Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Mercakete]

"Norbert," he corrected. At first being called "pegasus boy" was irritating, but then he remembered he hadn't given her his name yet, primarily because she hadn't asked for it. It was fairly easy to shrug off the irritation once he'd remembered that. As he began taking of Rizen's gear (save for the most basic tack) he answered, "Whatever, I guess." He wasn't sure what all these tests involved but it wasn't like he was opposed to fighting against the Fallen. Once Rizen was freed up and her extra tack and armor was in a pile off to the side, Norbert took off his forehead guard and enforced jerkin but opted to keep the gloves on. Then, he remounted his pegasus and waited to see what all this test would entail.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

His self-introduction took a few moments to register on the varied group in front of him. A redhead woman continued whatever conversation they were having, whether out of negligence or self-assurance. Whatever this group was doing, their enemies weren't going for the kill huh? If only Gar had that luxury. It was possible they'd gut him like a fish if this went south. Certainly some of them looked ready to try, as a swordsmen with blue hair already had his blade at the ready. This was going so swimmingly.

One of them finally took the effort to actually ask Gar how he knew. Probably would have been better to have her answer that or just straight-out lie. Though the Raquel-girl herself was certainly shifting nervously enough that either of those would have been a worse option. Dammit, if she got too jumpy it'd be a brawl, and the odds were crap at best. Hell, he never even got a decent look at the guy following him so even a run could be a disaster.

Time to play it though. Or he could rewind time and not take the stupid option. "I know her name because someone told me it," Gar answered truthfully. He shrugged and twisted his head to the side to get a view on his little trailer as well. "To put it more specifically, someone hired me to keep track of Raquel Valcyn and gave me some base descriptions and a very important piece of information that frankly is still probably a lie."

The guy behind him was clad in dark robes. Probably a mage--shaman most likely, they always did try too hard with that scary doom-bringer guise. But even if he did brush past him, there was still crew, and just blockading a door would doom him to a fight. Fun always did have its disadvantages. So, very, very many disadvantages. "Now before we go and point a half-dozen pistols at my head," Gar stated. "I'd like you to know I didn't actually think his request was serious, I just got paid up-front and had nothing better to do before I hunted him down and got revenge for screwing with me. So now that what he said is true, that means the fastest way to screw him over is to stick with you." Gar sighed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Maybe he should just become a baker. They never had to kill people. Except, that one bake shop that did so they could bake them into pies, that was certainly a disgusting problem. Man, was any profession safe? Gar docked his right hand on his hip and held his left out in the air. "Now, of course you're all going to be wondering why you should trust me, why do I talk so much, if I'm screwing over that guy why wouldn't I screw over you lot. Well, I could have easily concealed all this but thought being upfront would be best, I also am only talking this much because well I already know what questions want to be asked, and I'm not gonna play double-cross on you unless you do something devious, which is something I now the guy who hired me was planning. I'm not famous--at all--so looking for me specifically to get me to go on this? And only report? Once they sprung whatever their stupid plan was they were obviously gonna use me as a plant then betray me afterwards. Well, probably," Gar shrugged. "So, there, decide for yourself amongst my plethora of please-don't-kill-me words."

[Mercakete]

"Heharr, don't be silly," Gytha chuckled good-naturedly as she brought out her pistol, aimed it at Gar and made it click, "I'm th' onla one with a pistol n' here, 'sides th' captain there."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"The more distressing thing is that it's actually the least threatening gun pointed at me today," Gar smirked. What made him decide this course? He must have been tired. Yep, all those many hours of restful sleep sure wore him out. If he survived this goal one was to never sleep again.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Straight to the point I see.> John thought. <And it does have it's similarities to the previous story. Seems these guys need to rethink on who to send for their missions. Well, tough luck for them.>

So he too was against this? Sophia thought. I wonder how long this will last.

[Eail]

'Wow, I got three guns pointed at me and this guy only got one? Bullshit! Bah, if anything this guy might draw attention away from me at the moment and give me some time to think.'

"If it's any condolence friend, when I did the same thing you just did about an hour ago I had three guns pointed at my face. So you should feel thankful."

