Return of the Emblem Chapter Eight: Affairs of the World

[Acacia Sgt]

The arguments had now attracted the attention of the ship crew, even the Captain's. Not that it could be helped.

<Not making a good impression to them huh.> John thought, watching as the whole thing kept unfolding. And now the Captain presented his own points. <Hopefully this won't get worse.>

At this point we'll be here even longer. Sophia noted. It won't even matter if that other ship gets away.

Well, John was wrong, now Shadrak wanted to use violence too, warning be dammed. <Oh come on, is this really worth fighting over?> He probably could lend a hand in protecting Raquel, however, she had her own plans, whether willingly or not.

And so the end result was, Raquel finally took action, and in what way! The unleashed energy was apparently enough to have undone Lilith's fusing of the emblem piece and the cloak's gem.

<Well, let's see how this unfolds now...> He thought.

Amazing, did it just triggered with her anger? Sophia wondered.

[Ether]

It seems that her awe at the concept of dragon eggs wasn't shared by the others. Cultural issues arose, mostly from those borne of Ursium.

Kill the dragons, sink the ship, the notions were brought up in differing volumes, and soon things got out of hand. One knight proclaimed Raquel a traitor, and drew his lance. By the time Faatina had readied her own, there was already a defender brandishing her blade, and a mage poised to bring the knight down in a single fell swoop. The man's threats grew more harsh and severe, but the knight had not yet backed down, and Faatina gripped her lance ever tighter, a cold sweat trailing down her back. This was the second time today, that she had drawn her weapon against a comrade, in hopes of ending a conflict. As she looked at his armour thoroughly for a gap she could use with non-lethal effect if she need take the man down, she scowled as she didn't find one.

Then the golden glow. A strange object clattered from Raquel's attire onto the gauntlet thrown to the ground by the knight. Raquel herself seemed shocked, and Faatina tensed up. Would the man take this as an opening? If he struck, she was ready to try and keep him at bay but she wasn't sure she would be quick enough to actually stop him so much as simply retaliate.

"You heard the man. Drop your weapon and raise your hands above your head. Now." Faatina said in a firm voice.

[Snike]

Apparently, no one in this band of villains would dare confront the wretched witch and her scaly harlots. Very well, he'd just have to deliver justice himself! Indeed, the knight was not concerned with the defenders of Raquel. They too would fall before his spear. Before he could begin exacting punishment upon the fell one, a brilliant light shone from her.

This light lasted for a long moment, and when it had faded, the seductress' gem had changed colors. Fancy parlor trick, no more. It wouldn't save her. Then, the new wench seemed to think that she could order him around. Fool.

"I will never surrender to your kind, mongrel. I fight for honour, for justice, and most of all for-"

That was as far as he could go before his own gauntlet came flying towards his face. That was the only warning before that blue haired Ursian sellsword attacked him, landing a small cut and a scratch on the armorless arm. As Zel shouted out in pain, he swung his lance out and managed to strike his foe. The swordsman and knight broke contact then, which allowed the latter to assess his adversary. What little he needed to, anyways. The impudent peasant was clutching his right arm, where Zel's lance struck true. He didn't even have proper armor on, only some flimsy coat probably made out of complete garbage! As he realized the inevitability of his victory, the cavalier chuckled.

"You will be the first to die!" he announced, as he twirled his lance around and dealt a mighty blow to... Nothing? What? How?

As if to answer his questions, a heavy strike from above knocked the knight onto his back, and into darkness.

***

"He's out cold," Blake said, as he checked the zealot's unconscious form. Slowly and painfully, he rose, sword still in hand. "Anyone else want to try me? Or can we carry on?"

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3461316/

Vs activates! Blake @ 11 mt/15 hit. 13/15 hp left.

2,4,4 = critical! 2(15-11) = 8 points of damage!

2,1,2 = auto! 12-11= 1 point of damage! Zel 12/21

Zel counters

4,1,4 = auto! 8-2 = 6 points of damage!

