Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Gytha hm?" Gar hummed. "Well, I suppose I can thank you properly now for not pulling that trigger."

He looked at Zachary. "Well, you can take it as flattery that they think so highly of your skills if they're still pondering something like that then Zachary," Gar smirked. "And since you currently don't have firearms being pointed at you, I assume you have a problem, and not just simply one?"

[Acacia Sgt]

<Hmm, wait a minute...> John thought. <If we consider what he said before and the circumstances... ah, so it's quite possible he may be...> He glanced at Raquel. <She is already full of things to worry about at our present situation with the cultists. Perhaps I should withhold this for the moment. Or just outright state it and deal with it now? One thing's for sure. This guy is more than it meets the eye, or ear.>

''I'd say,'' well, here goes nothing. ''What you told us is really the whole story?'' He asked at Gar.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Obviously not," Gar smiled as he shrugged. "I mean, I'm flattered I'm the center of attention and all, but going into my life's story at the drop of a hat and how my poor, poor decisions led us to this injunction is just not going to solve our little problem here. I talked about what was relevant and I did." Not like he expected everyone to trust him right off. The Emblem was the only thing else relevant though, and if they did have it then fishing for it was a good idea. Which meant this whole job was a bad idea. Or maybe they were trying to protect some other dire secret, which just made this a whole lot more awkward.

[Acacia Sgt]

''And that's where you're wrong. Since you haven't told yet why you were tasked with searching out Raquel.'' John said. ''You did mentioned a while back you were given her description, and a, in your own words: very important piece of information. Even if you don't believe it yourself it's quite likely your employer does. And considering you were told to search out specifically for Raquel, then there is one thing that comes to mind that is quite likely.'' <Alright, no turning back now.>

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Guy hired me too, I think I've said that.. three times now? No idea why he wanted me specifically--there are far better people to play spy, mainly ones who don't go boldly announcing their intentions like this, but I just assumed it was some long-term plan to plant me and have me betray you and then betray me. If Raquel existed anyway, which she does. Well, like I said, I didn't really believe a word he said, he just paid a lot and up-front, and I got a lot of other work down on my way down here so, yeah," Gar shrugged. Well, now was the tricky part. "Oh right, that, yeah, the guy said she had THE LEGENDARY FIRE EMBLEM! which was really where I got the idea that it was all just some big-ass joke and he was trying to play me." Gar shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously, if something like that was brought into circulation then the end of the world is nigh." Gar laughed. "Guess you could call it professional curiosity, since that would just be a big problem wouldn't it?" Gar grinned and placed his right hand on his hip. Well this was a bright idea!

Edited May 22, 2012 by Script

[Acacia Sgt]

''Oh really, your boss knows of the emblem?'' John said. <Looks like it's my turn to play along.> ''If he came to the conclusion that it was in the possession of someone it must mean he has quite the means at his disposal if he can theorize and put it in practice to find out. So why not send one of his own men instead of searching out for you? You did say you didn't liked to be approached, and yet you accepted, despite not really believing him.''

[Phoenix]

Meeting

"Well part of it was Zach mentioned me by name and so the crew were naturally suspicious. They played along for a little while, though." Raquel tried to explain the overall difference between Zach's first meeting and Gar's. It had already been stated that there were fewer firearms to threaten people with in the wardroom, so she didn't bother restating it.

She wasn't quite sure what John was getting at when he asked Gar if that was the whole story. At first she thought maybe he was worried that Gar already knew about the fire emblem, but wasn't sure if they would mention that to him or not. Maybe they wouldn't; did he really need to know? Maybe they would; who would agree to track down someone like her without knowing why?

When Gar answered and mentioned the fire emblem, she went completely pale and donned an awkward expression, the inevitable result of trying not to look suspicious. What was she supposed to say now? They were keeping information about the fire emblem somewhat secret for Captain Bogdan's sake, and she planned to do the same for Gar's, but it came up so quickly and caught her off guard, there was no way she could hide it now. To make matters worse, a very tiny barely audible "eep" escaped her right as he mentioned it. She was either busted or close to it.

