Return of the Emblem Chapter Eight: Affairs of the World

[Mercakete]

"I guess I'll see you at the courtyard," Norbert side to Blake as Raquel and Veronika left, "I have to go get Robin." With a slight wave, he began walking off, thinking about where the archer girl might be.

He eventually found her waiting outside her room. He felt as bit bad about having taken so long to let her know where they'd be meeting for the spar, but things came up and quite frankly, he was glad to have been able to speak his piece on it. "Hey, you ready to meet with the others for the spar?" Norbert asked as he stopped in front of Robin.

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

"You three! Keep an eye on our archers -- don't let the bandits close in on them! The rest of you, with me!" called Cecelia to her pegasus knights and indicating with her sword the three she had assigned to discreetly guard the archers. Directly after that, Snowshard reared and whinnied before Cecelia sent him into a dive, leading her pegasus knights into a swooping, deadly pass at the fleeing bandits. Her own sowrd, durring the pass, landed two lightning-fast cuts that gashed open a bandit's chest while her pegasus knocked away several of his fellows before pulling up and preparing for a second pass and watching her subordinates' progress and keeping an eye out for any bandits who might be close to escape she'd have to forcibly halt.

[Snowy_One]

From her sitting position, Robin pointed to a pile of arrows that rested besides her. Wood shavings and removed arrowheads of various types of stone sat besides them as she lifted one up, showing that she had taken special care to shape the tip with her knife.

"I did my best to ensure these won't hurt, but that is impossible. Any good draw will leave you with bruised flesh. Instead, these pierce the skin, but lose their energy once inside. Best I could do without making them so unreliably accurate that people in the next city will be ducking for cover. What took you so long anyways? I thought you would just find Blake and be ready to spar, yet I had time to carve my entire collection. Did you go for a early morning ride or something?"

[Acacia Sgt]

<There must be something else to do while waiting.> John thought. <Or perhaps I could already start by myself.> He grabbed his lance and shield. <On the other hand, there really isn't many viable options around here. Doubt I could get a guard on this, and Sophia is definitely out of the question. That leaves...> He turned to face Gil, still napping.

<Eh, could work... perhaps...>

[Mercakete]

"No, things just came up and it took some time to find Blake," Norbert answered, "Well, let's go. We're meeting the others at the courtyard." He waited until Robin was up to begin walking there. He didn't want to leave her behind, after all.

[Snowy_One]

Robin stood up and gathered up her arrows and bow before straightening out the loose shirt. "Be careful. This shirt is loose and can easily be torn and I do not want the maids hunting me down for making them have extra needlework. Also, I think I have found a problem. My knife is made of obsidian and it is brittle. Very sharp, but brittle. I'm not sure it can take a blow from your weapons."

[Mercakete]

"Just don't use it. If you focus on keeping enough distance between yourself and everyone else, you should be fine, right? And don't worry about the damage to the clothing. I don't think the maidens handle that kind of thing anyway. They probably have servants doing that sort of stuff for them. It's not my problem if their stuff gets damaged, but it's not like we'll be aiming to actually hurt anyone anyway. Still, that doesn't look like the best thing to fight in..." Norbert replied with a shrug, "Well, up to you what you want to spar in. Let's go." With that, he began walking to the designated sparring area.

[Snike]

Raquel openly admitted she was stalling for time to talk to Amon, to get his opinion. That was a kindhearted gesture, but it probably wouldn't amount to anything. The Rexians would be craftier than that if they wanted to keep their man away from the merchant. Regardless, Bert advocated trickery by omission when Raquel would talk to Amon about his decision to stay or leave, which she may or may not have taken into account before departing for other business. The pegasus rider reminded Blake that the practice was due to be held in the courtyard, before leaving himself. With absolutely nothing better to do, Blake occupied himself with the dubious task of navigating through the halls of the palace in order to arrive at the courtyard.

***

"There is no real 'somehow' to it," Thanatos said patiently. "Sardis was going after you because you have the ability to directly harness the Emblem's energy. If you, 'Cassandra', were to be made known to that dark druid, he would accept you on the spot, and likely entrust you with the fragments emblem to use as a weapon. You're the only one he could reasonably trust to do such a thing, after all."

