Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, being shot in the head is still less unpleasant than being eaten," Veronika said, balking a little at Ranyin's description of the Fallen. I'm glad we don't have any of them in Neviskotia; Ursians at least do not eat people. "If we've decided where to go, we might as well be on our way. No need to linger around here, save getting our things from the university," she said to the group.

[GoD]

Chelsea tried to process all the info being given by Weyland, and was considering her options when the party decided to chase after the serial killer.

"A serial killer? And artificial humans to boot? Dear Gods, this is going to be dangerous.....but then again what we're doing is basically considered a suicide mission."- Chelsea then smiled.

"But that's fine with me. I never intended from leaving this group in the first place, since it's way too fun. That and I don't like leaving things half-finished. Regardless, training comes first."- Chelsea then frowned, a look of sadness in her eyes.

"After all, we might be taking lives again, and the last time that happened, I was in a coma for at least three days. I can't be doing that every now and again."- Chelsea shook her head rapidly, and when she stopped she addressed Raquel.

"Where can we train Boss?"- The troubador asked of Raquel.

[Phoenix]

It's Decided

"Okay then, we'll leave here once we go back to the university so people can get their things. We'll investigate the project in the capital, and then head for the border to find out what happened to those mercenaries, and complete their mission if necessary." Raquel confirmed before Chelsea asked her a question she wasn't quite sure how to answer. "Uh ... on the missions I guess. That's kind of the whole point."

Just then Amon took his arm out of the sling and used his knife to cut off the bandages on his wrist. All of his wounds were healed, so he could fight, but he wanted that to be abundantly clear and so removed his bandages aggressively and completely ignored the pain he was putting himself in while doing so. Raquel gave him a dubious look the whole time. You don't have to do that. I wouldn't FORCE you to stay out of any upcoming fights if you could handle them. she thought to herself, a grimace showing on her face.

"One more thing, Connor, Gabbie. This could be a good opportunity for the both of you to advance in your respective fields as well. I notice that lance Gabbie's holding is your work, Connor. Good job." Weyland said giving them both a look and tone that made it impossible to tell if he even cared about the theft that led to the lance's creation. That had Gabbie nervous for a second, but then she realized that Weyland was telling her to go with Raquel's group and that overrode her thoughts.

"Wait, I gotta go with them?! First you jack my baby, now ya want me to take orders from Pinky over here?! Come on, man, there's punishment, then there's outroight sadism!" she complained.

"Connor will be there, so you'll have someone familiar to talk to ... though I'll admit I am finding this mildly entertaining." he said smiling at the distraught woman. "Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable sending him with if there wasn't at least one person committed to his safety."

"You're a manipulative bastard and you should be ashamed." She said looking away with crossed arms.

"Okay then, I suppose you've got no other immediate way to show me that you'll behave and I can put Gemini into storage for the time being, seeing as how you won't be proving you're responsible enough to receive it back anytime soon, that is." he said confidently knowing he had just won the argument.

"... d- ... dammit." she muttered. Then she swung around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I'm gonna remember this, you old bastard! URGH!!!" Having said her piece, she walked past the group making her way toward the door. "See ya in a little while, Connor. I've got some things to take care of if I'm gonna be on the road. See you later too, Pinky." she said before leaving the room.

"It's okay, really. If she doesn't want to help us, she doesn't have to. Besides I'm not sure how good she would be for this. Even if she can fight well, if she can't follow instruction then it would be more of a hindrance." Raquel explained.

"That's what I love about dear Gabbie. What you've just seen here is about as much rebellion as you'll ever see from the girl. I've made my point, and she won't be giving you any trouble during battle. Connor knows, this has been going on for quite awhile now, hahahah." he said standing up. "Oh, and before I forget. You won't need to come back here to receive payment necessarily. I have other methods of getting your group its compensation, though a visit in the future wouldn't be unwelcome."

