Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[Rothene]

"I don't know about you or maybe it's because you can safely fly up in the air with that wyvern of yours, but for mages on the ground, all dangers are much closer. Did you not see her as she attempted to wrench the arm off the poor guide who brought us to the dorms? I tell you, those are not actions of a normal person!" said Ranyin angrily, but still in whispers. He was visibly shaking and had taken a peek at Gytha as he spoke to John.

And then the shaman he spotted sleeping all the time arrived and spoke to him and John. In reponse to his question, Ranyin decided to release all the tension from him at that moment and spoke in a much louder voice,"Like it? LIKE IT?! First interaction with the student was a misdirection to the women's bath. Then a simple visit to the men's bath resulted in an explosion! Then the towel I used to rub myself had itching powder on it! I find it hard to imagine that there exists a place of learning with so many pranksters. You expect good reviews on the place thus far?"

[Acacia Sgt]

John's laughter came to an abrupt halt. ''Wait? She did what?'' He said. 'Woah, from what I've seen I knew she acted rough, but of this magnitude? Wait...' ''Strange,'' he continued. ''I thought he'd leave the man worse than that.'' He then remembered the fact Ranyin was scared of her. ''Eh, forget I said that.''

Then Niles came, and now John watched as how Ranyin was now in a whole rant. 'I guess I judged him wrong when I first saw him.' He thought as he watched. 'Then again, judging from what he's saying... oh well...' Deciding it would be best to leave, he did just that, and walked back to the dorms.

[Mercakete]

When Gytha entered her room she shut her door behind her and set the bowl of shreded beef down for Maw to eat. Awakened by the scent of food, the cat stood up, stretched, yawned and lightly dropped down off the bed before padding over to her dinner. Gytha, meanwhile, took off her boots, belt and bandanna and curled up on her bed for herself. It was so soft and comfortable that she quickly fell asleep. Night was falling and her day had been rather eventful so sleep wasn't hard to come by.

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

As two magic-users entered the library, the falcon knight looked up from the book she'd been reading. They were an interesting pair; apparnetly the bickering sort, but still respecing a library's general policy for quiet. I don't recognize them... Perhaps they are assistants of Proffessor Weyland's. Might as well ask if they'll be helping with the demonstration. "Excuse me," she mentioned as she walked over, holding the book about Neviskotian dragons under her arm, "Will you two be attending Professor Weyland's confrence?" I could wait, but if I can learn anything about it beforehand I could tell Colonel Langley.

[Rothene]

After finishing his rant, Ranyin suddenly felt...bolder. As if he had thrown away all the fear inside him in one go. He composed himself before Niles and without waiting for his reply and said hurriedly,"Ah, thank you for your time. Was relieving to vent it all away. I'm a little busy right now so forgive me for the brief introduction but I am Ranyin, nice to meet you."

Quickly, he turned into the hall way and noted two things. John had apparently left somewhere in between his ranting and that Gytha had already enterered her room. Chance, thought Ranyin as he zipped into his room, grabbed the map and prepared to head to the library. He also managed to remember to lock his door.

[ReformBlade]

The fighter went back to his designated room, finding all his belongings where he left them. He was thoroughly bored right now, and he looked it. He soon began to apply some finishing touches to his figurine, smoothing out the rough edges as best he could with just his knife. Man this Duck is coming along pretty nicely. I wonder... if they've got paint here...

------------Derik

No one would target the school so readily, no one sane anyway. He hurried along, spying a wagon with what appeared to be a... Rexian on top of it? Derik couldn't tell from this distance, but he didn't want to be seen anyway, so he moved elsewhere for the moment when he saw a group of students going towards the entrance. Fucking perfect! he thought as he smirked. He wasn't going to get in by normal means, Derik knew that much, so he followed behind the students, closely and silently, his hood drawn over his head completely, his cloak drawn about himself to hide himself entirely. His short stature helped the facade, not even getting a second glance from any of the staff as he walked on in with the group. God I love this cloak... I'm surprised more people don't have these.

