Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[ReformBlade]

"I missed dinner since I lost track of time, but you..." Davod kept pace with her, his concern growing. "What were you doing last night? You weren't here and then I see you come back with an unknown face... I suppose it's none of my business as even we've only just met but all that aside, you came back quite injured and bloody." Shrugging and not really looking at her, he pressed on, "Is it something that'll happen again?"

[roymbrog]

Having finished tacking Phyllis, Synthia led her out of the stall and towards the ramp. The horse continued to watch Gytha warily. The mariner was looking at her strangely, and she didn't know what it meant. Synthia, for her part, didn't catch any of it and continued up the ramp to the deck and off the loading ramp. Once on dry ground, the mage climbed into the saddle and offered a hand to help Gytha up.

[Ether]

"It isn't something that I plan on happening again... I couldn't sleep so I went down to the guild, and along the way, Talitha and I saw that the arena was being ransacked, so I stepped in." Faatina replied, as she continued to walk.

"One of the bastards caught my leg, that's all. It wasn't in the best shape since it had just been mended, and it couldn't take the hit. That guy was ecstatic to see his debts lifted, and brought me back hoping to find work, as I recall." Faatina continued, as they entered the mess hall, and it seems the smell of breakfast was in fact a large amount of bacon.

"Figures." Faatina commented, thought too hungry to actually care, as she took a decent amount and placed it atop a plate, and began to eat, when she noticed something that did not quite belong on the Leverager... or she would have said that, but Talitha's presence on the ship was becoming somewhat of a common occurance.

"Talitha? What are you doing here?"

[Snike]

No deaths. That was better than Grant expected, considering the enemy.

"Good to know," Grant said, as he pulled a bolt out of his pouch and began to twirl it between his fingers. "Anyways, I was out to thank your group on behalf of my uncle, as well as to find a ship that's heading to mainland. Since the tournament's been canceled, and I've already paid my respects to Read," here his voice deflated, "I feel it's time to move on." He paused for a moment, then asked, "So, what are you up to? Settling the debt with Claudia?"

***

Step here, thrust there, if they dodge then swing horizontally... Blake was absorbed in his practice, so he didn't notice Torin as the boy snuck between crates. However, after a while, the swordsman began to feel like he was being watched. He stopped swinging for a minute, and began to look around, to see if anyone was there.

[roymbrog]

After a few minutes of just watching Torin unsheathed his own small blade and began trying to emulate the older swordsman. Antonio disapproved of him watching fights in the arena, so this was a rare opportunity to learn something new. A while later the guy seemed to catch on, however, and Torin pressed himself back against the crates to hide. He could watch in horror as the top of the stack tumbled off onto the deck.

[Mercakete]

Gytha followed along, her focus shifting from the horse that kept looking at her for reasons unknown to just her surroundings in general. Then, once they were off the ship, Synthia got onto the horse and extended her hand to Gytha, apparently expecting her to mount up as well. "Heh, no thank ye. I'll just walk," the mariner politely declined, raising a hand with her palm towards Synthia as she did so.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Urgh ... okay, I'm making a new rule; archers are top priority." Raquel joked ... though she wasn't really joking. Archers always seemed to have it out for her, even from the early beginning. Hearing about one of the healers getting hit made her feel that much more strongly about it in that moment. "But, sure, I can fix it. I have to do my own vest too, so I might as well. Do you have anything else you can wear in the meantime? It takes a little while."

"Changing clothes, now? This won't be good." the doctor commented in the background.

Galley

There she was. What luck. Well, sort of. She caught Talitha with two strips of bacon sticking out over her mouth. "Oh there you are ..." she greeted, keeping her lips together so the strips wouldn't fall out. "I'm here to check ..." having had enough of the clamp speech, she took the strips out and continued. "I'm here to check up on you ... make sure you're not going for any unnecessary walks ... seeing that your lance is stowed away for the day, etcetera." It wasn't entirely obvious with her nonchalant tone, but she was mostly joking.