OOC:

Gabbie: Gabbie's actually going to handle things for plot reasons and isn't going to be participating in any battles this chapter. She's going to be late, yes.

Robin: I'll TS that group once it's clear they won't be mixing/messing upcoming events up too much.

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh, uh thanks Uncle," Connor said, a bit nervous around all the new people. I thought he might be mad about taking one of the lances from the suits of armor out in the hall...or maybe he didn't find out about that. I don't think I really need to bring it up.

"Gabbie's useful in a fight Pi- err Raquel, even if she can be a little...rowdy most of the time," Connor said. "Anyway, I'd be glad to help you out however I can. I can only transmute a few things right now and I'll have to be compensated for material costs, but with some experimentation I should be able to come up with some more stuff," he said, trying to speak to the group as a whole, but mostly keeping his eyes to the floor.

I guess I'll need to pack up my stuff too, I wasn't really prepared to leave. Still, I think it would be good to go on an adventure, I'll probably learn a lot.

UPGRADES UNLOCKED

Iron Mount Armor

Elegant Tack

Iron Shield

Iron Barrier

Half-Plate Armor

Edited May 9, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Rothene]

The thirst buildup in Ranyin's throat was almost unbearable. He had forgotten to refill his waterskin and was paying the price for it. So long as he stopped speaking, the problem would remain on manageable levels. Thus he was reduced to merely nodding to whoever cares to get a response from him.

The tasks ahead all did not sound any less dangerous than the ones to potentially encounter if they went chasing the shady group to Ranyin. And the prospect of returning to Kigen early was both welcoming to him as well as frightening. If he returned to Kigen, he might encounter his mentors or even peers. They might expose Ranyin's lowly status as a novice mage to the rest of the group which would ruin his pride. But if they just had to search around the borders, such encounters would be slim as people who know Ranyin mainly come from the south eastern end.

Due to his parched throat, all he could do was sit down, and observe the others.

[ReformBlade]

Nanahm found Ranyin's speech a tad interesting. Lore was always a fascinating subject... if he liked the subject... if he had the patience... sometimes... Ok this was the first time, mainly out of necessity. He looked over at the tiny mage, as he seemed to be oddly quiet suddenly, which struck the fighter as odd. Granted he didn't know much of the man, but he felt it odd nonetheless. "Hey, you alright sir? You seem... quiet. If it's just my imagination, I'll shut it." He spoke sincerely to the mage. Nothin to gain from being fake with people. Except maybe money, which would probably be awesome right about now. Ah well, Raguni has never guided me wrong before, and I'll be damned if i abandon Him now.

[Rothene]

Knowing it was impolite to ignore others, Ranyin responded quietly to Nanahm.

"I'm fine, just very thirsty. Made the mistake of not refilling my waterskin this morning. Could you spare me some water?" said Ranyin smiling weakly. It was all he could manage. He was hoping against hope that Nanahm would be kind enough to offer him some water. The short time he knew the man, Ranyin had concluded that he was a nice person.

[Guest Wen Yang]

Port Town of Urquium, Ursium

Inside an inn on the outskirts of town

2023 hours

"Your ale, m'lady."

The buxom maid laid down the two jugs full of ale she is carrying on the lone table in the small, dusty room. She wandered by the occupants – who judging from the rate they spent their gold on food and ale were not in any serious lack of spending money – rented a room here, at what is likely one of the cheapest inns in town.

Not that they minded. Over the past three weeks the maid had become acquainted with the four people occupying the room, and she wanted to stay away from their business, whatever it may be. As if matching the room's dusty interior none of the four occupants – all women – dressed in a particularly proper manner. Two of them looked like they could be locals, another has clear Kigenese features on the few times the maid had seen the woman with her hood down, while the last one… at first the maid mistook her for a man, what with her being bulky in build and sporting multiple scars all over her body.