Expensive Seating

"Well, you clearly don't have a pegasus with you. What do you want?" Claudia asked, crossing her arms expectantly. She was missing the fight(if you could really call it that) and didn't expect to gain anything for it.

"Hmm," Reign was about to speak, but ... I don't know who might be listening. "Could we maybe have this talk in private, Miss? Not just the two of us; your lancer friend is perfectly welcome." Bit of a gamble hoping the bodyguard isn't dirty too ...

"Haidar? Well of course he would accompany us. There is no guardsman I trust more than he. But ... I truly don't want to miss the rest of this glorious bout. Tell me what it is you want, already. No one is eavesdropping on us, and if they are, dear Haidar here will mount them on a stake as an example."

Girl's got a real royal mean streak ...

"You-look, you, tell me what it is you want. I'm missing the battle!" she grew impatient.

"... fine. Do you know about a man named Cervantes by any chance? Can't remember his whole name, sorry."

"Oh bother ... it is Cervantes Von Krausche. You are most certainly not a regular in Tremere. What do you wish to know about him?"

"Anything you can help me find out in exchange for a pegasus. I can't promise one immediately, but I'll find a way. I don't go back on my word with people. Ever." Reign reassured her. She didn't reply right away, and instead placed her hand on her chin as a thinking gesture. She mulled over the idea for a few moments.

Warrior's Field

"Well, you don't have to. Mandy rarely misses by accident, though." Tali replied to Bert, still sounding indifferent about the whole thing. "A little late to be nervous, though isn't it?"

"Oh relax, you. Unless you try to block this with your face, you'll be fine." Mandy reassured Faatina. Her aim was slowly drifting toward Bert though. Shooting him first was seeming like the more fun option.

"To clarify," Tali began, holding up one finger. "The arrows she's using were designed by the Warrior's Guild's Ursian branch. Each arrowhead contains a very very small rune. Usually a light rune since they hurt less. The arrowheads are frail so they shatter on impact, but the force of that impact sets off a chain reaction inside the rune and discharges its energy all at once. The runes are designed like a cannon and the energy is all focused in one direction, toward the shaft of the arrow. The shafts are made up of four segments with indentations carved throughout to it can crumble under the pressure. The force of the blast shreds the shafts to bits and sends it rebounding the other way. All that's left after that is the rune cap, which keeps the rune in place and keeps the blast from reaching the target, and the rune itself. It still hurts, but as long as it doesn't hit your face or any bare skin, you'll be fine. Actually part of the reason it hurts is because of the rune cap. It doesn't break so it impacts directly when the arrowhead encasing it breaks."

"Bravo on explaining things, Tali. Ten points~" Mandy chimed in.

"If you don't trust Mandy not to maim you with arrows, you could always duel her, instead. She knows how to use swords too. That's maybe more fun than she deserves, though ..."

[Mercakete]

Norbert's irritation surfaced a little at Tali's comment about him being nervous. "I'm not nervous, I'm just not stupid. It's not in my nature to just let someone wail on me," he clarified, "If it's part of the test, though, I guess there's no way around it." Ursian, huh? Not sure if that makes me trust them more or less... Well, I can take a hit so I should be fine. ... This just feels really weird being able to see my attacker with a bow drawn and not doing anything about it. Might as well get this over with. "Go on and shoot." Here we go...

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

John and Gar's conversation got Gytha thinking. It's not like most of them had to give very specific reasons for joining up. It didn't matter too much to her who kept their secrets and who told them. So far as she was concerned, everyone had secrets. Maybe not... Maybe John's been completela open n' thinks everyone else has been, too. Hmm... Well, I'm glad I get t' keep mine, fer now at least. Maybe I'll tell Raquel in private sometime... Fer now, though, I don't know if I trust 'er enough. She was fairly uncertain at the moment and so was keeping to herself.