At the first hallway intersection he broke off from the group, beginning his search in earnest. He meandered, looking for signs of Carla's presence (for he was sure it was her), finding nothing and getting frustrated. Had she outwit him yet again? No, he could feel her presence nearby, almost taste it. His mouth almost began to water at the thought of catching up to her finally, and he almost forgot what he was doing just thinking about it. While on this train of thought, he happened upon the scene of the crime. Good god, why would she DO this? His search continued as he tried, in vain, to think of a motive that wasn't 'just because'. There was always a reason, maybe he'd find it... but more importantly, he wanted her blood.

[Mercakete]

"Hm? Hello, what are you doing here?" a fully-clothed Tim asked as he walked up to the one who'd just recently entered the mens' bath. His arms were filled with towels he was carrying. With a bit of an afterthought, he smiled and asked, "Are you here to help me pass out towels?"

[Acacia Sgt]

John had made it back to his room. After closing the door behind him, he went over to the bed. 'Well, today was sure eventful. Certainly not what I expected from Europa, but I guess it's fine this way, despite the incident of the baths. Good thing I wasn't there.' He thought as he sat on the bed.

'Well, I'd say that's it for today...' It was then that he remembered; Rodrigo's show. After the events at the university, he had forgotten about it, but now, it came back to him. 'Should I go? Can't say I was looking forward to it, but it could be interesting to see either way, not to mention perhaps we may not get another chance to. What to do...?'

[Rothene]

The library was everything Ranyin expected it to be. Quiet, peaceful yet roaring with sheer wisdom. He saw the familiar sight of people quietly sitting down and discussing in hushed tones. The sight of rows upon rows of book racks filled to the brim lightened Ranyin's mood. As usual, mages everywhere...and a knight?

The extremely white overall complexion of the knight stood out amongst the dark wood coloured shelfs of the library. White armour, pale skin, blonde hair, the knight seemed to glow radiantly in the dull backdrop for which libraries absolutely must portray. It seemed odd for a person of martial profession to persue scholarly knowledge to Ranyin, but then he thought about military histories, fighting techniques, battle strategies, animal taming and a whole host of knowledge required for supposedly simple military people, he realised that it was hardly a surprise that a knight would be here studying. After all, the university and its library are the epitome example of a knowledge source. Or she could be here to read some romance tales, mused Ranyin.

He searched through the racks of the library until he arrived at the section he was looking for, the section on literature about mages and mythical beasts. As a kid, he had read about the wonders of magic and decided to become a mage. Unlike other mages who see magic as an end to itself, Ranyin merely saw it as a tool that he can be good in. Afterall it was pointless to train his physical strength when the same effort placed in mastering magic allowed him to accomplish more. Unfortunately, the intricacies of magic bored him and he only studied as much as he needed to cast the spell, maybe a bit more to use it creatively, but understanding was excessive to him.

Grabbing a book written in Common that spoke off the folklore of dragon slaying sages, Ranyin picked a shadier more humid corner of the library with just enough light to read under. With any luck, somewhere in the literature section would give him insight about magic of foreign lands and how they were percieved, as well as fulfilling his hobby of reading literature.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Rothene

[ReformBlade]

Wh- how?! Gah, I should've known my moving about would grab someone's attention! But this guy seems... tame. I may as well give this a shot.

"Uh... yeah, I am." He said, slowly pulling his cloak back, but keeping his hood down. He wanted no one to see his face, too recognizable, which is a terrible trait for someone such as him. "A-Am I just passing them out in here or what?" He asked, a little bit on edge.