From a glance the maid can tell that one of the four were not in the room – the small girl that looked like a local – but she ignores it, satisfied that these strangers has not been causing any trouble and is actually somewhat liberal when it comes to tips. As if reading the maid's mind, the scarred woman reached inside a pocket in her coat and fished out a couple of silver coins – a little more than what the ale costed – and handed them over to the maid, gesturing at her to keep the change.

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

Lanzeliese waited until the maid had closed the door, and waited some more until she could hear the sound of the steps she made as she descended the stairs, before she looked out of the window, and nodded.

At the nod, Salicia got up from her seat, and went to the window, unlocking it and opening it wide, letting the cool night air into the dusty room. Almost immediately, a cloaked figure jumped into the room from the open window, walked straight towards the seat across from Liz's and sat down, pouring a mug of ale and downing it in a single, long gulp.

"Did you really have to call for the damn maid right when I come back?" Tatyana complained once all four of them had settled down.

"Figured you'd be thirsty after your little walk." Replied Liz, casually stuffing some tobacco leaves into her pipe and lighting it, taking a deep puff and blowing out rings of smoke. "Any news?"

"Isis got a map of the sewers. Probably not that accurate, but I don't think we can get a better one without raiding the town archives."

"If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me." Replied Liz bluntly, while Salicia snickered at her reply. Tatyana just sighed. "And Sergei?"

"Eh, his so-called 'charms' seem to work well enough. He said he should have things set up to go in three days." She poured herself another mug of ale in between words. "Don't forget my double share on this job."

"Noted. It's a shitty job after all." Said Liz in return.

"Anego." Interjected Tsukiko, the one Kigenese amongst the bunch. "Do we really need to use this… method? It is a rather… distasteful… way to take someone's life."

"Like I said, it's a shitty way of doing things… but the alternative isn't exactly affordable at the moment. We can't really risk alerting the guards. At least this way they shouldn't notice it until we've skipped town." Said Liz.

"Besides, it's shorty there that'll be getting the shittiest part of the job, eh? We get the fun part." Added Salicia, still with a smirk on her face.

"Say that again, and I'll bring you back some souvenirs to stuff you face with after I'm done with the job, Sal." Countered Tatyana, with an annoyed look on her face.

[ReformBlade]

Giving a reassuring smile to the mage, Nanahm got himself up. "You got it, just gimme a sec." He went outside the meeting room and found a maid waiting there. "Yeah, hi, sorry to bother you, but could you get me a glass of water?" She smiled and bowed as she went off in a swift yet graceful manner to do just that.

Wowzers, service here is great... though that IS to be expected, 'professor' and all of that stuff...

In the time it took him to finish that thought, the made arrived with nourishment in hand, "Your water, sir." she said, smiling and holding it out for Nanahm. He took it in both hands as he let out a low whistle. "Fast! That's... really all I got for that! Thank you, by the way." She bowed again, "My pleasure, sir. Have a good day."

Glass of water in his hands, he went back over to Ranyin, holding it out to him. "Here you are, fella. Drink up."

The whole time he did this, Nanahm was confused. Maids... how the hell do they DO that?! I swear, they must cheat. That was too fast.

[Rothene]

The speed at which Nanahm acquired a glass of water shocked Ranyin. After graciously accepting the glass of water and drinking its entire content down, Ranyin quickly said,"Thanks! Whoo, you're a real life saver."

Immediately after saying those words, Ranyin glanced around the room. He was sure that there were no water around prepared for guests, yet how in the world did Nanahm get a glass of it so quickly baffled Ranyin. Is he a mage in disguise, wondered Ranyin.

"Erm, Nanahm, where did you get the water from?" asked Ranyin. He had after all not paid any attention to what exactly Nanahm did when he had asked him for some water, hence it could have been perfectly mundane actions taken by the man.

[GoD]

Noticing that Nanahm and Ranyin were having a conversation, Chelsea decided to join in as well.

"I think the water was delivered by the maids, Ranyin. But nevermind that, I wanted to ask you a question."- The troubador asked the mage.