[Mercakete]

It didn't take too long to get to the courtyard. John and Blake were already there. It looked like John had decided to bring his wyvern along, too, but Gil seemed to be napping. Sophia was there, too. Maybe she'd decided to stand by in case someone got hurt. It was a good precaution. "Sorry it took so long," Norbert told the others as he and the archer girl arrived, "We're all here now, though. So, how should we do this?"

[Acacia Sgt]

But whatever orthodox plan that came to mind, there was no time to execute as the others finally arrived.

<Well, I guess it's time.> John thought, grabbing his helmet as well before walking over.

''Well, I'd say to keep it within one-on-one's. Unless you want it with teams or everyone against everyone.'' He said, shrugging.

Sophia meanwhile left the wagon and grabbed her staff. Hopefully things won't get out of hand. She was thinking.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Mercakete]

"One-on-one sounds good. We can switch to other methods later if we want to," Norbert agreed with a nod before his eyes shifted directly to Blake, "What do you think? If we do spar one-on-one at least first" he readied his poleaxe as a challenging grin spread across his face "how about we get that practice in? Even if I lose to you again, both of us can improve."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Are all weapons merchants here particularly intimidating? In any case, I think a weapons exchange between our group and the military would be beneficial. We probably have items that are difficult to get here and you should have some wares we are interested in," she said bluntly to the commander.

Selene

"I would rather send a group after them, unfortunately we have no presence in Rex-Avaz and no easy way of locating them. The world is a big place to find one pink-haired merchant and her crew," Selene answered somewhat bitterly. "What we can do is plant agents at our ports and borders so that we know when she has re-entered Ursium. The criminal syndicate is also something we may be able to deal with, if they had enough force to overcome Weyland's security, they'll have difficulty leaving Ursium too quickly. The war with Neviskotia makes it more difficult to apply military forces in our own borders but...this is important enough for security to warrant some looking into. They're no random bandit crew, that's for certain."

[Snike]

Bert immediately opened up the conversation with John and Blake by asking which method would be the optimal way to fight. John recommended one on ones, an idea the pegasus rider agreed with wholeheartedly, it seemed, as team efforts could come later. The poleaxe-wielding man turned to the swordsman, expecting his input. To be honest, Blake did not really care whether it was team oriented or not. He was just here for the combat.

"Sure," Blake said, as Bert readied his weapon. "I'm ready when you are." As if to emphasize this, he stepped away from the duo, and drew his sword.

[Mercakete]

"So, I believe I had the first strike last time. Would you like to attack first this time?" Norbert asked as he began slowly circling the mercenary. Let's see how he attacks. I have to keep a lookout for an opening. Blake's tough.

[spoiler=Norbert's Stats]Stats: HP: 5 STR: 5 MAG: 0 SKL: 4 SPD: 5 LCK: 1 DEF: 3 RES: 3

Simplified Stats: HP:15 MT: 5(7 when PA vs. thieves, mercenaries or myrmidons) HIT: 4(6 when PA vs. thieves, mercenaries or myrmidons) AVO: 6 DEF: 3 RES: 3 AS: 5

Splinter and Crunch, Norbert's stimulant and the LMA are not counted for this statfight seeing as Norbert doesn't have them at his disposal.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snike]

"May as well," Blake said, as Bert began to circle him with a calculating look to his eyes. He was probably trying not to get taken out like last time, which meant the swordsman had to try and mix things up. As his opponent closed in, the man suddenly stepped to the right and slammed the flat of his blade into Bert's shoulder. That had ought to knock him off balance.

[spoiler=Roll](Blake's stats are in his writer's sig)

Blake Activates Valiant Stance! HP -2! STR & SKL + 2! They are now 10/10 respectively.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3381677/

[1,5,1] = Automatic Hit! (10+5) - 3 = 12 Points of damage!

Blake 10/12 HP

Bert 3/15 HP

Edited February 19, 2012 by Snike

[Mercakete]

Blake attacked quickly, taking advantage of an opening Norbert had accidentally left. He grit his teeth as he realized his mistake too late and was rewarded by Blake's sword slapping hard against his shoulder. The poleaxe was a much larger weapon than Splinter and Crunch or the shoerter axes Norbert was used to were. The only way to get better was to practice, though. He regained his footing as quickly as he could, then swung the axe at Blake in a counter attack.

