sure if you will be able to keep your reputation and fulfill your mercenary duties throughout this entire journey, we seem to be heading for rather...turbulent waters as it were. And yes, I am quite savvy I suppose," she responded, not knowing why that was relevant.

[Mercakete]

Realizing Veronika didn't understand the term, she rephrased, "Oh, I meant 'do ye understand?' whane I asked if ye were savvy about what I said." Continuing, she replied, "An' I'm not a mercenary. Not hired, either. I just came along 'cause I just came ashore from a voyage and had nothing I had to do and Raquel needed help. Perfectly lawful t' help a lass get'er father back from some shady lot. An' aye, ye understand it right. Anyone I know is likely at sea, 'sides me mother."

All the same, if I have to choose... "An' ye can count me out of interferen' with the athorities. If yer planning something unlawful, then best not t' tell me." If I don't know about it, I can answer honestly if I'm asked and they won't get into trouble. I hope they're smarter than t' get on the wrong side of the law, though.

[Phoenix]

As Raquel continued speaking with Rodrigo, the shady figure on the roof silently scorned. This cannot stand. That damn Vasquez appears to be just spilling information left and right. If it's about the debut then ... He cut his thoughts off and stood up with his fist balled. "No. He can't be allowed to do this." he said aloud before heading off. When he came down from the rooftops somewhere else in Urquium, he was met by about six other men dressed like ordinary people. They seemed as agitated as he was.

"It's been awhile. Hasn't Vasquez left the city yet?" one of them asked.

The spy shook his head. "No! He's conversing with the very people Sardis warned us about."

"The ones he sent word to all the operatives about? The merchant and mercenaries that weren't to be directly assaulted until his business in Neviskotia was finished?" one of them clarified.

"They brought him what looked like a list." he explained.

"Only two possibilities there. Either they want him to help them get to the bottom of the mystery behind that list, or he's on it." another began. "I'm inclined to believe the latter ... but that's odd. Where would they get a list of names involving us?"

"Someone messed up, that's how." the spy said crossing his arms.

"Probably. So do you think the list is part of a bigger one or just a feeler list?"

"It doesn't matter. They're too close and if Rodrigo tells them what we hired him for, they'll-"

"-They'll come to us most likely." one interrupted.

"Grrr, or they'll expose what we're doing. Who will pay the price for that? Us."

"We're a handful of spies. Just what do you expect us to do about a merchant escort party? Look, if Sardis were here, maybe he would come up with a plan, and maybe even back us up in whatever we were going to do, but the fact of the matter is, he's heading back to HQ and we're on our own here. We don't even have any healers present. We can't risk an engagement right now. Why don't we just split up and follow them until we meet up with a larger unit?" one of the explained.

"No way, that's way too risky. I know what I'm proposing sounds just as dangerous but we can't afford to let them get too deep into our business. Their only relevance to the us is whatever 'precious cargo' Sardis said they were carrying. There's more than enough of us, so I say we should ambush the lot of them, take that precious cargo, and deliver it to HQ."

"If the boss says that's alright, then fine, but this really is Sardis' mission to relieve them of that thing."

"Sardis already had his chance. Now he's running home to HQ for some reason and leaving them to muck up things. I'm telling you, if we let them be, they'll cause us far more trouble than they're worth. We have to get rid of them now. We're taking two birds with one stone here. You get that, don't you?" he said raising his voice and waving his arms a bit.

"I do, but if we fail, I'm not sure how long we can expect to stay alive. Even if they don't capture us ... you know what happens to traitors, disobedient operatives, mutineers, and idiots."

"Right, right. Don't worry. I'll talk it over with the boss then." he said turning to leave.

"And about our current situation? We're still not quite a sufficient force. Just one healer would do us wonders though I'd wager."

"We should be quick about this. You guys find us a healer if it'll give you some peace of mind. I'll get the go'head from the boss. Just you wait, brothers. We will be rewarded for this. Anyone who shows up Sardis is destined for glory, and we'll be doing the entire organization a huge favor by getting rid of these people before they do any real damage." he said walking away waving goodbye.

"We'll see ... either we win and become heroes within our own ranks ... or we lose and all die. These are dangerous odds." he said. "Alright then, I suppose we should start scouting around. Come to think of it, one healer would allow us to be more aggressive. Perhaps two would serve us even better. Yes. Let's hire at least two then. Our best hope of actually taking them out is to have as many of us fighting, and as few of us patching up as possible."

"What ever happened to the old days when we just killed people in their sleep?" one said sighing.

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh, so you're just here out of the goodness of your heart? 'Tis a rare thing to find these days," Veronika commented before continuing. "What if the authorities themselves are not truly lawful though? This seems like it could be a case of government corruption-or just Ursians being Ursians. Not that I am suggesting you should defy governments all the time, but there can be good reasons to rebel in some form or another," she said to Gytha.