[ReformBlade]

"From one of the maids, of course, just as Chelsea said." He said with a smile as he took a seat again, mainly waiting for the rest of the group to get moving again. "Honestly, though... not too sure, though they could have easily had some on standby, I mean, he was expecting guests, makes some sense to me." Huh... hadn't thought of that til just now... man I'm ignorant of obviousness! Oh well. "Is this a common occurrence of yours, to get a dry throat like that?" he asked after Chelsea before realizing his rudeness. "Sorry, didn't mean to cut in like that, I'll wait!"

[Phoenix]

We Should Be Going

"Thank you for everything, Professor Weyland." Raquel said to the man, receiving a nod in return. "Oh, I almost forgot. Amon, you should let Weyland's doctor take a look at you and get changed."

"Yeah, I will. I guess I'll see you guys out at the wagon, then." he said turning to leave the room.

"I'll see you guys out there. If there's anything else you need to do while we're here, like grab a quick bite to eat or something, now's the time. Ursentius is about a hundred miles from here and even though it's the main route, there aren't a lot of notable places along the way." she explained before making her way toward the door as well.

[Rothene]

"Dry throats aren't a common occurence to me Nanahm. It's just today is special as I did not drink anything from the trip from the university to here, so delivering that short speech kind of pushed it," explained Ranyin as he got up, ready to leave with the group.

"Chelsea, you wanted to ask me something? Go ahead and tell me your question and I'll try to answer you while we follow the rest of the group," said Ranyin as he slowly took a step forward towards the door while looking at Chelsea.

[Mercakete]

It didn't take long for Gytha to wind up sitting atop the wagon again since she kept herself at the ready quite often. Amon had his things, Gytha's duffelbag was inside the wagon and Maw was still napping contentedly. These landlubbers sure take a while t' be ready. They're quick t' fightin'. That's good, at least. I guess bein' a mariner's prepared me t' always be ready. Well, not their fault they havn't had that necessity. Inland's an interestin' place. Maybe I should visit more often.

[Acacia Sgt]

Seeing it was time to leave, John went outside the Mansion and decided to get ahead back to the University, seeing he kinda left Gil there. 'I should've remembered.' He thought as he walked the streets. 'Now I hope he didn't mind being left behind for a bit.'

[ReformBlade]

The fighter walked with Ranyin for curiosity's sake as well as being able to watch Chelsea. He was still weirded out by her incident, and almost even more so by her ability to seem just fine after it. No harm no foul, I guess. He thought to himself, but also wondered if that was truly the case, which only lead him to being a bit confused before he made a full stop in that line of thought.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika already had all of our things with her, being prepared to leave at any moment. Besides, she didn't really trust the university students not to have sticky fingers. She sat in the wagon, waiting for the others to show up.

Connor was a bit unsure what to pack, as is often the case when one goes on an unexpected journey. Well I'll need clothes, and books, and the blowtorch. The raw materials are probably too bulky though, I'll have to buy those in town depending upon what people need. I wonder how long I'll be gone?. he thought to himself, throwing things together.

[GoD]

"Ah it's nothing special....but I wanted to ask. Why did you join this group? And if you wanted to be in our team?"- Chelsea asked the mage.

However she realized something. She had been asleep for 3 days....with no food. She had not eaten yesterday. Food......................

And then it dawned on her. She hadn't eaten in 4 days.

[Snike]

Weyland had two suggestions for Raquel: surrender the Emblem, or try to fight the organization, a colossal effort. The first option simply was unacceptable, so Raquel chose the latter option... Which ended up being a loaded choice, as Weyland offered Raquel two jobs for her mercenaries. One was involving dark avians, a relatively unknown threat to most of the group, but for those who did hear of them, a grave one. The other involved a serial killer, who was fond of both slashing and shooting. Great. There was a quick discussion, before the others agreed to go after the serial killer, a wise choice of the two grim options. Within a few minutes, the assorted assembly of sellswords and the weapons dealer who led them went out to the carriage, ready to depart. Axel, however, opted to stay behind, and once the last of the group aside from him, he pulled down his hood and approached Weyland.