Blake 7/15 hp

Vs activates! Blake @ 11 mt/15 hit. 5/15 hp left.

Zel attacks!

3,6,6 = 9-10= miss!

Blake counters!

6,6,6 = Lethal! 3(17-11)= 18 points of damage! Zel is defeated!

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"We can leave him here I suppose- we have no need for traitors," Veronika remarked after Blake knocked Zel out. "As for the rest of you," she cast glances at Bert and Shadrak "if you won't participate in the mission, you can find your own way off of this port. I doubt the captain wants Ursian sympathizers aboard and we have no need for traitors in our ranks either," she said, giving a glance to Raquel in an attempt to prompt agreement.

Nadya

Nadya considered healing Zel, but figured since he was about to attack the boss that she shouldn't bother. Her mind was on the dragon eggs anyway. I doubt they'd miss just one...though I won't have Luca for a quick getaway... she pondered to herself.

Edited April 12, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Acacia Sgt]

Despite so, Zel still hadn't give up. Fortunately he was stopped by Blake, despite the fact a fight had to broke up. John shook his head.

<Hopefully that's the end of it... though I have the feeling it's only for now.> Well, with the situation calming down, he figured it was safe to come back closer, to which he did, approaching Raquel. ''Hey, feeling better?'' He asked. <This certainly took a toll on her.>

Sophia looked over where Zel lied. Should she...? No, she shook her head. After that, it would be dangerous to do so. Especially if he quickly goes after Raquel once more.

[Ether]

It all went down too quickly. The swordsman was on the knight within a blink of the eye, and within another the knight was down. Letting out a sigh, Faatina loosened the grip on her lance, and looked to Raquel.

"Are you alright, Miss Valcyn?" Faatina asked, holding her lance in a more relaxed position at her side, giving the foolhardy fallen knight a simple glance before looking back to the merchant.

[Mercakete]

"And all it would take for you to ruin people's lives is a torch or a few fire runes. I'm not trying to convince you people that 'dragons are people too', but you people would not kill a bunch of orphans just to keep them from joining the military some day, would you?"

Norbert opened his mouth to reply, but then something came to mind that made him close it again and rethink what he was going to say. I am one. And so are my sisters. But there was a time when we needed looking after. And a good deal of us wound up in the military, fighting against Neviskotia. ... No, no way! We're not like some nest of dragons! ...Right? No. Dragons are just like any other wild animal, only they're much more dangerous than most of the others! And besides, they're not my family! I don't have to worry about them!

Then the light came, gaining his attention. Raquel was glowing. What? Why's she glowing? Many others had already stepped in to defend Raquel. Gytha had her pistol at the ready, Veronika had her sword drawn, Shadrak had some sort of dark mass ready, Blake threw a gauntlet... Wait. A short battle later, Zel was on the ground and Blake was injured but standing. In spite of himself, Norbert smiled at that. That's right, military dog, stay down.

Everyone began relaxing. He wasn't sure why. As far as he was concerned, the conflict remained. Only the immediate threat had been dealt with. Well, almost everyone, it seemed. Gytha remained at the ready and was eyeing him suspiciously. "Relax," Bert huffed as he crossed his arms, regaining his scowl, "I don't agree with this at all but it's not worth breaking someone's neck over. I'm not about to attack anyone." Gytha seemed to remain skeptical but slowly holstered her pistol.

Then Veronika addressed him and Shadrak. Her phrasing prompted a wry grin from the pegasus rider. "'Ursian sympathizers'? You say that like I'm not Ursian. As for what I'm going to do, I'll decide that for myself. You can't tell me what to do -- you hold no authority over me. I haven't decided if I'll help with this particular job yet or not but it's a pretty safe bet that those eggs should be kept far away from me if I do help out. 'Cause unlike that military zealot, I don't want you guys to get killed in the fighting and that means I want to do my best to keep you guys alive, by Wrath! ... I'm...still uncomfortable about the dragons, though. They're dangerous to my family so I'm not exactly inclined to keep them safe." By the end of his statement, Norbert sounded less fervent and more uncertain, maybe even unsettled. What effects will the fate of those dragons have on my sisters and their families later on? I don't feel good about this...