[Mercakete]

"No, of course not," Tim replied, passing half his stack to the other with a humored, friendly smile, "Just look for anyone in the halls who isn't clothed and give one to him. That explosion from earlier started a lot of guys into leaving their clothes behind as they ran away. Though you should already know that. Certainly was strange. Oh, but this should be enough. You don't have to come back in here for more towels. Besides, after we're done with this, we're supposed to get out of the workers' way." From there he left Derik with the towels he'd given him and went off in search of those who hadn't had enough sense to go to their dorms for a fresh set of clothes.

[ReformBlade]

"OK, sounds easy enough. Just one question: Did you see who made this mess" he asked, motioning to the scene. "It's... extremely important, if you do know." He had to know. There was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind that maybe it was just a coincidence and that she wasn't here.

[Mercakete]

Tim answered as the two walked together, "Well, I was taking a bath with Ranyin when a woman fell from the cieling and exploded as soon as she hit the water. That's how it happened. A lot of guys panicked, like I said, and then they just ran off. That's why we're passing out these towels." He smiled at Derik as he said his last sentence before looking around, keeping an eye out for ayone who was in need of a towel.

[Phoenix]

There were voices. She could hear them and they were getting clearer by the second. She could recognize most of them too ...

Raquel was lying down on a bed in Weyland's infirmary. Surrounding the bed were Weyland himself, Rodrigo, and the woman from before. She seemed to be flailing her arms about defending herself. "Oh come on, man! I had no idea who she was! You never told me she was your friend's daughter!"

"What have I told you about assaulting guests, Gabbie?" Weyland retorted with crossed arms and an angry expression.

"'Don't.' But seriously, she was in an off limits area ... and that damn monkey-a'ers tried to take me out! What was I supposed to do?" she said raising her arms again.

"Oh I don't know, why not explain to her that you were retrieving something for me, which would have been the truth, would it not? Gabbie, you really need to learn to think more than two and a half seconds ahead before you cause more trouble. I put up with your strange customs, I put up with that wyvern of yours against my better judgment. The least you could do is humor me by portraying a little common sense once in awhile."

"What would be the pointa tellin'er the truth then? She woulda thought I was just lyin to'er."

"What's done is done and I've said my piece. Now how to deal with your behavior ... hmm." he said putting his hand on his chin.

"Oh no, please go easy, Weyland. It was just a silly misunderstandin is all. I mean she's foine, just look at'er."

"Doesn't look fine to me ..." Rodrigo muttered looking Raquel over, not knowing she could hear them talking.

"Shut up, bird! I'm tryina save my butt're!" she shot back before going back to the sobbing defensive tone she had a moment ago.

"Hmm ... ah, I know. Turn over the lance I gave you." Weyland decided reaching out with his hand to accept the lance.

"W-what? Gemini?! N-no way, man, that's totally unfair! I mean she's totally fine now! You can't take it, it's my babyyyy!" the woman protested loudly.

"Handitover, woman." he demanded speedily.

She almost became teary eyed as she took the contracted lance off her waist and placed it in Weyland's outstretched hand. This was clearly too much for her as far as punishment went. "Alright then, when she wakes up, you'll apologize for this whole mess, and then I want you to get that damn wyvern off the roof before I get another complaint from the guards up there. Understood?"

"Yes." she said sadly.

Seeing that she was running out of things to listen in on, Raquel slowly rose up. "Where's Chip?" she asked.

"He's dead. I fed'em to my wyvern after I floored ya." the woman said coldly before adding a smirk at the end.

"WHAT?!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!!"

"Gabbie!" Weyland shouted, before smacking her in the back of the head.

"Ow! Knock it off, I was just kiddin."

"Chip's fine, he's messing with the chefs in the kitchen I think. They're making the two of you something to eat while we wait for you to wake up." Rodrigo explained.

"Oh, I see. Well ... what time is it? How long have I been out?" she asked no one in particular.

"You've only been unconscious for about thirty minutes. I'll be kicking off this little debut as soon as the rest of the relevant attendees arrives. Unfortunately I've only got three things to showcase for them tonight so I won't be making the usual impact unless the generals can appreciate my little outdoor show stopper." Weyland explained.

