Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Phoenix]

Raquel

Raquel emerged from the Dauntless with a look of complete and utter defeat on her face. She approached the gathered group and announced "I need to go find a tailor and get some green dye. I need an escort."

A trio of sailors just happened to be wandering by and overheard her. "An 'escort'? You really do have a lot of enemies don't you?"

"Yes, but this is just paranoia on my part." Raquel admitted. I can't get the fire emblem to even change the color of a simple cloak. The most powerful artifact in existence is in my grasp, and I'M COMPLETELY HELPLESS! URGH! "You're not ... offering, are you?"

The sailor shrugged. "We've seen to the ship, so now some of us are getting ready to go enjoy ourselves in town. You don't waste your time on a ship when you reach port ... well, maybe you people do, but we sure don't." The sailor explained, shaking his head at the last part.

Bogdan

"Good luck, then." Bogdan handed Gar the spyglass and nodded. It would be awhile before the meeting resumed. A long while. Best to relax for the moment.

Gabbie

Gabbie grabbed what was left of her sausage roll(quite a bit, actually), and took a large bite out of it. Rather than try to say anything and lose her food, she nodded at Davod as she stood up. Once she ate that bit, she looked to Connor. "Ready to head back?"

Reign

Once they arrived at the docks, Reign put his hand up to his brow to keep the sun's rays out of his eyes while he searched for the Leverager. Part of him wanted to make Grant stay put while he went off to the docks to inform them of the situation and protect the Leverager's identity, but with Grant being a relative of the governor, chances were if he really was with the cultists, they were already screwed. Taking them on was just suicide if they had full backing from the ruling house. Of course Reign was almost certain they didn't have that much reach or pull, just his cautiousness flaring up, again.

Mandy, Tali, and Shadrak

"If I trusted what he was saying, I wouldn't be tagging along to make sure he doesn't try anything. This cult's influence is apparently all over the place, and I don't want him making contact secretly or something." Shadrak replied to Bert, angrily. Aneda wasn't helping his mood much, either. Greeeat, another crazed Ursian with a lance; just what we need right now. Shadrak also wasn't too sold on Zachery's assessment of two guild testers. "If they're that good and you know them, why didn't you just go to them in the first place, genius?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure if we're even allowed to do something like this, at least not without being able to write it off as self defense." Mandy pondered aloud with her finger on her lip. "Too bad we're not the targets of the attack, huh? Hahahah."

"We couldn't take them all, anyway, though if they attacked us, they'd have an entire guild to deal with. Of course then the district turns into a warzone for a few hours and the governor has everyone involved tried and executed." Talitha gave some input. "You might want to find a way to prove that Cervantes is corrupt before you actually take him down. At least that way you have some way to keep the authorities from arresting all of you. I'm not sure I want to get involved, especially not if we can't even get pardoned. I don't want to lose my job over this."

Langley's Battalion

"The shrine? Yes, Sergeant Beck managed to find out a little more about that. At least one of the bandits worships the Shadow God. The title is somewhat taboo. In Ursium, we simply call that dragon Obelisk." Langley replied.

"The most powerful and twisted dragon there ever was." Fletcher added. "You have to figure someone would admire all that power, for whatever reason."

Beck stepped over since the conversation was quite relevant to him. "He said something about 'the day of the Shadow God' coming or ... something. None of the other bandits seem all that interested in praying."

Langley lowered and shook her head thinking of that bandit. "Anything else?"

"No, Ma'am." Beck replied.

"We've captured or killed everyone that was inside. We must have if the captain didn't find any other exits." said Fletcher.

"Well, that just leaves the fate of the tunnels. You said they were unstable, Lieutenant?"

Fletcher nodded. "Yes. I recommend collapsing the entire thing now that it's been cleared. It's too dangerous for us to use, and we certainly don't want to fight our way through another cave."

