Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Mercakete]

Norbert backed off as the guards got close enough to take down the guy they were chasing on their own. Then, his answer came, followed by something of an explanation. "No, I've never seen him before," Norbert replied to one of the guards. Suddenly, he was being begged at, though he had no idea why this guy was making himself look as unsettling as possible while he was pleading. Instead of talking to the debtor, the pegasus rider answered the guard's question, "I was asking so I could help catch him if you wanted my assistance, but you have things under control now so I'll just let you do your jobs."

As he turned Riz back in the direction of the arena and started back in that direction, Bert mentally began muttering about trying to find someone else who worked at the arena for information and about how chaotic people outside of the arena seemed to be.

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

The two humans whose scents she recognized left that particular room, leaving only the ship-smelling male. Maw decided to stay where she was until the door was opened again, so she yawned and began cleaning her shoulder, remaining right where she was.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Mercakete

[Eail]

Checking his notes to make sure he had the right ship dock Zach began to walk up the ramp to the main deck, needless to say he was stoped almost immediatly by one of the crew members "Oi you can't just walk up here! What's your business with the Leverager?"

Responding to the sailor Zach gave him the truth "I need to talk to Miss Raquel Valcyn and I was told she was on this ship, I have a business proposition for her. Would it be all right if I came aboard to talk to her?"

Sighing the sailor responded "Fine, come along with me and we'll find her. I think she's below deck at the moment." With that the two men began heading into the ship.

'All right phase one complete, now I just need to get Raquel alone so we can talk. Once I give her these dossiers I'm sure she'll believe what I say.'

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, I now know the Arena is still around. I suppose it's the end of that. > John thought. <I could head back now, I think at this point Raquel should've finished talking with the captain. On the other hand, there is still the matter of this kid. Hmm...> The other three could probably handle it fine on their own, although...

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika finished sharpening her sword and saw Raquel heading down below decks. She decided to follow her, curious what she was up to. Sailors seemed to be tending to the horses, mentioning something about them needing to stretch their legs.

"You could probably get someone to ride them around town for you if you don't know how to ride yourself," Veronika suggested to Raquel. "I've ridden horses a little, but I am not all that good," she said, shrugging.

Connor

"So...what areas do want worked on? Helmet, breastplate, shoulderplate, greaves...any sort of leg protection?" he said, looking Gabbie over dubiously, notebook in hand. He barely noticed Robin approaching the Dauntless as he left.

Clara

Clara attempted to mediate the scene with some nervous laughter. "Um, guys we're all on the same side here right? No need to fight?" she suggested hopefully.

Cloe

Cloe meanwhile, began examining the rooms upstairs- most of them were closed currently and the few she peeked into seemed to be full of personal effects. Probably not going to find much here except for Sardis's room...but if he notices anything gone we're in a lot of trouble. I wonder where are rooms are anyway she puzzled to herself, walking through the upstairs hallways.

[Mercakete]

As he approached the gate, a couple of men wearing the same sort of attire as those who'd been chasing the debtor turned their attention to him. One of them held up his hand: a silent gesture to halt. Norbert complied.

"Something wrong?" Norbert asked, a bit of the irritation remaining in his voice from earlier.

"I'm going to have to ask you to dismount your pegasus, sir. No mounts are to be ridden in the arena except on the battlefield," he informed with the same accent most the locals seemed to possess.

Well, that made sense. So, the pegasus rider got off of Rizen's back and simply led her into the arena. The guards didn't seem to have a problem with that.

It certainly was crowded inside. There were lots of people going this way and that through the room Norbert had entered. It seemed like this was just one section of some longer route. At the far end of the room were several desks with people sitting behind them. Assuming they worked there and could tell him more about this place, Norbert walked over towards them, weaving both himself and Riz through the streams of people until he finally reached one. "Hello," Norbert greeted, "Can you tell me about this arena?"

Rizen, meanwhile, had moved herself so she was more out of the way from the traffic. She didn't feel comfortable with that many people moving behind her. It was difficult to keep an eye on her and Norbert's belongings like that. But that was remedied for the most part now.

[Rothene]

"He...what?! Well that changed things," Ranyin grumbled as he cracked his knuckles and stood behind Synthia to watch what she would do. He had seen her go berserk with that staff before, no point expending effort when not needed.