[Mercakete]

"Haharr," Gytha laughed as she uncocked her pistol and holstered it. I like this guy. R'laxed, even when someone pulls a gun on 'im.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

The pistol pointed at him as a result of his actions was commented on upon by some other guy. One who apparently suffered the dreaded fate of having three pointed at him. Well, he was still alive so Gar probably had 3 times the chance too! Which became eerily accurate as the harharing lass lowered her flintlock. "I seem to be very thankful indeed."

[Snike]

Valter stepped up to ask Gar how he knew Raquel's name shortly after Blake readied his sword, and the response was interesting, to say the least. Apparently, the snow-haired man was hired to find and track the merchant woman. Which implied that he was employed by the organization or another enemy. Despite this, now he wanted to join the group to get back at his employer, which somewhat made sense, but this was the second time a scenario like this happened. Was it a coincidence?

Regardless, it wasn't his decision to make with regards to this man. It was his boss's call. Blake turned to Raquel, who was close to completely freaking out. Poor thing.

"Well?," he asked, his voice betraying no emotion. One way, or another, this issue would be settled.

[Ether]

"I don't really see the point in testing endurance without equipment... I mean, we fight in our equipment. If I can sprint a hundred metres in fifteen seconds bare, but in a battle with my armour on, if it takes me twenty, does that fifteen earlier really matter?" Faatina questioned, a bit skeptical.

"If this is how it's done, I'm fine with it, it just seems... counterproductive for a combat assessment."

[Phoenix]

Meeting

Gar explained his situation and it was slightly more convincing than Raquel expected. Well not really. She originally thought he wouldn't be able to even convince her that he wasn't sent there to fool and then kill them. He did convince her that he valued his life enough not to try anything reckless, and he was surprisingly honest, too.

Blake eventually asked her directly. Time to render a decision. "We need all the help we can get. Just know that I'm going to do whatever I feel is necessary to feel secure." she managed to word that without it sounding quite like a bluff, but anyone who knew her probably suspected it was. The most defensive action Raquel ever seemed to take was keeping an able sword within a few feet of her at all times. She seemed unable to guard herself in any other way, and she hardly ever felt secure, period. "Not to be rude or anything. A-and that goes for both of you." she noted, looping Zachery in with Gar.

She seemed to have forgotten to reply to Robin in all of the confusion. Robin had seemed pretty adamant about protecting her, but was pretty distracted by preparing the apology dinner. Maybe she assumed there were enough people present to protect her and didn't want to be a bother. At least that's what Raquel figured. "If you don't mind whatever plan we come up with, then sure. I guess you should focus on dinner." Wait, that reminds me. Are we going to eat before or after the battle?

Restaurant

"You don't want to be able to tell them about the part where Gabbie fed you? Alroight, have it your way ..." she teased. Man I hope he can handle spicy food. I don't want to have to carry him out of here.

Expensive Seating

Reign made his way into the building. He had to drop the pegasus card about five times to get through all the security between him and this Claudia girl, and the first guards he encountered still slapped him with an escort who was ready to shank him in the back at a moment's notice. Reign made a mental note to stop risking his neck by not having a tome with him at all times. His amulet wasn't going to allow him to do much more than singe off people's facial hair. Potent potent. Finally they were getting somewhere, maybe. They came out from a staircase and seemed to have come to the expensive seats. Where else would they be going? It also seemed obvious because it was a much more comfortable area within the stadium, with individual chairs instead of built in seating, and there were only a half dozen seats about, with about three of them filled.

"Not bad." That was when he saw her, or rather who he assumed was her. She was the only female in this reserved seating area. "Must be her ..." he noted before his attention was drawn to some loud explosion coming from the arena. He looked over to see a dark avian perched ominously atop long nine cannon. It had just fired and had apparently missed him. Were they trying to kill this guy? Reign also noticed that the arena was littered with unconscious warriors and wooden scraps. He could make out the remains of a ballista and another long nine cannon that was apparently demolished. The scene was kind of disturbing, really. Suddenly his attention was pulled back to the expensive seating area he was in. The young girl had risen from her seat to cheer for the winged destroyer, and a moment later, he'd blown every not metal part of the long nine to bits, leaving the cannon itself to roll harmlessly a few feet away from where it once was.