Miguel chuckled at that. "But it went so well for us~"

"With all due respect, Lieutenant Colonel, that place might not be able to handle another fight, no matter who's using it. Destroying it now takes it out of the picture completely and means we don't have to come through here as often."

"I'm poking fun. I don't mind one way or the other."

[Mercakete]

Obelisk? Cecelia was beside herself. The fact that someone within Ursium was worshiping not only just any dragon but that dragon was on the verge of incomprehensible and definitely disturbing news. The discussion moved on to what to do about the tunnels. "I agree that they should be collapsed," Cecelia put in. She was still somewhat distracted by the news of the Obelisk-worshiper, though. "Ma'am, what do you plan to do with...that dragon's servant?" she asked, hoping that they'd get what information out of him they could, whether their battalion or another part of the Ursian military performed the interrogation.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"If he sends out reports with false information, that could work to our advantage. We just have to ensure that Gar is working for us- a task easier said than done. But yes, the cult is bigger priority- we need to gather soon to finalize our plans. Acting sooner rather than later will be in our best interests," she said to John. Maybe I should accompany Gar scouting- though if we get caught the whole point of the mission obviously backfires. Of course if we let him go alone, he could inform the cult of our plans...if he were so inclined to do so. she pondered to herself.

Nadya

"My idea of 'friendly reinforcements' doesn't include anythin' that's part Fallen," Nadya said, looking at Talitha dubiously. "I dunno how Raquel feels about it, but ya know the Fallen did try to kill us all one time. That's what they do, go around killin' people, eatin' people, or enslavin' 'em. I woulda thought you scholarly types would be up on that," she said, glancing over at Shadrak and Zachary.

Connor

"Yeah I should get started on your armor modifications as soon as I can. Might not have them ready before you have to deal with this cult business though," he said to Gabbie with an apologetic shrug.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Spiffy," Gar commented as he took the spyglass. A quick little inspection passed and Gar was back out into the halls and back out unto the main deck of the ship. Raquel was back outside, so hey, time to bother her again. "How's progress?" he asked as he walked closer.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Script

[Mercakete]

Norbert remained quiet as he pondered Nadya's say in things. He didn't trust the Fallen either. Steinn had been the one to seal that opinion with his explanation of Fallen nature and society -- a complete account or not. Though Talitha hadn't shown reason for mistrust herself. Of course, it's not like they interacted much and he'd only known her for a brief amount of time -- and even then, he didn't know her, really. Though all the other Fallen Norbert had encountered were fairly upfront, making clear their intentions without having to pry much. Maybe that was true of this yellow one, too.

"The Fallen aren't to be trusted. This doesn't matter anyway since they already said they're not coming," Norbert agreed aloud before adding more slowly with more uncertainty, "Though...maybe she's more Avian than Fallen. I don't know. She hasn't tried to hurt us yet. She's only been doing her job so far." Hurriedly, he threw in, "That doesn't mean I trust her, though! I'm just judging based on all I know about her instead of just where she comes from." And now he felt awkward and confused.

[Eail]

"I'm the kind of person that believes in judging people for who they are, not based on stereotypes spread around. In fact I'd dare say I'm one of about five Neviskotians who don't have any hatred towards Ursians." Zach said in response to Nadya and Bert.

"Three people versus thirty never ends well Shaddy boy, no matter the skill level of the three. Skill matters a lot in combat but pure numbers can swamp over skill." He told the Shaman

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"I need to go get some green dye, but I can have this done pretty quick once I get it. Twenty minutes. Maybe fifteen if I'm fast enough. I'm not usually in a rush, and my first plan didn't go so well." Raquel explained. She frowned at the cloak under her arm. Emblem pieces, how did they work?

Gabbie

"Oh that's foine. I can get through one more slaughter without it. You'll have plenty of toime while we're on the ocean."

Mandy, Tali, and Shadrak

"I was only suspicious because either of these two might be in Cervantes' pocket. Zachery here seemed pretty sure that most of the people in this town aren't to be trusted, especially the authorities." Shadrak explained.