[Mercakete]

"Hahahaharr! Well, 'course! If a government is being corrupt, just leave their trade to the pirates and bandits! Ye don't have to guard their cargo if they're treatn' ye unfairly. Just ship out to annother country's port and help out there! Ha-HARR!" laughed Gytha. The answer seemed obvious to her, hence the laughter. It also put her in a good mood, for some reason.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika frowned at Gytha, not really seeing why the pirate woman was laughing "Leaving trade in the hands of pirates and bandits hardly seems like a good solution for stabilizing a corrupt nation. Ruffians usually are only out for themselves, they do not have codes that benefit the greater citizenry. If there is to be a revolution of sorts, it should be led by those with a clear vision of the future, not bandits. But I suppose we are getting a bit off track here, we are not trying to reform Ursium's government anyway. I plan on stopping this group regardless of their legitimacy in the eyes of the Ursian government."

[Snike]

Another gunshot. Two shots, two days. This was a troubling trend, if it was the doing of the group. Axel finished his armor maintenance, replaced said armor, and marched over to where the commotion was, only to find the group, as expected. A celebrity - the Phoenix, he remembered - talking to Raquel, with various as of yet nameless faces listening in. Further off, the Neviskotian noble and Gytha were conversing as well. The lancer reasoned that the merchant was discussing rather urgent business, and so headed towards the latter.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, a during a minor break in the conversation. "But, do either of you know who shot this time? Also, why is the client talking to the Phoenix?"

[Mercakete]

"Nah, I was saying since my occupation is to protect cargo, that I wouldn't try stoppn' the raids and just sail away," Gytha clarified before the red-armored man from before joined their conversation. For a moment, she tried to remember his name. "Oh, well, one of the shots ye heard was probably me. I helped Phoenix o'er there escape a crowd. No idea why Raquel's talkn' with him, but it's not my business either. Oh, hey, Alex, do ye know this'ere lassie? I think I've seen'er with us, so I guess she's part of the crew." Gytha jerked her head, indicating Veronika.

[Zsword]

Ucollas strolled through some of the back streets of the port town. He had forgotten it's name, not that it matterred, his destination was more important. Unfortunatly he wasn't sure where that was, as he hadn't heard from his sources on where to search next. He was slightly curious about the commotion going through town, particularly the gunshot... but he was sure that if he stayed out of trouble, trouble would stay away from him, so he didn't investigate.

[Snike]

"... It's 'Axel' as in, "axe" and "l" ," the lancer said, before looking at the 'lassie' Gytha spoke of. "And, while I do recognize her from the battle yesterday, I don't know her name. If you will, miss...?"

[Phoenix]

As the spies all parted, they split up and began fanning out in different directions. They stayed in pairs however. Two of them made their way over a few rooftops before dropping down into an alley.

"The chapel is already covered it looks like ... so I doubt you and I will be the ones to find a suitable healer." one said.

"Don't forget, it would take a bit of word play to get a man of the cloth to help with a shady looking attack. I doubt they'll find anyone. What we need is a mercenary. Someone who just plain doesn't give a damn about what we're doing so long as they're getting paid in the end."

"Right, right. So maybe we can find someone ... maybe." he muttered.

The two continued skulking through the dark alleyways for a minute or two before one spoke up again.

"Err ... right, we should probably be looking in places with more through traffic. Best we'll find in back alleys like this are hobos or cutthroats."

"Maybe not. Look." the other commented pointing to a figure not too far away in the same alley.

"My money's on shaman. Not a healer."

"Dark magicians can heal too if they've got training. Let's find out." the spy said quickly picking up his pace and heading over. The other quickly followed.

"Hey, you. What's your name?" he asked sounding part enthusiastic, and part annoyed ... somehow.

[Zsword]

Ucollas looked at the two men with a frown from under his hood. "What is it to you?" He asked, calmly reaching for his Dark Tome from under his robe. Running into shady character's in a back alley couldn't be a good thing...

Ya know, I was kinda hoping NOT to run into someone in these alleys... but I guess it can't be helped.

[-Cynthia-]

"Yes we...met earlier," Veronika said, attempting to forget the embarrassing incident with the staff men from the previous day. "I am Veronika, pleased to make your acquaintance Axel. May I ask why you are traveling along with us, Axel? Is it money that drives you, or perhaps something else?" she asked him, hands on her hips.

[Phoenix]

"What is it to us? It's just common courtesy, now isn't it? I suppose I'll just cut to the chase. Can you heal using a staff? If not, pardon us. We'll be right on our way if that's the case." he said with an annoying grin.

Meanwhile ...

"So you want to get into the meeting to warn Professor Weyland. Iiiii guess I could get one of you in as my date if that's really allowed this time around. But you're just out of luck otherwise." Rodrigo said scratching the back of his neck. The situation was a little awkward to say the least.

"Fine. That'll do. I just need to talk to him." She said nodding her head.

"Well calm down. You've got a three day wait starting today."

"Oh ... right."

[Zsword]

Ucollas' frown turned to a confused half glare. "Why yes, I am trained in the workings of Staves..." he said, pulling his off his back as he did. "But neither of you seem hurt so... why would you need my services?"

Now this is just getting wierd...

[Phoenix]

The other spy stepped forward hoping to add a bit more stability and calmness to help ease the tension. "You can use a staff. That's good. If you're interested, we have work for you. Payment is absolutely not trouble at all mind you." he explained keeping almost eerie eye contact.