He was quickly blocked off from her by a rather tall violet eyed rexian man holding a large spear. "State your business."

"I swear, you guys take response courses ... I'm here to speak with Miss Claudia about the 'pegasus' matter."

The man stood there silent for a moment and then glanced back at Claudia. She was still a bit distracted by the madness taking place in the arena and cheering like a fangirl. "I will make sure nothing happens. You may go." the man told the other guards, and off they went.

"Relax, I'm unarmed."

"You will be if you try anything." the man replied threateningly. It was worded so seriously that Reign thought it was a genuine threat. It probably was, but the look on the man's face was practically lying to him. A smile after saying that? He was either looking forward to tearing his arms off, or he was bipolar ... or maybe just amiable and Reign was reading too much into this. Who know for certain? That Claudia girl probably knows ... he mused.

Warrior's Field

"Well if you test without your equipment, we can assess your raw talents without Tali having to make an educated guess. Your overall talents are normally assessed using average estimates of whatever equipment you use. Some people prefer to let overall talent be determined that way. Others want both raw ability and overall ability to be tested together." Mandy explained. "If it makes you feel better, Tali's never been off in her 'guesses' ... at least not the ones she actually writes down."

"You make it sound like I second guess myself." Tali shot back. "I only have to see one good fight to figure out most everything."

Edited May 22, 2012 by Phoenix

[Snowy_One]

"I know that this sort of strategy planning is not my place. Better for me to focus on cooking than on this plan." she said before she turned to leave. As quickly as she could manage she made her way back to her groceries by the Dauntless, picking them up before she went to go sit beside it and start work on readying the food.

[Ether]

"Well, I still don't quite get it, but I'll take your word for it. If everyone else is doing this unarmoured, I may as well do the same for ease of testing." Faatina replied, stripping off her armour, as well as her shield, and placing them off to the side, giving a quick stretch to adjust to the lighter feel of her body.

"Alright, so what's next?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Good," Gar clapped underneath his cloak with some enthusiasm. "You don't fully trust me, that's good, that's perfect. That way no matter which way this goes all parties will be satisfied." Gar stopped his clapping. "As I said earlier, you can call me Gar. You can think of me as a problem solver. You have a problem, I'll solve it, usually with a healthy dose of the old ultra-violence, though I do have other talents as well. You don't have to pay me, and as long as you don't send me off into any suicidal glory charges I'll follow most orders and give advice where appropriate." Gar crossed his arms. "Do we have a contract?"

And then one of them went and left. Well, she was certainly a carefree girl.

[Eail]

'Huh, I'm being put in the same category as a guy that has no proof he isn't gonna stab these guys in the back. I just feel so damn warm and fuzzy right now.'

"Oh I don't blame you for trying to protect yourself Raquel. I'd say I probably know just as well as anyone else here just exactly what you've had to go through, you have reason to be cautious." Said Zach in response to the aforementioned Pinky.

[Snike]

As Fate- or rather, Raquel- would have it, the newcomer would be accepted, albeit with the warning that she would take measures to make herself feel secure. Which were what, again? In his albeit brief time with the group, Blake had not seen the merchant actually use any type of weapon aside from her staves. Did she even know how to wield a knife correctly? The swordsman had a hard time visualizing his boss using anything but staves in a combat situation, especially with Reign's earlier words in mind.

Regardless, it seemed that there was little immediate need for his blade. Blake relaxed a bit and dropped his hands to his side. Gar was now talking about his talents, which unsurprisingly involved violence. Well, as long as he truly was an ally, that could be useful.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika looked at Gar, slightly bewildered. He certainly does talk a lot... "So why are you betraying your previous employer and deciding to work for us for free again?" she decided to ask him for clarification.