Talitha glared at Nadya and Bert. "I'm half and half. How many dumb racists are in this group, anyway? I thought we were through with that kind of commentary for the day."

Mandy decided to try and explain away Tali's heritage since it seemed to be a slight issue. "Listen, Tali's nothing like the fallen you've probably dealt with. She doesn't eat people, she doesn't have any slaves, and she only kills people in self defense. She grew up mostly in a human dominated society, so it really hurts her feelings when people talk about her like she's one of the fallen."

"No, it's all my fault, of course. If I had just sliced off my tail when I was younger, no one would've given me a second glance. Then they would treat me like a person half of the time." Talitha interjected sarcastically.

"Oh not the tail thing again. I told you, you can't mutilate yourself just to fit in."

Meanwhile Shadrak replied to Zachery again saying "I wasn't suggesting three against thirty; I was suggesting however many guildsmen you could gather up against thirty."

Langley's Battalion

Sergeant Beck put his head down. "He's obviously devoted to a great evil. They'll probably want him executed. We should take him back with us, but it doesn't seem like a stretch for the higher ups to reprimand the colonel for having them waste resources on a trial when the man's clearly a blaspheming nut. Maybe if he was connected with others, but he seems to be the only one in the group. I'm not sure if the others were just putting up with it or didn't care, or what."

"It would be a group trial, and most will be executed in the end, anyway. I can handle a reprimand, so we'll bring him back along with the others." Langley replied.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"Fallen ain't 'people'," Nadya argued. "Obviously ya have never seen the bodies ripped to shreds after they get hungry, or hear the screams of whoever was unlucky enough to run into 'em when they're in the mood for sport. But if she's not comin', I'm fine with it- just don't trust a Fallen on my side during combat."

Edited June 3, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Going into the city then huh?" Gar commented. "Well, we were gonna have to do that anyway to get some dark cloth, so might as well combine trips but, gonna need some muscle heft it all to outfit everyone in your group." Gar didn't know how many there actually were following around Raquel, but it was probably a low-middle number, maybe 20 or so? And--wait, he should actually explain why he wanted that shouldn't he? "Oh yeah, we're gonna want that cloth for the same reason I want that cloak, since we're going in at night we want to reduce the enemies ability to see us so we can blend into the darkness. Dress for the environment you're going to be operating in." Gar was unsure if they should patch up, if things went to the mansion then it'd just be a giant liability...

[Mercakete]

"There is a difference between stereotypes and facts. The fact that Fallen have wings is a fact, even if some might've lost theirs somehow. Just because there's a half-Avian Fallen who doesn't act like the others doesn't mean that behavior is a stereotype," Norbert corrected Zachary, augmenting Nadya's argument. Talitha was being frusterating, so he addressed her next.

"And sorry for trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, half-breed," Norbert sarcastically retorted to Tali, "Maybe you do have the built-in Fallen tendencies if you're defending it so much that you're arguing against being able to function in human society like Avians have proven they can."

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

"Yes, Ma'am," the captain responded to her leader's decision with a salute. If it was just one devout, they really didn't have anything to worry about. Though that shrine was still bothering her. If it was only one of the bandits that followed the dragon's teachings, then there really wasn't anything to worry about. However, the presence of the shrine caused the captain to wonder if he was simply the bandits' chaplain issued from some more organized source. She quickly sent the ideas away. They were on the verge of paranoia, after all. There was probably another, more rational explanation for the shrine's presence. Maybe that one bandit was just that devout to have set it up himself.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Mercakete

[Ether]

Shadrak appeared with a newcomer, and the two of them began discussing some sort of conflagration involving a cult. Faatina hadn't managed to pick out many details as all, before an argument sprung up once again over Talitha. Once again, Norbert was fuming, Nadya was adding similar points as well. The new guy seemed reasonable enough about it, though Faatina supposed someone had to be in the bunch.