((6-2)+6)-9 = 1 = hit!

(7+5)-2 = 10 damage!

KO!

Norbert allowed his swing to twist him about so he was facing Blake again and stopped the edge of his axehead right at the side of Blake's neck. As he stood there, a smile began to grow on his face. "Looks like I won that one," he mentioned as he relaxed his stance, pulling the poleaxe back to rest on his shoulder again.

[Acacia Sgt]

Looks like it was Bert and Blake for the first round. Both Sophia and John watched as the duel unfolded, though it didn't lasted long.

<Hm, didn't lasted long. But even so, what a display.> John noted.

That was quick, but thankfully it was only that. Sophia thought.

''Well then.'' John said, putting on his helmet. ''Who wants to fight me next?'' He asked.

[Snike]

Well, that didn't really work out. He had nailed Bert, as planned, but then Blake was slammed from behind by his opponent's returning poleaxe. The result: One mercenary on the ground, one triumphant pegasus rider, and one torn cape. The mantle, it seemed, had been snagged by the poleaxe and, as a result was ripped off by the weapon's momentum. So once the axehead was removed, Blake got up, dusted himself off, picked up his rag of a cape, and rose.

"Nice one," he admitted, cloth in hand. "I'm out for the next round, though."

[Phoenix]

Talks

"I am not a merchant, foreigner. I am the commander of the Sancturan military." the man replied to Veronika, sounding annoyed. "That aside, I believe trade agreement would be acceptable. I do not expect much on your end, but perhaps we shall see."

Raquel's eyes narrowed; she knew an insult when she heard one. He was still basing things on her appearance, she felt. "I assure you, we have plenty of goods you won't find from around here."

"And hopefully in useful quantities." he amended. "Speak to my weapon master Paz near the armory. Inform him that you have my permission to do business here. I'll mark his location on your mini-map."

More Talks

It was starting to make sense, but Cassandra doubted she would be able to use the emblem in such a way. On the other hand, maybe Sardis would train her. Maybe that was the real point. "I ... I need some time. I need to think this over some more, first. I don't have a lot of reasons to say 'no' but ... still. Please just give me some time." she requested. It was evident that she was still wrapping her head around who she was.

Hot Breakfast

The waiter soon returned with the chefs' spiciest concoction ever. The incredible amounts of capsicum were not the source of the steam, however, that only served as a foreshadow. He sat the plate down before Mireille a bit reluctantly and stood by. He stood by, because that seemed like the responsible thing to do. He even had a glass of milk with him that he held onto just in case. Gabbie had finished eating already and noticing the waiter's behavior, she turned her attention to Mireille too. This looked like it might be kind of interesting to watch.

Even More Talks

"General Remus left to confront the enemy at Urcenter some time ago. Hopefully he can drive them back and free up some more of our forces in the process. I suppose the measures you're planning for the merchant and these other criminals is adequate for the time being."

Meatshields

While the bandits near the forest struggled to fight off Miguel's men and occasional pegasus airstrikes, a second wave of bandits emerged from the cave. A lot of them were brought down by a volley of arrows, but the survivors made their way down the same routes the first bandits had, aiming to slip through the chaos and leaving the engaged to die. It was looking like every man for himself at this point, something Miguel saw first hand when he went after those at the head of the wave. A blond man with a fine sword--almost dressed too well to be a bandit--made his way for the forest followed by a bunch of bandits. Miguel came to intercept him with another one of his soldiers flanking him. The man slowed down, but the bandit kept on going, and right as Miguel prepared to attack him from a distance, swiftly put a fleeing bandit between them. Miguel attacked anyway and the bandit was cut down brutally, but the man slipped on by. "Get after him! He's got to be their leader!" Miguel ordered.

"No, I am!" came the voice of a burly bandit, his axe already coming down to cut Miguel down the middle. He blocked it by placing his sword above his head and bracing, but he was quickly forced down to one knee and locked in combat with the bandit leader. He made a mistake identifying who was who, apparently, and now the target he really wanted to go after in all of this was getting. The soldier following him tried to help, but was quickly fought off by several other bandits.