Edited April 12, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snowy_One]

"Remember what you said to me only a few moments ago about trust. About how each side needs to show that they are worthy of each others trust? Neviskotia and Ursium hate each other very much and no peace can exist until some trust starts to form. It may be small, it may be a deed done by only a few, but even so, it can go a long way towards starting to form that trust that will save many lives if it allows for trust, and peace, to form."

[Mercakete]

"I was saying that people only trust other people once they prove they're trustworthy so you shouldn't expect others to trust you if you haven't proven that you're trustworthy. I did not say that we should all go around doing our dead-level best to prove our trustworthiness to everyone! Some people will just never trust you and there are some people you never will -- or should -- trust! The world isn't friendship and daisies, Robin! Wake up!" Norbert replied snappishly, frustration rising with her unrealistic advice, "But that has nothing to do with this anyway. You can prove untristworthiness, too and that's not always easy to undo. Even if either side stepped out with that sort of naive outlook, their opposition would trample them. Don't twist my words and don't give me more to talk to you about right now. No parting words -- nothing. Get it?" She has a problem with not leaving people alone who really need to be left alone. I swear I'll deck her if she keeps trying to talk to me like in the desert. If I break her jaw, maybe she'll finally be quiet and leave well enough alone.

Gytha kind of felt sorry for Norbert. Though she disagreed with his views on dragons, Robin was bothering him even though he clearly needed to be left alone. She'd been there, after all.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Mercakete

[Phoenix]

Afterdeck

"Tch. You're injured, don't pretend you could beat the next man so easily." Shadrak hissed at Blake. Still he lowered his hand and the dark energy dispersed. "And no, we can't just carry on; not yet. We need to toss Zel overboard before he wakes up and goes on another rampage." he then gave Veronika a glance when she mentioned him. "If I wasn't going to help with this, I would have jumped overboard while the docks are still close enough to swim back to." he explained as he crossed his arms. "I'm still firmly against 'rescuing' these eggs as opposed to sending them and the Dark Utka to the bottom of the ocean, but I won't let Raquel get herself killed over it. I'm going to stay. If nothing else, I can make sure she doesn't get hurt or lose anything 'important'."

Raquel was still shocked that Zel nearly attacked her. He was actually about to kill her for what she'd done. It almost dragged her back into her troubles in school. Her ideas weren't well received there, either. She felt Veronika was right; if anyone wasn't going to help, they should probably just leave. At the same time, she hadn't warned anyone about this in advance. No one had been given time to argue. This in no way excused Zel's actions, but perhaps if they knew about it in advance, things wouldn't have become so heated so quickly. Maybe he would have attacked regardless. Finding out on the ship wasn't much different from finding out on the docks. Once he learned that she was set on helping Bogdan, and by extension, Veronika, he probably would have reached the same conclusion and readied his weapon. She quickly reached a decision about Zel, though. This decision wasn't quite the one she wanted to make; she was still fearing for her life at that moment despite all the protection in the world, but she still had the bigger picture to consider, and a lot of different perspectives to gather in the meantime. "T-tie Zel up."

"Tie him up?" Shadrak echoed with that 'are you crazy?' look on his face. The captain was also curious but said nothing.

"I'll need a guard ... or ten ... but I want to talk to him when he wakes up. A lot of people didn't agree with me or my friends when we talked about how pointless the wars between Ursium and Neviskotia are. I usually avoided people like that at all cost but at least one was working for me until now. I keep picking up people from various backgrounds and walks of life ... sooner or later I'm going to pick up someone who disagrees with something I feel we need to do. That's just the way it is. Zel just tried to kill me out of the blue; maybe he's crazy, or maybe he was just overwhelmed by what I'd said. I don't know either way, but I didn't see it coming because I haven't been paying much attention to anything or ... anyone. I'm responsible for this entire group and I almost died because I made a decision without thinking about everyone involved. It doesn't justify what he did, but I shouldn't have brought him on this ship in the first place. I need to understand all of you better in the future, or we might not survive this."