Norbert was easily the loudest of the bunch though, and Faatina was having enough of it. Moving up behind the Pegasus rider, Faatina raised her arm, bringing her hand down and smacking Norbert square in the side of the head.

"Norbert! What did I tell you earlier? You want to hate her just because of her heritage, fine, Wrath damn it, but keep it to yourself! You want to know who is acting like a savage right now, Norbert? You are. Now if you don't have anything civil to say, shut your mouth, understood?" Faatina berated Norbert, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

[ReformBlade]

"Hey, guys..." Aneda interjected. "Let's focus here a little. Cult thing, remember? Talitha, I'll apologize for mister Norbert here, obviously he's got some... justified prejudices but he doesn't know when to keep them to himself." turning to Norbert and crossing her arms, "And you should do well to realize the bullshit you caused over in Sanctuary. I swear to god himself that if you cause another scene like that, you'll wish you were never born. Got it? Seriously, stop going out of your way to spit on people like that! She's done nothing but put up with your prejudice, you as well Nadya" Aneda quickly said so as not to feel like she was singling Norbert out, "Just shove it aside for the moment, OK? We get it, neither of you are all that fond, so if that's the case, just go back and discuss something that we should all really be focusing on right now instead of gnashing our teeth at each other! Can we do that? At least once?"

[Mercakete]

Suddenly, something hit the side of Norbert's head. Faatina had recently moved up beside him and Riz, so it was probably her. This was confirmed as she started scolding him, which only tried his patience further. "Last I checked, I work for Raquel. Not you," Norbert growled, his jaw tight. Aneda began to try to calm the situation, sort of, maybe. Then she apologized for him, which was irritating. Then she gave him a talking-to as well, even going as far as to bring up the incident in Sanctuary and threatening him before tagging on that all that was aimed at Nadya too. Yeah, right.

"Fine, FINE!" he was beginning to lose his cool more and more as he spoke, "Everything is my fault! Whatever! I'm clearly in the wrong! It doesn't matter that I acknowledged that she's been proving that she's not like the other Fallen! It doesn't matter that the Fallen have consistently proved that they want to overtake us and treat us like cattle, going even so far as to tell it to our faces! You just want to pretend the world's just a bed of thornless roses! See if I care! It's all always my fault anyway! Do and say whatever you want! I'll just be the one that takes the fall, like it's always been!" He was getting too emotional. So, he and Rizen launched into the sky to escape for a while. Above, the pegasus and her rider circled. He wasn't fully leaving yet. After all, he'd left a good portion of his belongings on the ground. For now, though, he just wanted to be alone and the sky was a good place to retreat to.

In the air, Norbert's anger was flaring. His muscles were tense and his eyes were watery. From the wind? Probably. Taking a deep breath, the pegasus rider tried to compose himself. This is how it's always been. Did I seriously think that would change? Whatever. This is stupid. Something like this shouldn't upset me. It's just how life is.

[Acacia Sgt]

Soon Raquel emerged from the Dauntless, and was asking for an escort to town to look for a tailor. Soon a few sailors and eventually Gar joined in, and now she was in conversation with the latter regarding the previously requested cloak.

<A trip to town huh.> John thought. <Well, maybe. It can help to pass the time. Not to mention the meeting wouldn't be resuming until she comes back anyway.>

''I volunteer.'' He spoke up. ''We can bring Gil too though I'm sure a search on foot may be more effective.''

[Phoenix]

Raquel and ...

John was more or less the best bodyguard in the group as long as the enemy wasn't using extremely powerful magic, so hearing him volunteer was a relief. She still wasn't comfortable asking for people by name and preferred to just see who was interested. There was still the matter of the trip, though. "Oh, I thought the robes were to disguise everyone ... but I guess camouflage helps too."

"Heheh, you people are trying too hard. Unless you're special operatives from the government, you shouldn't be taking this so seriously." one of the sailors commented.