Nadya

"Wait, so are we fightin' or runnin'?" Nadya asked Mandy for clarification, not taking off any armor as she wasn't wearing any to begin with. "I'd really prefer the latter, gettin' into fistfights with people stronger than I am ain't my idea of a good time."

Connor

"One time I accidentally ate a bug because it flew into my mouth. It was gross, but I lived- your spicy food probably can't be much worse," he offered before eating some more of his meal. I really was hungry...skipping meals may not be the best decision for my health.

Cloe and Clara

"Sure was strange...I think a certain someone is going to be interested. I think the four of us should meet in the stables- they don't seem to be used too much. We can compare notes there," Cloe said in a hushed tone.

"All right then," Clara said to Jethro, pondering the situation for a bit. So he's Raquel Valcyn's father...but she's someone the Organization is trying to capture? That doesn't make much sense... "So Jethro, how did you come to join the Organization? If you don't mind me asking that is," she added hastily, since he seemed a bit agitated.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Things seemed to be dying down on the tension front. Three-guns-head guy was trying to counsel Raquel and bluehead sword-guy relented on Raquel's choice. Then of course the redhead swordwoman wanted a little refresher on the details.

"Simple, the guy came looking for me specifically. I'm not famous, none of you loudly proclaimed that I was Gar upon seeing my glorious visage. He came looking for me, so that told me something was up. Didn't offer his name, and when I asked he gave a telling lie." Shoulda took him to the poker table actually. "He sent me off on a wild-goose chase after someone I've never heard off, without so much as an indication of where she was, just a description of pink hair, green eyes and other assets," Gar crossed his arms. Better to leave the Emblem out of this for now. "Hell, it was a ridiculous amount of luck that I actually found my way here. But continuing on, the guy pays me upfront with a lot of cash to 'keep an eye on her' and report anything back to him. Without actually making notice of how I would actually do that. It was all-too suspicious, if she actually existed--and she does--the guy was setting me up for something, so I played along, took his money and went off in this random direction. But now that I know Raquel here actually exists, that means a couple of things. Since your little group is already at odds with someone, or maybe multiple someones, I was probably supposed to be a plant to turn on you whenever my dullard employer felt the need. Then he'd turn on me to tie up loose ends." Gar shrugged. "Well, granted this is all just wild speculation but I like to prefer caution in dealing with contracts. Actually that wasn't simple at all, so to actually put it simply, I offer my services, I don't like people seeking them out."

Edited May 22, 2012 by Script

[Phoenix]

Wardroom

That's better than most of the unpaid recruitments I've made ... Raquel noted with a slightly surprised look on her face. "Okay, you have a deal, Gar." she agreed with a small nod. Barring any more questions, someone was going to have to fill Gar in on the situation ... and then they would get to see if he really meant what he said about ultra-violence. She felt a lot less worried than before, no longer entertaining the possibility of the kind of fiasco that happened when they first set out on the Leverager.

Restaurant

"You ate a bug? I didn't think you got out enough to have run ins with those~" Gabbie teased.

Expensive Seating

Perhaps he was in the all clear. That seemed to be the case with the man standing aside for the moment. "Ahem, Miss Claudia?" Reign raised his voice just enough so she could hear him. She ignored him for the moment and kept cheering. He wasn't sure if she still couldn't hear him or if she was just pretending not to notice him until he said those magic words, again. "Miss Claudia, I wanted to speak with you about something important ..." he tried again. Nothing. Instead she cheered for the dark avian when he was swamped by lesser men and began beating them in short order. Reign only spared the dark avian another glance; same one sided crap, different opponents. Finally he just decided to test and see if she could hear anything whatsoever. "Ahem ... 'pegasus'."

"Hmm?" she perked up in exaggerated surprise, finally granting the man her attention. This was progress. "And who might you be? A worker perhaps?"

"Heh, do I honestly look employed to you? That's flattering, really." he replied with a friendly smile. "Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about something."

"It's not a pegasus, though, is it?" Claudia replied, her mood quickly declining. Was he that transparent? Or maybe it was the unemployed line. If he didn't have a job, he probably couldn't afford to keep a pegasus.