"Stop recruiting Ursian knights, simple." Shadrak shot back dismissively. "We're getting rid of him, right? You aren't actually going to keep him around after he just tried to nail you to the Dauntless like an ascension ornament, RIGHT?"

"I ... can't really take that chance," she said, shivering slightly. "... but I still want to talk to him. I want to know why he did this. Even if it turns out to be pointless, it's better than tossing him overboard. And what about Sliep? You're not going to throw a horse overboard too, are you? We're not thieves."

Shadrak glanced over at Nadya for a split second. "Maybe not 'horse' thieves ...."

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, judging by how she was dealing with the Zel case, looks like John's question was answered anyway.

''Well,'' he spoke up. ''If you ask me, I suppose it didn't help that so far our jobs had been stuff we've universally agreed to do. I don't know who expected that to last, but this one certainly broke that streak. At least before his threat everyone was willing to just talk it out, certainly better than resorting to trading blows at first chance. By the way, about sending the eggs to Neviskotia,'' at this he turned to mainly face the captain. ''If you don't mind me asking, is there a reason in particular the eggs get sent there rather than returned here? Is it just not possible or something?'' He made a guess.

-----

Well, healing Zel was out of the question, but Blake had also gotten injured. Knowing this choice was certainly safer, Sophia approached the latter. ''Are you alright?'' She asked as she began to heal him.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[GoD]

With the chaos subsiding, Chelsea decided to leave Shadrak alone for now and made her way over to John.

She decided to answer John's question with a theory of her own. "Honestly, even if we did return the eggs to their parents, chances are we won't receive a warm welcome. We could be killed, even if we came to them with good intentions."

Now she as well decided to face the captain with a question of her own. "Pardon me sir, but what should happen if the eggs... hatch?"

[Phoenix]

Leverager

"The lady is ... correct," Bogdan replied to John with a slight grimace. "The dragons in this region are extremely hostile and reclusive. It is almost as if they know about the violence up north; the slavery, the religious discrimination, all of it. Some suspect these 'wild' dragons don't even speak any known languages. They attack humans on sight ... or on scent. You don't bring an army up into the mountains, and they have the home field advantage. It is almost suicide to tread there, let alone steal eggs. Humans have stolen their children for longer than anyone can possibly remember. I doubt they will be grateful to anyone trying to return one or two. It may not appeal to some people, but at least in Neviskotia they can live among humans without being mind controlled or killed to sate a hateful god." he explained.

"What a wonderful cop out, Captain; 'It's too dangerous to return them to their homes, so we'll send them to the empire and cash in.'" Shadrak commented wryly. "I mean your job is soooo safe, chasing down heavily armed smugglers in foreign territory with no reinforcements and transporting dragon eggs all the way up north ... through pirate infested waters? Yeah, that's nowhere near as dangerous as taking a few eggs to the base of the mountains and leaving the parents a note and some cookies." Shadrak rolled his eyes.

"I would gladly risk your lives or anyone else's on the off chance the dragons take the eggs back and leave gratefully, but not mine or my crew's." Bogdan replied before turning his attention back to Chelsea. She had brought up something he would have likely explained eventually, but now seemed like as good a time as any. "We have had hatchlings before, though only on two occasions, and only one at a time. They hatch a lot bigger than one might expect and startle very easily, but my men know how to handle them. If we find hatchlings on the Utka, or one of the eggs hatches, my men will deal with it. You lot can simply keep your distance or spoil the Utka."