"I have some data about the armor, if you have time to hear it," the lancer said, as he produced the crimson helm and the various pieces of his gear.

[Phoenix]

Weyland

"With the conference and this business settled I've got plenty of time ..." he paused eying the helmet. "Hmm? What happened?" he asked, curious about the damage.

Wagon

Raquel checked the two horses over and both seemed fine, though Riley seemed to be growing more and more discontent. She silenced him with an apple and then checked the back to make sure everything was still there, as well as let Chip off so he could go into hiding again. Once all of that was done, she took her place in the driver's seat and took the reins. All that was left was to wait for the others.

Amon appeared outside eventually dressed in his usual attire. He'd left the hospital clothes with a maid so they could be returned. When he made it to the wagon he looked around noting who was and wasn't there, and started to try harder to remember everyone by face and name than before. Given the nature of their mission it would serve Raquel well if at the very least one person was keeping a mental roster. He doubted he was the best choice, but for now he had nothing better to do.

[Snike]

"I got hit by a thunder mage in that last bout. It wrecked most of the system, nearly blinded me, and I had to expose my face as a result," Axel said, as he showed Weyland the rest of the armor, which was still in near-pristine condition. "The armor's reliable, otherwise. Arrows, bullets, swords, none of them even scratched it, like you guessed."

The lancer stepped back a little to give the Professor some room to examine the rest of the armor, and waited.

[Phoenix]

Weyland

Taking a close look at the helmet, Weyland turned it every which way to get a good look from important angles. "Well good thing this is a combat helmet and not an experimental hat, or we certainly wouldn't be speaking on the matter right now. That spell seems to have taken out pretty much everything save you. Well you're in luck because I never keep less than two of anything in this place and while you were out field testing this one, I kept working on the CQC variant. Doesn't look much different but a pistol shot can't breach the face plate, not even at point blank range. Enough force will still break your neck though so don't do anything silly." he explained.

"I'll have to send someone down to the labs to retrieve it. Should only take a minute or two." he said looking at the burned helm again. "Also I've made improvements to the CQC helm, but I wasn't anticipating a thunder blast, so be careful. This set should hold up better but the blast this one's gone through seems like more than enough force was used to burn up the CQC version as well. If you've got a shield now, use it to keep the impact away from the helmet. It should be able to handle anything else. For now I'll salvage what I can from this one and get it up to date with the CQC version."

Indeed it wasn't long before one of the armed but surprisingly lightly fitted guards returned with the helmet. "So up until the enemy demonstrated some rare prowess how were things going?" he asked, ready for the report.

[Snike]

"... Luck's the only thing that has kept me alive this long. I'll have to talk to your nephew about a shield later, actually. Anyways, display was as if there was no visor at all, so it is working properly," Axel said, as he took the CQC helm and donned it, his vision only momentarily blocked as the display came to life. "Yes, even in this version. The voice modifier is also online, as you can hear," he continued, in a deeper and more echoing voice. "I ran into a few of my past friends, and they didn't recognize me, a good sign. As for protection, aside from the thunder blast, projectiles bounced off of it, though I wasn't shot in the head. It's effective against standard weapons, I can say."

Edited May 12, 2011 by Snike

[Phoenix]

Weyland

"Excellent." he began. Having the composition of the armor and its entire set up memorized, he could continue working with the current data, and let Axel continue to use the armor for more testing while he did what he did best, and improve on the design from home. "Alright then, we can continue with the testing then. While I handle that and some other things, just keep getting into regular engagements, be cautious mind you. Feel free to contact me if anything comes up. There are a few contacts of mine in the major cities and a few villages. Just look for the W.E. logo." he explained.