***

Mireille took another look at Torin's expression...and her heart melted. She suppressed the urge to reach out and hug him in a caring sympathetic manner, instead turned her head to look at Synthia and said, "Well...there's not harm verifying his claim, right?"

[ReformBlade]

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a strange one, Faatina. And this is me talking! Little miss rainbow hair~!" Pride swelling, Aneda laughed. "Aaaanyway, you really want me to pick something out for ya? I'm not exactly a... oh what's the word, I think it's... Connoisseur? Heck, I'd probably settle for some good old fashioned meat on a stick." Lo and behold, there was a small stall selling just that nearby. Gameplay! Quickly running up to the front, Aneda aquired two sticks with seasoned beef on em after parting with some money. What, did you think they were free? Cheapskate. "Aha! It's nothing amazing, but it's certainly something I like, Faatina. Give it a shot?" Holding out the other stick to Faatina, Aneda chomped into her own. Friggin. Chomped.

[Snowy_One]

Fred watched in dismay as the pegasus knight walked away. The puppy-dog eyes hadn't worked on him. "Awww... Fiddlesticks." he groaned as the guards pulled him back and away from the streets.

"You're going away for a very long time until your debt is paid off."

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, the kid is willing to prove his story. I'd say he may really be telling the truth.> John thought. <I guess in the end there is no reason to go to the Arena after all. They can handle it just fine.> ''Let's go Gil, I think this is enough, time to head back.'' He said. Gil grunted, and began to take off.

''Well guys,'' he said to the others. ''I'll be seeing you later, we're leaving.'' And with that, they took off and flew back in the direction of the port.

[Snowy_One]

"Waitwaitwait!" exclaimed Fred as the guards started to drag him off. "Why are you going to put me into jail? Jail? Are you stupid or something? Surely a smart person would realize that, in jail, I do nothing. I sit around in some dank corner all day singing bad songs about various troubles I've seen as well as possibly snap and go insane. I can't contribute anything towards paying off the debt! In fact, since you have to guard and feed me to sit around and do nothing I will cost you!"

"We could just throw you into the jail and let you die of hunger in there."

"You could... but wouldn't you rather get the money I owed BACK? Or at least something of value? Like, say, a scrub-boy for those messy arena matches?"

"We already have four of those though."

"Ummm... Food salesman?"

"Two."

"Gladiator manicurist?"

"What's a manicurist?"

"Something you don't have!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaimed one of the other guards. "Just give him a broom and make him clean up until his grandson pays off the debt or something."

[Snike]

As much as Blake would have liked to have swiftly filed away those long-abandoned memories invoked by his dream, it was not to be. Indeed, those recollections haunted him as he walked down the ramp to solid land, and further on, which is why the man decided to take a walk. He didn't particularly care where he was going, as he just wanted to clear his head.

***

After about an hour of wandering, the swordsman finally found himself back at the Leverager, mind a little more at ease. There didn't appear to be much going on at the moment, so Blake climbed up the ramp, unchallenged as the sailors recognized him. After a brief stroll to the Dauntless, he settled down against the side of the convoy, produced the combat team list from the previous day, and began to play around with the teams again. It gave him something to do aside from pick a fight, anyways.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"My father taught me how to ride, but I just don't have the time nowadays. He and I didn't have the time back then, either, or at least we weren't putting it high enough on our list of priorities to actually make time ... too busy scheming to stay above water ...." she replied sadly. "I guess I could get someone else to do it, but I care a lot about these two. I really feel like I should be there ... and if I can be there, I might as well be riding one of them, right? But doing that just reminds me that my father's not around and ... ugh, not again." It was difficult to avoid that sinking feeling in her heart when the subject so easily led back to Jethro.

By the Dauntless

Reign had all of nothing to do for the moment, so was content just inspecting the Dauntless. He'd never seen a wagon quite like it, and he'd learned about its steel inner shell the previous day after a few inquiries. It seemed like a decent place to hang out at if you were careful not to trip on the ropes securing it to the deck. He could barely overhear the conversation between Connor and Gabbie at the back.

"Iiiiit's a bunch of parts and pieces. Most of what you'll be workin' on are gauntlets and greaves, though I guess the chainmail could be checked for weak points too. I've got to get these pieces attached to or comboined with my gear, otherwoise I'll have to make due with regular old straps and that's not really reliable. There's also one other important thing, but I'll explain it on the way. Grab anything ya need and let's go."