[Mercakete]

Norbert was grateful Robin had kept her mouth shut so far. It was enough to help him calm down a bit as he simply listened to the conversation going on. Raquel had decided to talk to Zel sometime later. It was revealed that she felt this mess was her fault for not having talked about their travelling arrangements with everyone before committing to it. She also said that it was her fault because she hadn't taken the time to get to know the people working with her. Norbert nodded quietly to himself. Those were accurate assessments and it was responsible of her to admit it. A realization struck the pegasus rider that he decided to take a mental note of and bring it up later. It was too surprising for him to ponder about it at the moment.

John brought up that this was bound to happen sooner or later since this was an issue where your views on it really were dependent on your background. He could agree with that. Then John asked the captain a question and Chelsea of all people answered it fairly accurately before asking her own. Merz, if we have to take care of one of those winged freaks... The dragons the captain described sounded like the dragons he'd grown up hearing about so no surprises there. Also, if one of the dragons did hatch, the ship's crew would be the ones to take care of it and keep it far away from any of their own group. Good.

Gytha, meanwhile, had been listening as well. She thought it was good of Raquel to assess the situation like that. A small hope began to form, too. If Raquel started getting to know the members of her crew, that meant Gytha would probably have a chance to get to know her, too. She was looking forward to that. The mariner figured it was good that the captain decided that his own crew would take care of any hatchlings since some of their own would probably wind up killing them.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I don't see why we don't just have a flier return him to Port Temptress, but as long as he's unable to attack that will do for now," she said, deciding to ignore Shadrak's complaints for the moment. I doubt he'll sabotage the upcoming mission...wish I could say the same for everyone in our group. she thought to herself, looking at Bert.

Nadya

"Well if we're gettin' rid of our local crazy knight, we either need to train his horse ourselves or send him back to where he came from- he won't be able to live out in the wild," Nadya offered, catching Shadrak's glance. Why'd he look at me when he said thief? He can't read minds...I think. she thought to herself, shuffling away from Shadrak slowly.

[Snike]

"I never said I'd beat anyone easily. I just said I'd take them on," Blake shot back coldly, as he put his sword away for the time being. "And I meant with regards to the briefing, sir. The knight can be dealt with as Raquel speaks." Apparently he was viewed as dumb muscle by Shadrak, which worked for the swordsman, to an extent. If that myth spread, well, any spies would underestimate him, which in turn would allow him to guard Raquel more effectively. Regardless, Sophia the Ursian cleric had walked over and healed his arm.

"I'm alright aside from my arm. Thanks for asking, though," Blake said, as the pain from the wound went away and his flesh knitted itself back together.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, that's too bad.> John thought after hearing the answer, which surprisingly came from Chelsea first, though the Captain expanded upon it. Shadrak kept to his protests, but that was a given. And then Chelsea had her own question, which was an interesting one.

<Hm, it'd be really something to see if a dragon does hatch during all this. Although too bad we wouldn't be allowed to get near. Oh well...>

[Phoenix]

Moving Right Along

There didn't seem to be any objection to Raquel's prisoner plan, so she decided she would continue with the briefing. She noticed her emblem still resting on the deck, and reached down to pick it up. It was a little awkward being able to hold it, again. She was happy to not need that bag she usually carried with her, so with the emblem back in hand, she wasn't sure where to store it. In her hand would have to do for now. "Okay ... the ... next issue. Our battle formations ... combat teams; we need to discuss those and probably how to handle them in the future. I'll need some time, but it would probably be best if I organized the group into teams before any foreseeable engagements. If nothing else, it will streamline the process and encourage me to get to know you all better."

Raquel organizing the teams? Shadrak was certain she wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility, but she didn't say anything about advisers. She could take advice, couldn't she? Of course. Now he just had to make sure he was among the first with a say. "I've paid attention during our travels and I'm quite familiar with the combat capabilities of almost everyone. If you need any help deciding on things. I'll be here."

"Thank you, Shadrak. Blake also had some ideas that I'm considering." Raquel replied.