"We're going after an important figure ... or at least I think he is. I'm not sure we can prepare enough for this."

"OI!" came Reign's voice. He motioned for Grant to stay put for a moment while he ran up the loading ramp.

"It's Reign." said the sailor. "Not sure who the other guy is though ..."

Mandy, Tali, and Shadrak

As the others stepped in and offered their opinions, Talitha took a few steps back. She was preparing to fly off and find some place to be alone. It was so frustrating to deal with people like these, especially knowing that they wouldn't be any the wiser if she didn't have a tail. Mandy had talked her out of removing it so many times, the woman was becoming a bit of a crutch, but right now, she didn't even want to talk with her.

Bert beat her to the punch after a surprising outburst. She could tell there was more going on to that than meets the eye, but it was none of her business. She had sulking of her own to do. "No need to apologize. It doesn't really change anything. As long as I look like this, I'm just a threat to everyone." Without really giving anyone else a chance to say anything to her, she slammed her wings downward and flew off as well. She headed back toward the town and toward the guild building. Mandy put her head down.

"Is she going to be okay?" Shadrak asked her.

"Well she knows it's not like this with everyone. Pretty much everyone in the Warrior's Guild knows what she is, and they've been 'okay' about it, sort of. It's harder to treat her like a monster from southern Kigen once you get to know her. Someone from the guild will figure out what's going on and try to cheer her up. I guess she'll be alright. I just wish there was a way to get the word out. There's a difference between the fallen and halfbreeds, but they're so incredibly rare, I guess no one would really care." Mandy replied.

Langley's Battalion

"Lieutenant, assemble a team to collapse the tunnels and then report in once it's finished." Langley ordered.

"I'm pretty sure we'll know when the explosion assails our ears and that giant hole disappears." Miguel teased.

"Yes, Ma'am." Fletcher replied, ignoring Miguel's usual commentary.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Phoenix

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked down into the pot of stew. She could see the sailors outside easily enough and it wasn't hard to figure out that they were hungry. Her hand rested upon the ladle, a stack of fresh bowls beside her other hand. She wished that she could serve the stew, wished that someone, anyone, of the party was there to even tell her that they were eagerly awaiting the food, but she was alone. This was good food. She had put a lot of work and effort into making sure it was well-cooked and to see it go to waste was an insult to all around. Yet, as she looked up at the sailors, she couldn't help but feel that they would be her only customers. Everyone else was pre-occupied with the meeting of their own tasks. She would be lucky if any of them even remembered she was making stew.

I'll give them a few more minutes, but more than an hour and the soup will burn and no one will be able to eat it. She sighed at the depressing thought. Again she had been shoved to the sidelines in favor of someone-elses troubles and problems. She knew there was a good reason, but it sucked to be so constantly... ignored. Had she even had a meaningful conversation with anyone? Seemed like the only thing she had really done with the group was complain about how Gytha had shot her and that alone was what she was known for. If she hadn't... she'd probably be little more than background fluff in the grand scheme of things, if she wasn't that already.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Armor guy and volunteering someone named Gil to go with them into the city. Judging by the wording and observed evidence, Gil was probably a flying mount of some kind, probably armor guy's. "My my, and that just make you miss that wondrous stew the sailors are talking about." Gar shrugged with a smirk on his face. It was really pointless to say, but a little ribbing never hurt. Until it did anyway.

Robes? That was the first time that came up for him to hear. Well, might as well press that question. "Use a disguise to get someone close up against the manse to lure them out, everyone else uses the dark cloaks to hide during night. Once we take out whoever comes after us we head back to the manse with the disguises on to try and stealth in. They'll be cautious, but the only other choice is full frontal which just makes everything even either way so might as well try the gamble," Gar explained. After that though came a little shouting, someone they knew, and someone they didn't. "A positive gathering of new faces it seems." Gar chuckled.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Heh, don't worry. Stew isn't all that there is to eat after all.'' John replied with his own smirk. Good humor was always welcomed, especially with how the situation was, even if it was irrelevant to the topic at hand, to which it quickly returned.