"Well no, I'm not actually here to sell you a pegasus, but if you work with me, I'll be happy to help find you one. Got nothing better to do ..." he muttered the last statement under his breath.

"Pegasi are not native to Tremere. Where do you hope to 'find' one. I warn you now, Unemployed Man, I won't be bought with stolen animals."

"... noted."

Warrior's Field

What next, Faatina asked? "Well next, you either run like hell and I work out what your evasion is, or you stand there and try to brush off her shots like a champ." Tali answered apathetically. The sound of a bow being stretched from the force of a drawback could be heard pretty clearly from Mandy's direction.

Mandy answered Nadya's question once the arrow was fully drawn. "Well it is the endurance test, but feel free to try and dodge if you want." She wasn't aiming at Nadya, yet, but that could change in the blink of an eye. "So who wants to go first?~" The arrow she was using looked to be made up of numerous parts. It probably wasn't meant to kill, but how it would interact with a soft human target was still a mystery.

Mining Town

"Alright, sure. As soon as Clara gets back ..." said Cecily.

Meanwhile, Clara was asking the question that even Cassandra wanted answered. She was still barely within earshot. "Fighting didn't really serve a purpose until now. I'm not a fan of most of these people, honestly ..." he paused to glance around at various people, primarily Sardis, Hayato, and Colin. His voice faded from agitation to something more casual as he looked back at Clara. "But we're all working toward the same thing. That's good enough for me." So vague. That wasn't what Cassandra wanted to hear. It wasn't enough to figure out what was going on really.

[Mercakete]

"I'd really prefer the latter, gettin' into fistfights with people stronger than I am ain't my idea of a good time."

Norbert grinned at this comment, laughing quietly to himself if only because that was his idea of a good time. Well, one of them. A short while later, things were explained a little more...sort of.

"Hoooooold on... So, you're going to shoot at us and we're supposed to just take as many of those...weird arrows...as we can? What do those even do?" Norbert asked. I guess it makes some sense but... Me standing around letting myself get shot at? Not likely.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Mercakete

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

And things had gone through. Barring any of his many lies getting called this day was looking up! No actually, this was down, definitely down. So when his lies got revealed that was gonna be down even further. Well at least most of the truth was out now. The half that was really dangerous. Nobody probably gave a damn about the howling Voice considering the lack of fanfare. Err, well actually the Emblem was the most dangerous thing. Granted that could still be a lie, boy did he hope it was, but best to not go spreading anything specific about that. It could be saved as a startling revaluation for when some meager pissant revealed it.

But eh, those were details to worry about later. "Beautiful," Gar commented. "Now, I've been informed there's a problem looking to be solved here. My expertise is at your service." Gar looked around the room. "And maybe some names, I dunno," he shrugged.

[saifors]

Restaurant"Thank you" The mage said to Neela before starting to eat the chicken and putting his book away.

[Ether]

And then the sound of a bow being drawn. Faatina immediately regretted removing her armour as she wheeled herself around so that Mandy was well within her sight, readying the horse beneath her to bolt at a moment's notice.

<"I knew disarming was a bad idea. There's no way in hell I'm trusting something like that not to kill me..."> Faatina cursed under her breath, eyeing Mandy warily. Her grip tightened on her lance, her knuckles whitening from the pressure. If need be, she could attempt to deflect the things with her weapon, it was better than taking a direct hit.

Hanging on Mandy's every word, Faatina let her far eye dart over to her defensive equipment while still watching the woman. If she could only get to her shield, the sinking feeling in her chest might lessen...

[Mercakete]

Well, it looked like the newcomers were in. "Heharr, a'course! Me name's Gytha. I'm a mariner, though a lot o' me travelin's been o'er land th' past month. Sure's nice t' be in a right port again," she introduced herself, adding on an unnecessary bit she wound up noting aloud.

[Eail]

Raising his hand to indicate it was him that was speaking Zach began "Name is Zachary, I suppose I could be called the problem right now. A tad bit disapointed as well that you got welcomed with open arms so quickly while I'm fairly certain there is atleast 3 people in this room that are still thinking about killing me."