"Hm?" Shadrak raised an eyebrow ... had Blake launched some sort of uber preemptive strike? Long before the meeting he was making suggestions? Curses.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

This was a topic that would normally only be of minor interest to him, but it was much preferable to the previous one. "So, let's hear it," he voiced, only now returning to a position fully facing Raquel, and ready to listen. Well, here we go again. Time to see who I'm grouped with.

Gytha was curious about this topic. Why were they shifting around teams? Was something wrong with the previous ones? It was a tad unsettling.

[Ether]

"Combat... teams?" Faatina asked, looking somewhat confused.

'They did seem to be divided into groups last time...'

[Acacia Sgt]

It seems the issue was being pushed aside. Now the matter had shifted to a restructure of their combat teams, which made sense, especially considering the newcomers. <Heh, though in the end, no matter who I end up with, I end up flying all around the place.> John thought. It was so true.

And almost on cue, one already had a question.

''It's the way we fight. We get in groups of three, though sometimes we aren't enough and some end up as two or alone.'' John explained to Faatina.

Sophia meanwhile, having finished healing Blake, went back to focus on the main group, who seems to have finally changed the topic.

[Phoenix]

Combat Teams

"Well we have to change some things now that ..." Raquel began but paused and looked around rapidly trying to spot the captain. "I need something to write with and a parchment." She made her request in quite a hurry. Bogdan nodded at her and then nodded at one of his men who quickly ran off to fetch the requested items from the captain's cabin. He would only be a minute, so Raquel took the time to explain. "I can remember most of them off the top of my head, buuut I'd rather write them down, and writing them down is better anyway so we have a quick reference and can discuss it without any ... confusion."

[Mercakete]

A discussion, huh? "So, we're not just being assigned?" Norbert asked, seeing if he was getting the picture.

"Well, she did mention that Blake'd alreada given 'er some ideas," Gytha interjected, "Guess we're startin' with that n' givin' our thoughts on it. That right, Raquel?"

[Phoenix]

Briefing

"I do think it would be more efficient if I just started assigning teams, but I would like some input from the rest of you. I ... umm." Raquel paused, feeling unsure of whether she should come clean about something. She opted against for the moment. "I'm leading the group but I don't have enough experience to be confident about my team choices just yet. So yeah, I definitely want your thoughts." she explained, nodding at Gytha.

By then the sailor had returned with what Raquel had requested and she used the side of the Dauntless to write on the parchment while the sailor held the ink for her. She dipped the pen once and then began writing out a list of names, mostly in groups of threes. As she began writing she paused frequently. They were long pauses which seemed to imply that her memory was failing her, but the truth was she was taking note of a few needed changes due to the current circumstances. Zel no longer needed consideration, but Shadrak certainly did, and this new mercenary Davod would be useful and needed a team as well. "Okay the first suggestion was myself, Blake and Mireille. Gabbie, Nadya, and John were together, though come to think of it, neither of them ever need protection so maybe John so stick closer to someone more vulnerable. Veronika Bert and Ranyin still seem alright with me if no one has any other ideas. Gytha Sophia and Chelsea were also mentioned" she explained as she wrote down the names. The pages was getting a bit cluttered by the end of it, but the sailor had a few more pages she could use waiting in his other hand should they need to make edits.

[Mercakete]

Gytha grimaced as she heard the suggested teams. Apparently these were Blake's suggestions. She'd previously been helping Blake and Raquel, but in this newer proposition, she was the only one moved to a new team. It...hurt, actually. The mariner wanted to say something, but she just couldn't find the words. So she opted for shifting uncomfortably with her eyes on the ground, grimace remaining as she mulled over the new information.

Veronika and Ranyin, huh? Well, it's nice to be able to look after Ranyin again. Can make sure he doesn't get trampled or something. Veronika and I don't get along much, though. I think I make her uncomfortable. I don't have a problem working with her, but she might have a problem working with me. Hmm. "You alright with that, Veronika?" Norbert asked the swordswoman, "Could just be me but I don't think you trust or like to be around me. I won't be offended if you want to work with another team."