Show stopper? The woman wasn't sure which one that was at first. "Show stopper? Oh you mean the t-"

"Gabbie!" Weyland interrupted. "Time and place, dear. Time and place."

"So I guess you'll be busy soon then." she muttered.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, but don't forget, I'll make plenty of time for discussion following the debut. So then, I've spoken with Rodrigo about his show preparations and we've sent word to his crew about what's going on. With that out of the way, all that's left is running the final checks on presentation number three. When you're all ready, go to the conference hall and wait around. Don't set foot on the stage. That goes double for you, Phoenix." Weyland explained. "Now Gabbie, apologize."

"I'm ... sorry for ... kickin your ass, Miss Jugs." she said reluctantly.

"W-wha ... that's ..."

"Ugh ... dammit, woman, can you at least make an attempt at NORMAL amends?!" he scolded.

"I'm ... sorry for ... causing you unwarranted bodily harm ... Miss Raquel." she managed just barely.

"I ... forgive you, Miss Gabbie?" Raquel replied before being swiftly grabbed by the shoulders by the woman!

"DO NOT. CALL ME THAT." she said threateningly.

"Whoa, hey, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I mean the Professor's been calling you that this entire time and you didn't seem to mind." she explained nervously.

"Yeah, well Weyland's a tyrant, but he's also payin my friggin bills. I don't have to put up with that from the likes ayou though, so don't say it again." she explained before letting go and stepping back with her arms crossed. She shot Weyland a bit of a glare too.

"What do I call you then?"

"Everyone but close relatives and I refer to her as Dee, or DW. Before I reined her in she was practically a terrorist and went by the name Dark Wolf. Now she's a loyal assistant of mine." Weyland explained proudly.

"And a friggin lab rat when ya need one." she interjected half seriously.

"Oh, well ... I'd say it's nice to meet you but my head still hurts." Raquel said standing up. She made sure she could keep her balance on her own before making any moves for the door. She was still hungry so she wanted to go to the kitchen as soon as possible.

"Well now, I do believe that's about it then. I'll put this someplace safe until I feel you're responsible enough to swing it around again, and I'll expect to see Ringo somewhere that's not the roof very soon." Weyland concluded. He walked out of the infirmary with Gabbie's lance in hand leaving the woman reaching out for it with a deep sorrowful longing.

My babyyyy. she whined to herself before glaring at Raquel again. "Well ... guess I'm outta here." she said exiting herself.

Turning to Rodrigo, Raquel spoke up. "She's kind of ... lively."

"She's alright, she just needs to learn that she's not the only relevant person in the world. From what Weyland told me, she's not from anywhere around here, nor is she all that culturally compatible with this place. Funny story actually ... Weyland was serious about that terrorist thing. She used to be some tool that opposing noble houses to the west used. They would pay her and she would kill who she was told to. Odd thing was she couldn't seem to do any of those jobs without causing a colossal amount of collateral damage in the process. She's not well known in these parts by the common folk, but once she made her way out here, she and I got into it a few times. Weyland decided to reform her before I had to put her down though. Just as well. I don't like hurting pretty girls. No one wants to admit it, but she's practically property of Weyland Enterprises now. I guess it was that or the authorities would have done something to her." Rodrigo explained.

"Huh. That puts her in a different light I guess but ... she doesn't seem like a slave to me, more like a bratty teenager."

"Well the term is 'indentured servant' but yeah, definitely closer to a brat, right? Hahah."