[Eail]

'..... wait what, did he just say the Fire Emblem? As in THE FIRE EMBLEM OF LEGEND? That has to be the special item that was mentioned in the dossier on her. Could it possibly be that jewel she has on her cloak?

Zach decided to voice his own opinions on the current situation, "Um, far be it from me to tell you how to run your group Miss Raquel. But doesn't the fact that this guy knows about your possession of something such as the Fire Emblem necessitate some caution? I mean I didn't even have that information from the dossier on you, all it talked about was a valuable item that you had."

[Acacia Sgt]

<The cult is in the dark about the emblem?> John thought. <Good, that helps...>

''Is that so? Well, that brings over my next point.'' He continued. ''The fact he was told of this sounds like too much information to tell an outside accomplice. Wouldn't it make more sense that such information would be told to... a member itself?''

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"He's not my boss, he's an employer, barely," Gar's face changed into something more plain. The way the first answer was replied, that was indicative. Dammit, if they had all just kept their mouths shut this might have just blown over. Well, maybe this was good--haha no it was bad. "With the amount of gold he poured out I wouldn't doubt he has the means. As for why me instead of his own? Maybe I'm more expendable, maybe my SHOCKING TURN would have shaken you all to the core. Maybe he wanted some extra insurance during the fight. Well, this is all just rampant speculation, so hell if I know." Gar shrugged, his face back to normal. "Well, frankly if it wasn't for this atrocious luck I have, I'd already be sailing back looking to hunt the guy down. I don't like being played. Especially now that I know he was unto something here.

"Or maybe he was actually honest the whole time and I jumped to random conclusions." Gar kept up his shrugging habit.

But unfortunately things turn a turn for the odd as Raquel put on her best not suspicious at all face which made all the color drain from her face in record time. The only time he'd seen someone change color so fast was when Gar caught them in bed with someone they weren't supposed to be with. And that was a much more passionate color than none.

Great, so, either she was a spectacular actress, or they had something that may actually be the legend. Gar sure knew how to pick assignments that were light and fluffy and not world-ending at all. Yup.

After that Zach second-hand confirmed it, which, really wasn't all that important. That guy with the armor kept up the questioning. Actually bringing up a very valid point. "Yeah, yeah, you're right," Gar confirmed. "Ha, maybe the guy's more clever than I anticipated and set me up. Man, now I really want to enact my revenge." Gar shrugged. "Course this is all only relevant if you have the Emblem, which you don't because it's just a myth so eh?" Gar gave one last out for anyone to take. Not that it looked like questioning Joe was about to do that.

[Snike]

The 'deal' was accepted with little fanfare, and almost immediately, Gytha and Zachary introduced themselves to Gar. John, on the other hand, was more skeptical. Almost immediately after the 'problem solver''s return greetings, he asked said solver if the tale told was all there was to the matter. Gar danced around the question by stating that he said everything relevant, which, while not necessarily true, was a satisfactory answer. Until the wyvern rider pressed further and the white-haired man name-dropped the Fire Emblem in his explanation. Oh, bloody hell, so this guy was Organization, too. Or was hired by them, at least. John was getting around to that part, of course, but in the meantime, it couldn't hurt to check the room for reactions. Gytha was apparently lost in thought, oddly enough, and Zachary seemed to be unfazed, even going to advise Raquel to be cautious of Gar. That was ironic, but speaking of the merchant, she didn't look too good. Indeed, the mercenaries' lead employer was pale and seemed to be on the verge of... something. Whether that was a nervous breakdown, or a fainting spell, he wouldn't know until it occurred, which would be an unfortunate thing, regardless. Mostly for morale, but also for battle planning, seeing as she WAS the commander.

"I think now would be a good time to have a break," Blake said just after Gar continued his explanation. "I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind a little fresh air, and someone can fill the newcomer in on the situation." That should be reasonable enough not to draw attention from the other members.