And then there was a shout. Reign had returned. <So he's finally back. Looks like we'll finally have further to work with.>

[ReformBlade]

"Oh what the hell... Running from problems solves nothing. Whatever, chasing is stupid as well. Sorry folks, reeeeeeally shoulda seen this outcome comin a mile away." the pegasus rider said more to herself than anyone around her. "We should probably be heading back. I will, anyway, yall do what you want... Thank you for your time Mandy." And with that, Aneda rode off on Hannah at a slow but steady pace.

[Eail]

"Oh man, I suppose it might be best if we all get out of here. For what it's worth I'm sorry about this Mandy, I'll try to see you later." Said Zach as he began to walk away.

'Man this sucks, I really was not expecting that guy to act like such a prick towards Tali. I suppose nothing can be done about it now, sure do wish I could catch a ride back to the ship though. Walking was never my favorite means of getting around. Might as well ask if I can tag along '

Picking up his pace to a slight jog Zach caught up to the pegasus riding woman Zach spoke up "Uh, Aneda right? Would it be all right if I could catch a ride back to the ship with you? Walking was really never my style." He added with a small chuckle

Edited June 5, 2012 by Eail

[ReformBlade]

"Aaaaaand what exactly is your style, Mister mage man?" She asked, leaning on her very own special Hannah and giving a quizical look. "You're a mage right? That should be your style, go zoom zoom around or whatever..." It was fun to tease. "Anyway, I'll be glad to walk with you but I don't entirely trust you to be riding right behind me from teh getgo. If your story is true though, I'll give you free rides whenever I suppose? I dunno."

[Ether]

Norbert quickly darted up into the air, and soon after Talitha left as well. Faatina scowled at the developments, with Aneda eventually heading back towards the ship as well, with the supposed informant tagging not far behind. Turning to Mandy before she followed, Faatina gave the Guild member an apologetic bow.

"Well, that turned out just wonderfully... we only got a single test finished, and then all this happened... ugh... I apologize on behalf of our group... and I hope Talitha will be okay..." Faatina trailed off, before recalling the horse she had borrowed.

"Ah... I still have your horse. Would you like me to ride him back to the guild, or leave him with you?" Faatina questioned.

[Eail]

"Hehe, my style has always been to work smarter not harder suppose that might be why dear old dad never really approved of me. Anyways I suppose your offer is fair enough, at the very least you are certainly better company than Mr. Doom and Gloom back there." He said whilst thumbing to Shadrak. "Anyways, Zachary Fairweather at your service mam. Pleasure to meet ya." Extending his hand as he spoke

[ReformBlade]

"Doom and Gloom? Oh Shadrak... That guy can be a massive dick. And I swear he's bipolar or someshit! He's got like... this soft spot for, get this, Fallen chicks and for this other girl... Chelsea I think, she has heart problems and coma problems or something... I suppose two defficient people belong together to make a whole! Or something? I probably shouldn't be so critical, they're not evil people by any means, especially Chelsea, but Shadrak needs some social skills if he wants to get by." Aneda ranted a little. She was no paragon of manners and behavior, but with God as her witness she'd try. "I just don't see the point of that much condescension... It does literally nothing if you can't back it up! UGH!" It was at this time she noticed that Zach introduced himself and was holding his hand out. "Oh. Aneda Welnon, Ursian born and aimless. Just looking to explore the world, but all I'm finding is bullshit... D'ya think you can fix that, mister big mage man?"

[Eail]

"Oh I believe I can, after all what sort of gentleman would I be if I didn't help a pretty lady in need of my services? I have knowledge of every useless fact on every subject you could ever need either up here in my noggin, or back here in my satchel." He said as he tapped his head. "Of course I'm always up for having some fun as well, though it's pretty hard to find any around here. Maybe we can help each other with that though eh?"