Library

Looking over the stuff, Bron commented. <"I was just interested in seeing what you had for yourself. We're working as a team so if you're lacking anything I'll make up the difference."> he explained. Now what to do about where that sword is being kept. It's an important place so we'll probably need to call in the whole team for this one. <"So about your shooting skills. Just how well do you think you would do in an actual battle?">

[Snowy_One]

<"I am quite skilled when it comes to actually hitting my targets. As a hunter, you need to be capable of putting a arrow in a animal at long distances. However, the only form of physical defense I have is my utility knife, meaning if someone gets close, I'm in trouble. I'm sure I could hit a target at a hundred paces though.">

Edited April 9, 2011 by Snowy_One

[GoD]

"Oh dear what am to do?"- Chelsea said petting Nesha, who was relieved that his master was alright. Nanahm had left her, and she had no idea as to what the hell was going on. She could only hope for some feedback later on from Raquel.

"*sigh* What in the world am I supposed to do now. God, I'm so bored.....curse me and my inactivity."- the troubador said as she took out her light tome and started reding through it.

[Dark Sage]

Having entered the university and having wandered around for awhile, Domovoi found a room that he thought might be unoccupied and entered. What he found was Veronika inside the room, apparently writing something down.

"Oh hello there. You're writing something right? Do you have any spare paper I can borrow? I need to write a letter."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika was a bit startled at her door being opened, but then realized it was just Domovoi.

"All right, here you go," she said handing him several sheets of paper. "I do hope that if you're writing something...sensitive, you won't be delivering it anytime soon. Chances of a letter being intercepted here seem rather high," Veronika said to Domovoi.

[Snike]

Several days passed, during which Axel never got to interrogate the prisoner. That was... frustrating, to say the least. And once they arrived in Europa, Boris was once more whisked off, this time by the military, so it would be hard, if not impossible, to interrogate him now. Damn. The lancer walked into the university, and promptly locked himself into one of the dorm rooms, stripping the battered pieces of armor from himself. After removing his helm, the man held it up, staring at it with intent. The report would have to wait, as Weyland was out for the night. Well, it looks like skulking around was the only thing he could do. Axel placed his helmet besides his assorted gear, and donned a spare cloak that was lying around. It was a bit loose, but not a big issue, he thought, exiting his room. While keeping his head down, he passed the overly loud Domovoi in the hall. The rider seemed to have walked in on Veronika, but she didn't throw anything sharp at him. A somewhat good sign for the formers' safety.

[Rothene]

Time moved slowly as Ranyin immersed himself in the events portrayed in the books. It was frustrating for a mage to keep reading about how the mages were tasked with merely sitting at the back forging magical swords for gallant helmet-brained kngihts to slay dragons with or be all evil and menacing and then change into vile dragons. As if mages were blacksmiths or power hungry bastards, seethed Ranyin. He kind of agreed with the later, but the former just ground at his nerves.

After skimming through five or so books, Ranyin decided that all their literature were about the same, where the hero invariably was all brawn with absolutely no brain and heavily dependant on magical weapons given by others. Useless heroes who are all shout and credit stealing, grumbled Ranyin even more. He had enough, the literature here was no where near as beautifully written or descriptive as the ones back in Kigen. Their plots were so simple and the only moral values they had were 'He whom smites thee Dragon is right'

Why does this people hate dragons with such passion? Almost as much as some hate Neviskotia, wondered Ranyin as he placed the books back into the shelf. He thought about whether to read the history books or the ones about dragons. In the end, Ranyin decided to settle on some books on magic itself. It would not hurt to do some revision. Lore can easily be picked up from rumours and hearsay.

He picked up one that was as old as he could find, having a thing for real old tomes. It was an old book about using wind magic to pull flying targets down from the sky. Dragons in particular.

[roymbrog]

“Hmm?” Synthia looked up as the soldier approached her. “Yes, we’re attending. Weyland and Rodrigo had things to discuss, so they let us wait in the library. Is there a problem?” she asked, lowering her book. She wasn’t sure why one of the guards had decided to speak to them, she just hoped they weren’t in trouble somehow.

[Mercakete]

"Attending only? I see, so you aren't his assistants," she replied, nodding to herself at the clarification, "There is no problem. I was just curious. If you don't mind my asking, however, what are your reasons for attending?" They certainly seemed to be odd picks to bring along to such a secretive confrence.