Streets

"I figure I'll have a better chance of getting her a pegasus up north, but she should probably know that I'm not just skipping town." Reign explained. "The information we got was hardly worth a pegasus in the end, but I've got other reasons. I always keep my word, and part of me wants to do this just to see if I can. Anyway, if you're heading up north, then ..." he paused for a moment, realizing that while the Leverager was the most convenient and timely way out of Tremere, it was by far the most dangerous. "On second thought, I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble getting mixed up with that ship again, but that's your call to make, not mine. The Leverager's heading north, so maybe the captain will let you come with us, but I can't exactly call it safe at this point. Never could, but this time it could be pretty bad."

Skies

Volya brought Claudia closer to the birds, and she stretched out her arm to try to wave to them, but since she was wedged between him and his coat, it ended up looking more like Volya had sprouted a new arm that wanted to grab anything in front of him. Needless to say, the birds ignored that particular detail, but it was in favor of acknowledging the huge hunchbacked birdman approaching them. The small flock scattered. "Oh ..." Claudia said, retracting her arm in disappointment. "Champion, you scared them away!"

"Well of course I did; what would you do if a four armed flying 'thing' came toward you?"

"As long as it doesn't have huge fangs- ... ugh, never mind. Quit ruining my fun. Let's go down some!"

"Down where?" Volya asked in a frustrated tone.

"There," she pointed toward the main roads. "Between the buildings."

"Ah no ... no. There is no way I'm flying through there with you on my back. That's reckless."

"Like you standing up to armed thugs with your fists alone?" she teased. Then she began shifting her weight trying to force him downward over and over again.

"Urrrrrghquit jerking me around ..."

"Then do as I ask; it won't kill you."

Edited July 31, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, I actually don't. My things were left behind at Weyland's,'' Sophia answered. ''Even most of my money to buy spares. I don't think what I have left is enough.''

[-Cynthia-]

Cabin

"She's awake and we've made our decision- we're sticking with the Leverager. Is there anything we can do to assist? Obviously keeping the Leverager and her cargo secure is a priority for us as well," Veronika said to Bogdan.

[roymbrog]

Synthia furrowed her brow in confusion. “That.. kind of defeats the purpose of getting the horse. We don't have much time left in port, so I figured this would be faster. Are you sure?” She patted Phyll's neck. “She's not going to hurt you,” she said, though it wasn't obvious if she was talking to Gytha or the horse.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Did you ever take your share from the-oh wait, you joined after those missions, didn't you? Hmm ... well if you need to buy some spares, I could give you an advance or ... something." Raquel offered, trying to remember exactly how much gold she had left.

Cabin

"If you're staying, then it would be a good idea to speak with those powder monkeys below deck. The rebels are better trained than the goons they hired to deliver the dragons. If we run into them, we'll have to fight with cannons, not swords, so you should all get familiar with them." he advised.

[Acacia Sgt]

''I suppose it would be for the best,'' Sophia said. ''After all, we are still days away from Ursium. Although... could you really afford it? I still remember you had to pay extra for that crane.''

<Money problems huh,> John thought. <Hmm, I still have most of mine still unspent. I suppose Raquel could afford to part with some, but if not...>

[Mercakete]

"Faster? Harr, maybe, but ye'd think tryin' t' get somethin' big like a horse around in a port's market would be harder than walkin'. Speakin' o' that, d' ye know where th' market is? We should be able t' find it pretta easila, but findin' th' stores we need would be harder if we're racin' n' don't know where th' stops're," Gytha asked, seeming content to just stay on her own feet.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

"Now that we're staying on the Leverager, there's a lot more I can afford." Raquel reluctantly admitted. "I still need to keep the budget under two thousand gold just to be safe. I'm not making enough of a profit right now to stay self sufficient if I go through the rest of the money I have from Weyland's missions."

"So you people really work for Seth Weyland? Aren't some of you Skotians?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, we attract all sorts, I guess."

[roymbrog]

“Yeah, it's about halfway between here and the arena. I was there yesterday, but got... sidetracked,” she said. Gytha had the wrong idea about what she meant to do with the horse -- she was riding to the market, not in the market, and certainly wasn't racing around -- but she wasn't going to push the issue. “Suit yourself. I'll meet you there, then. Just follow the road heading from the docks, it goes straight there,” she said, then eased Phyllis into a trot and rode on ahead.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, if you say so,'' Sophia said. ''I suppose it would be alright then, accepting the money.''