Lady with the funny accent's working on quite the project, isn't she? And with a kid? Well he's not that much younger than me ... but I digress. Raquel went below deck, so I don't think she'll be back up here for awhile and ... hmm? Reign paused to focus on some other person he didn't recognize being escorted to the lower deck as well. That's no sailor and I've seen every last person in this group. He's not one of them. I guess I'll just wait here and see what happens. I don't have a tome, so it's not like I can do much good following after them anyway. He decided to let the matter be and continue leaning up against the Dauntless with his hands behind his head for support.

When Blake arrived, Reign pretended not to watch, but eventually he got bored of just passively observing his surroundings. "Is that a roster?" he asked, leaning slightly in Blake's direction, without coming off of the Dauntless.

Le Tavern

"Eh, we all work for the same boss. That's about it." Colin said with a shrug.

"Sardis doesn't need to spend anymore time rehashing the past. It can't be changed. We need to move forward. I don't appreciate you bringing it up so lightly." Hayato explained, still sounding plenty angry. He brought his sword down from Simon's neck after saying his piece and sheathed it. "Waiting is torture enough. I'm not spending it keeping you people quiet." he added, crossing his arms and sighing.

"So was there anything else you wanted to talk about, beautiful?" Colin bounced right back. Simon began to shake off the fear of being sliced open around the same time.

Reception

And a question the male receptionist had answered enough times in the past to have a complete and concise summary for ... was asked. "This is the Arena of Masters. Constructed on the very sight of the first battle of Tremere almost five hundred years ago. This building is the proving ground for individual champions and elite combat teams alike. It's sponsored by the local government and helps keep our economy going despite our near remote location. There is lots of gold to be made here ..." the man explained, nodding seriously at his last comment. "Occasionally there are big tournaments involving individual warriors or combat teams but in between tournaments, people come from far and wide to bet on the regular battles and the special events ... or to find the best fighters and purchase their contracts. So what of you? Looking for a fight? Or perhaps you're looking to sell that pegasus of yours? I hear the governor's family is offering a small fortune for one, right now."

[Ether]

"Rainbow? It looks like a shade of green to me." Faatina remarked, as Aneda came back with some kebabs. Accepting one of the sticks from Aneda, Faatina gave her a slight grin.

"I think I would like to see that, though." Faatina mentioned, before taking some of the meat into her mouth.

"Ish good~" She replied with a smile, swallowing down the section she had taken.

[Acacia Sgt]

Throughout this time, Sophia had remained where she was, by the Dauntless, just waiting. Eventually Raquel emerged from the Captain's Cabin, only to head below deck not that soon after. Well, seems it was not yet time.

-----

John and Gil soon made it back to the Leverager, landing on the deck near the Dauntless and John dismounted.

<Hm, hopefully I'm still on time.> He thought. <Well, if I'm late then I'd just have to find something else to do then.> He shrugged, and leaned back on Gil, deciding to wait a bit first.

[Mercakete]

Well, the information started coming, then it sounded like some sort of history lesson for a couple seconds, but then more useful information began coming in again. This sounds like a great place. If I wasn't already attached to Raquel's group, this would be a regular place to visit hands down. Fighting people from all over with various strategies in nonlethal combat, learning from the battles with them... Maybe even making a bigger name for myself and picking up the occasional job from someone looking for a mercenary. Not to mention getting paid for all this... Norbert decided he liked arenas and that he should frequent them once he broke contract with Raquel.

The next question was expected, Bert supposed, but the one following that was both familiar and irksome. That must be why that one guy wanted to buy her. "No, I'm not interested in selling my pegasus," Norbert answered that one first since it was the one that was bugging him. With less irritation, he went on, "I would like to know more about this place, though. It sounds like you hold tournaments every once in a while and just let people sign up for fights on the days there aren't any. But what are these 'events' you mentioned?"

[Snike]

It seemed that Reign, Raquel's nomad friend, had noticed his little sheet of combat teams, and asked if it was a roster.

"Yes, it is," Blake said, as he lifted his gaze from the paper. "I'm trying to help set up combat teams, so our group can fight more effectively. The better we do, the easier it is to protect our employer, you see."