"You guys aren't entirely stupid, today, are you?" Miguel asked, making conversation in the middle of their deadlock.

"Prepare to die, red boy!"

"It's Red Wolf, you retard." Miguel growled back, trying to win back some ground on strength alone.

I hate to throw them away like this, but I didn't come here to be captured or killed by the military. Boris thought as he glanced back at the bandit leader. He barely made it to the shelter of the woods, but many of Miguel's men followed him and the few other criminals that made it inside. He unsheathed his sword so he would be ready if someone caught up to him and ran deeper into the woods.

[Snowy_One]

"Impressive." Robin watched as Norbert quickly defeated Blake with a swift twist of his weapon. She didn't grasp the delicate weapons-work in play for sure, she knew that much. That didn't mean she couldn't be impressed though. "I did not think Bert would win. I must admit though that I do not know much about weapon-play beyond archery. You asked me here to take potshots at you as you fought Bert. Do you want me to do so now?"

[Mercakete]

He didn't want to laugh when he won if only because it would've been rude, even if his victory had seemed humorous to him. Now, though, the pegasus rider laughed lightly. "I meant you could join in the spar by targetting anyone, not just me," Norbert corrected Robin good-naturedly, "It'd be good target practice, I think, and when one of us comes after you, you can practice avoiding close-range attacks."

Well, Blake was out for this next bout -- probably to rest a little. John was ready to fight, though, and the sting in Norbert's shoulder was practically gone. "Even if I can't break your defenses, John, I could at least practice hitting a flying enemy while grounded, if you plan on riding Gil," he shrugged as he responded to John before returning his attention to Robin, "Unless you'd like to try a spar against him this time." Honestly, it would be good for me to take a quick rest, too, but if Robin is intimidated by John, I might as well give him something to do.

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

Miguel got himself locked in combat with a particularly burly brute while his men scrambled to chase down the escaping bandits into the forest, where the branches made it difficult for the pegasi to persue them. It's an infestation. Captain Cecelia's face scrunched up in disgust before she led her pegasus knights in another pass. She, herself, dove right at the bandit giving Miguel trouble, lashing her whip out across the bandit's back in an attempt to give Miguel an opening. To a couple of her pegasus knights, she pointed to the forest and called, "Land and follow them! Don't let them escape!"

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems Bert would be his opponent. ''Hm? Actually, I wasn't planning on using Gil for this.'' John said. ''Gil can't help me all the time, after all.''

[Snowy_One]

"Me? Spar against him? Will he even know when I have defeated him? I mean, I can not exactly point at his head and say 'I shoot you dead'." she said with a shocked tone in her voice before sighing and hanging her head slightly. "I am willing to fight him on my own I guess. Just please do not break my arrows. I only have so many of them and I will use your bedpost to carve any ones you shatter!"

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded. "Yeah, I think it's good to practice fighting on foot, too," he agreed with John before backing away from the two and taking a seat, positioning his feet so their soles pressed against each other and resting his elbows on the sides of his knees to stretch while he watched the fight. This should be interesting. I never had time to watch how archers repelled their enemies before. If I was an archer, I think I'd just try to keep as much distance between myself and my enemy as possible within the range of my bow. I wonder how this will play out.

[Acacia Sgt]

Apparently not, it was going to be Robin. <Arrows huh.> John thought. <This should be interesting.> He turned to face Robin. ''Well then,'' he put his spear and shield in position. ''I'm ready.''

[Snowy_One]

"Are you sure about this?" asked Robin, knocking her first arrow. She wasn't sure at all that they had thought it through. After all, even with a perfectly blunt arrowhead she could still potentially put his eye out if she somehow missed her mark. Still, he had asked for it! She carefully pulled back the string as she focused on her target. If she missed, she was sure John would promptly start wailing on her and she would have no recompense. A still aura seemed to fill the air around her as she focused... then released! The arrow blitzed through the air at lightning speed, shooting right past John's head as the feathers ticked his ears before striking hard into the ground behind him!

Robin attacks the air: 1, 2, 2. Hit! Critical for 16 ((6+2-0) X2) damage!http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3382610/

Robin HP: 12/12

John HP: Too high/Too high

Air HP: Infinity-16/Infinity