<So she has already planned it out huh,> John thought. <Well, I don't doubt her. She is a merchant after all, and doesn't have a mindset like Fred's, heh.>

Edited August 1, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Mercakete]

"Ah, well, it's good ye know, then. Should make things faster," Gytha replied.

"Suit yourself. I'll meet you there, then. Just follow the road heading from the docks, it goes straight there."

And then she was off. Well, Synthia seemed to be in a hurry, so Gytha decided to keep her own pace swift. She could have kept up with the trot, sure, but it sounded like Synthia wanted to split up for now. A bit puzzling, but she'd work with it. It wasn't as though they would be separate for long either way. Synthia would run into the crowds soon, judging by the time and place, according to Gytha's guess.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Mercakete

[Snowy_One]

"You know, we have been standing here for an awful long time. Zach, Lia, and Rainbow, we should be leaving now. Are we waiting for something that I do not know about?"

[roymbrog]

Synthia made good time through use of a few side streets and arrived in the market area after ashort while . She dismounted and lead Phyllis further in towards the produce stalls. A few minutes later and she was the proud new owner of a bag of apples and some crushed ginger root. She left to find where clothes were being sold, the horse happily munching on an apple after her.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"All right, we will do just that. Good luck with your preparations Captain," Veronika said before heading back to the infirmary. She was a bit disappointed that Gytha wasn't there, but she supposed the crewmen of the Leverager could instruct the group well enough.

"The captain expects us to be able to defend the ship with cannons- he doesn't expect that this will come down to hand to hand combat," she said, frowning a bit. "At least some of us should go below decks so that we can help the crew out if the need arises," she announced.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Man the cannons huh,'' John said. <Well, I've seen them in action before. It's not complex in theory but...> ''I suppose if we must, that can certainly help in keeping them at bay to avoid having to fight them directly.''

[Mercakete]

The walk was nice. Gytha had finally been able to walk around the port during the daytime and take in the sights and sounds of the usual life in the port. Well, there was unusual talk, too, what with the previous night's events, but it was still good to experience the port. When she found Synthia again, her friend had already done some shopping and was leading around the horse. "Ah, ahoy, Synthia!" the mariner cheerfully greeted as she waved and hurried over to the wind-caster. She rested her hands on her hips when she got there (which really hadn't taken that many steps to achieve) and grinned in her friendly manner. "What d' ye think o' th' market?"

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

Raquel would have frowned right along with Veronika if not for how surprising the news was. She knew they had probably cut things pretty close with the cultists, but she was sure they could win another close quarters fight if they had the crew backing them again. On the other hand, there wasn't any part of her that wanted to be involved in another battle like that at the moment.

"Hahahahhh," the doctor began laughing. "Almost feels like you people are a part of the crew, now. Watch yourselves with the cannon teams. Some of them aren't right in the head." he warned casually before leaning back in his chair a bit.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems that before anything else could be said, Veronika came in and talked about cannons.

''Hopefully it wasn't for inhaling too much smoke, heh,'' John said at the doctor's comment.

''Use the cannons? Why would they be used?'' Sophia asked. Seems she was missing out on something.

''The rebels have found out already of the capture of the Utka,'' John explained. ''They might as well be on their way here, which is why we're also leaving at noon.''

That fast? Sophia was surprised. Well, I suppose at this point it's was a matter of when, not if... wait, we leave at noon? Maybe at this point it was more important knowing this than heading to town, but still, there may still be time to go into town.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Snowy_One]

Fred had been standing idly by in the corner of the room, not really sure what was going on. There was something about spies, canons, and the like though, and those usually weren't good things. Had he leapt from the frying pan of arena drudgery into the line of canon fire? A feeling of dread had slowly come over him that was great enough to cause him to miss his own name being called as he tried his best to figure out if he should stay, or try to go sneaking out as a giant suit of armor. But... If they were in trouble... That meant that the nice healer girl was likely in trouble as well... Damnit.

"Ummm... Excuse me fellow shipmates but, if we MUST fire a canon, I would love to volunteer to do so. With my thick plate armor and immense muscles I will be more than capable of handling the recoil and shrapnel from firing off one of those things, not to mention the heated metal. I may not be able to aim it well though, so maybe someone skilled with long-range ballistics to help me? Or some woman skilled in sea combat?"