[Dark Sage]

"Thanks," said Domovoi taking the paper and he found a discarded pen near Veronika. Assuming she was done with it, he took it and began to write.

"You do have a point about that. I'm curious on where Raquel plans on taking us next though. If we get further into this country, there might be a greater chance of being intercepted. But ah well. At least I can start writing this down early."

To General Petrova,

Since I arrived at Sergio Port, a series of events occurred that none of us had forseen. Shortly after I arrived at Sergio Port, there was a mysterious explosion at the docks, and a series of mysterious assailants nearby arrived to attack a nearby merchant and his daughter. I investigated the situation and together with other warriors who were nearby, I helped fight off that mysterious group. The merchant was kidnapped but the daughter was still alive. Since she was searching for bodyguards and since she was heading deeper into Ursium, I agreed to work for her to get some more information. Since then, we've traveled to Europa, getting attacked twice by this same mysterious group. Along the way we've encountered Rodrigo the Phoenix himself, who has aided us. I am currently attempting to uncover any and all useful information in Europa. Since people here at the university in Europa are allowed to attend this secret military meeting involving Professor Weyland, I am sure I can learn info from them. I don't dare go into that meeting myself though. I look too suspicious. Besides, Weyland had selected the guests from our group already I believe.

The mysterious group that attacked us is reasonably strong. They are clearly able to cause explosions like at the docks in Sergio Port obviously and while the initial ones I thought were pushovers, we eventually fought larger and much more capable small squads from this group. They make good use of tactics and use both mages and archers. The leaders of the squads have proven themselves to be fearsome and cunning opponents. They also make good use of tactics and amubshes, even using hostages to get the advantage. This is a group that is willing to do anything to achieve it's goals. They are also seeking to learn information at the meeting with Weyland, and while they have so far displayed no particular hostile intentions towards Neviskotia, I would not feel easy if that group managed to get their hands on whatever is being presented at that meeting and I would advise you to keep an eye on them. We have no information of their leader or the name of their group though. Still, we can take comfort that they are not going to aid Ursium. They are after the merchant's daughter because she possesses an emblem of sorts which is apparently valuable to this group.

As a side note, one of my companions is Veronika Rusajev, who has proven herself to be a capable swordswoman. She is searching for something called the Fire Emblem for personal reasons. The merchant's daughter's emblem may or may not be the Fire Emblem. For now, I would not make any assumptions and will protect Lady Rusajev for you. I know how much you like her. She might be able to help me out somewhat with the mission.

Your Subordinate,

Domovoi

Upon finishing the letter, Domvoi returned the pen to Veronika and presented her the letter.

"Would it be ok with you to help check over the letter? To make sure I didn't miss anything or misspell any words?"

Edited April 10, 2011 by Dark Sage

[-Cynthia-]

"Rusayev, not Rusajev." Veronika corrected. "Although it might be better if you didn't mention me at all, if my father learns my location he might send someone after me. That would be both dangerous for them and...incovenient. Your mention of the Fire Emblem also could bring members of the Neviskotian miltary towards our group considering its supposed importance," she said, putting a hand on her chin.

[Phoenix]

Library

<"Hmm. Alright then, I'm sure that'll do just nicely. Next matter of business is to see who else is available for this mission. We can't go about this without some support after all. Ursium's got more than just weekend soldier security forces, especially in that shiny capital of theirs. Let me know when you're done reading ... we've ... got places to go."> Bron explained.

[Rothene]

Ranyin was bored. The tome was interesting at first as it showed him ways to improve on his wind tome, but as he read further, it started going into the technical aspect that was filled with Ursium magic jargons and strange equations that would be exciting to learn for any typical mage. Sighing, Ranyin put down the tome and looked around. The university had played some mean tricks on him earlier. Should he pay it back in kind, wondered Ranyin grinning.