***

And that was that, he was signed up for the tourney tomorrow. Now to deal with the whole soliciting issue. Grant politely thanked the arena's recruiting officer, pulled up his cloak's hood -he usually didn't mind fans, but right now he just didn't need the distraction-, and made for the reserved section. After being waved through by Claudia's guards with relative ease -the magician was her cousin. What harm did he pose to her?-, he pulled his hood down and continued on his way. As he climbed up the stairs, Grant caught sight of Claudia, her lead guard Haidar, and a rather casually dressed Rexian man. Curious.

"... Oh, is this a bad time?" Grant said, flashing an apologetic smile as he closed in on the trio. Found a pegasus seller?

[Acacia Sgt]

<He sure likes to keep to his story of being hired.> John noted. ''Maybe if you were expendable. But as an outsider, and especially since you say you took the money despite not thinking the job as possible and against your method of operation, sounds like you could just have turned it down. As apparent by the tone you take on these revenge plans. Sounds like you're just using the hired story as cover.''

[Ether]

<"Well, that's better than the alternative, I guess."> Faatina muttered, mostly to herself, though it seemed at the very least, Mandy understood Rexian. Loosening her grip on the lance, Faatina dismounted from the borrowed stallion.

"Well, I guess it would be better to do this part on foot then, huh?" Faatina asked, this time in common.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well, if this guy here's fine with that," Gar indicated question guy. "After all, letting me take a break let's me get my shady story all in check, but anyway," Gar moved back on. "I could have turned down the job, yeah,, but there's no point in turning down money when you don't think you'll have to do work," Gar remarked. "But heck, if I didn't take it, then he might have tried eliminating me or have been on guard in case I decided to go after him. hell, with the retrospective you've got me I think that's now bloody damn likely." Gar crossed his arms.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, can you prove to us what you're saying it's true?'' John asked. ''After all, since you withheld the fact you knew about the emblem it means you're not above hiding some facts. How can we be sure that your revenge plans and the like are really the truth or just an act? After all, this guy over here,'' referring to Zach. ''Has presented proof about his own situation.''

Edited May 23, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Can't say that I can," Gar explained. "Besides, the Emblem is just a myth and all that, so it's not like not being upfront with that's all big and bad. Heck, you'd probably think I was a loony for going after the damn thing, or thinking it was real." Gar shrugged. "You can't be sure of anything, naturally, people turn on each other all the time for grand things, for petty things. It's good that you don't trust me, I like that about you guy-whose-name-I-don't-know, because I'm certainly all shady-like."

[ReformBlade]

"QUIT STALLIN AND SHOOT SOMEONE!" Aneda yelled, bracing for the pain and simply wanting to get on with things. These people go ooooon and ooooon! No one gives a shit what the arrow is made of, just fucking SHOOT!" Of course when she heard Norbert challenge as well, Aneda braced even more, especially after noting the woman shifting her target constantly. She honestly did feel vulnerable without her weapon at the ready and her armor on the ground at the moment, but she would be brave and take it with the strength she was born with. a strength born of pride and possibly arrogance in a sense, but hey, no one's perfect...

"Haha... perhaps I shouldn't be selfish and leave you out of it?" Davod mused out loud. "Well if you aren't gonna rescind the offer, I'll accept. gods know my taste buds aren't gonna be happy with me after this just to put it lightly."

[Snowy_One]

*Delete*

((What the hell did I do last night?))

Edited May 23, 2012 by Snowy_One

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika narrowed her eyes at the newcomer a little more as he began to explain that he knew about the emblem. Not sure if the fact that he admits to being untrustworthy is better or worse. Their plans for cultists were getting lost pretty rapidly in the newcomer's arrival.

"I also think a break would be a good idea- it will be quite a while until night falls so we still have time to devise a plan for dealing with the cultists. As well as dealing with some other matters," she said, unsure of how to handle the newcomer at the moment.

[roymbrog]

"I also approve of a break," Valter said, raising his hand. It was for different reasons, however. He didn't want to answer the earlier question of strategies when he really had no idea what to suggest. The newcomer certainly saved him some embarrassment, but threw a wrench in things regarless. "Someone should probably supervise Gar and make sure he doesn't do anything else... shady."

As soon as the meeting dispersed he would try to find Synthia. As much as she hated chess, she wasn't half bad at strategizing. Not that Valter was bad at it, but this was a bit beyond his scope.

[saifors]

Restaurant

Dion ended eating his chicken pretty soon and proceeded by asking Neela for the bill

[Phoenix]

Wardroom

"Anyone who wants to keep an eye on him is free to do so. I'm not sure who I'd assign personally ... so just knock yourselves out. A break is a good idea, yeah. I need some air." Raquel quickly blurted out. Most of what she said ran together a little too closely, to the point where most of it sounded like one long sentence. I'm not sure what to do about the emblem. Who do I tell? Who don't I tell? Anyone we 'recruit' is going to find out about it eventually, but the captain must suspect something by now. I could barely hide it when Gar mentioned it. Zachery is probably wondering about it now, too.

Raquel, this is dangerous, recruiting one suspicious character after another. You must have a lot on your mind with your father missing, but this is ridiculous. Who knows what these two are up to. Shadrak mentally ranted in the background. I guess I should keep an eye on one of them, but which? Hmm.

Restaurant

"Awesome, now open woide." Gabbie replied, expecting Davod to open his mouth. Apparently she wasn't joking about 'feeding' him. What Davod likely didn't know was that she wasn't even close to a gentle woman, so instead of a slow and careful placing, he was more likely to get the sausage roll comically stuffed into place.

"That will be three silvers." Neela replied to Dion.

Claudia's Booth

With the new arrival, Reign began to wonder if he shouldn't have just tried to find a way to speak directly to the governor. His offer still hadn't gotten Claudia to budge yet, after all, and now there was a new person and 'factor' present. He could only hope that it was a family member, but that might be getting his hopes up too high.

"Oh, Grant." Claudia greeted in surprise. She quickly shook her head at him. "... no, I wouldn't call this a bad time. In fact, I believe a second opinion is needed." Reign raised an eyebrow at that. Was she about to tell this guy about everything? Well she obviously knew him, so it might not be too bad ... hopefully. "I'm quite positive that this man is an enemy of that Krausche fellow. He wants any information I have on him in exchange for a pegasus ... that he does not yet have."

"Never underestimate a man bound to a promise." Reign advised. "If you really want a pegasus, I'll find a way to get you one, and legally at that."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you will." she replied dismissively.

Warrior's Field

Within seconds of Aneda demanding her to shoot, Mandy switched her aim to Aneda and let the arrow fly. The impact was exactly as Tali had described, and to someone observing from the side, it looked as if an explosion of light had erupted from Aneda herself rather than the arrow. The shaft was completely shredded and the scraps flew away from Aneda as if they had come out of her own body. The runecap and its contents were steaming hot from the blast and landed on the ground after falling from her chest.

Tali immediately began writing things down as she said. "Can't tell on defense, yet. Definitely a tier three barrier, though ..."

"Should I try again?" Mandy inquired, already having brought another arrow to her bow. She needed only drawback again, aim, and shoot.

"If I had to guess, I'd say tier one defense, but I'm not writing that down until I see it again." Tali replied.

[saifors]

Restaurant

"Here." Dion said as he gave three silvers to the waiter

[Ether]

The strange arrow was fired, and it slammed into Aneda, in an explosion of light. Tali quickly mentioned something about a Tier three barrier, Faatina could only assume it was related to their ranking system, as well as a proposed tier 1 defense, though she wasn't sure of it quite yet.

Regardless, Aneda seemed to be fine, if not a bit shaken. Just in case, Faatina called out to the woman. "You okay, Aneda?"

"I'm curious... for that ranking system of yours, is it better to have a high or a low number?" Faatina asked Tali.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Ether