[Phoenix]

Amiable Arms

When the sailor appeared with Zach, the ones tending to Raquel's horses pulled a set of moves that left Raquel speechless. Nothing elaborate. Nothing entirely unexpected for cautious sailors. They all just casually pulled out their weapons, two of them pistols, and the other a short sword. They weren't threatening about it, but the timing seemed off to Raquel. Why not earlier? Why hadn't the one who'd brought him here been more cautious? She noticed he had a gun to the newcomer's back as well, now. It seemed so underhanded.

"Okay, you can talk to Raquel, now, but kindly put your things on the ground, first." the sailor behind him requested. They were all casual about this whole 'at gunpoint' thing. Raquel just stood there at a loss. Perhaps they were just waiting until this moment to catch him off guard instead of the other way around. That was the only thing she could think of to explain the sudden draw of weapons.

Roster of Doom

"Oh really? I didn't think a mercenary group would use military tactics. On the other hand, Raquel might be taking after Jethro after all. Not sure if that's good or bad ..." Reign replied, somewhat trailing off and talking to himself for a moment. "How many people have you lost so far?" No need to beat around the bush. I wanna know just how effective this group really is.

The Big Event

"Events are just the strongest warriors showing off for the nobles. Gladiator garbage. It's not real fighting like in the tournaments. It's not a test of strength. It's really silly, actually." The man explained, scratching his head, a bit embarrassed. "There's one going on right now. Some dark avian taking on all challengers, mostly at the same time. Someone decided to send a ballista into the arena about an hour ago and the sponsors allowed it. Then the guy blew the damn thing up, or so I heard. Craziness." he added, shaking his head.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I think you should do what you want to do- try not to think about your father. I'm not saying you should forget your mission obviously, but...dwelling on it isn't going to make things easier," she suggested to Raquel in a melancholy tone.

She raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. Raquel didn't mention anything about a visitor... she thought to herself.

Connor

"There's no need to rely on regular straps while I'm around," he said confidently, grabbing his money pouch from the Dauntless. "So where we going to eat? Wait...you're probably not familiar with this place either," he realized, remembering that they were still a long way from Ursium. Not that I know where all she's been...wonder if she remembers anything from when before she met Uncle?

Clara

Deciding that pushing the Sardis issue may arouse more suspicion, Clara decided to switch to a more innocent topic. "So do we get rooms while we're staying here? Or are we expected to camp out or something?" she asked Colin, noting that Simon and the angry man seemed not to be on violent terms for the moment.

[Eail]

'Shit shit SHIT! I was not expecting to have a gun pulled on me just yet today. Just need to stay calm and do what they say'

Throwing his hands up in the air and waving them like he just didn't care Zach hastily removed the satchel from his back and set it down on the ground. "I've got a spell tome in my robes that I'm gonna reach in and grab along with a folder full of papers." Lowering his right hand into his robes he removed his tome and carefully put it on the floor next to his satchel. "This folder is for Miss Raquel anyways" said Zach as he removed it. "There, that's everything that's on me so could you please remove the gun from the back of my head?"

[Mercakete]

Huh. Maybe I should watch that. ... If I'm allowed in. He did mention it was showing off for nobles. "I see. How many events do you host at a time? And I mean tournaments and individual matches too," Norbert posed his next question. I wonder if you have to pay to get in. One question at a time, though.

[Snike]

Blake froze as the name Jethro was mentioned by Reign. Oh. That's why her last name sounded familiar. The man snapped back to normal before too long, and responded to the queries.

"Well, we didn't use combat teams effectively enough before the last engagement," Blake said impassively. "We've only permanently lost one man while I've been fighting with them, though we had a good portion of our forces fall in combat just a few battles ago."

[Phoenix]

Raquel

Not dwelling on her father would make things less painful, but it was a lot easier when she wasn't dealing with the horses she spent so much time caring for with him. Two horses, two caretakers. It was just too easy to make the connection, and she almost regretted coming down there when the sailors already had them taken care of.

"... eh." The man stopped aiming for an easy kill and simply stood off to the side. The others didn't do anything whatsoever in response. They were ready in case anything happened. "He's all yours, Miss Raquel."

Raquel glanced down at the folder wondering what was in it and then up to the newcomer. "What did you want to speak with me about?" She was hesitant to pick up the folder and read it just yet. Maybe after she knew a bit more about what was going on ...

Gabbie

"Yeah. I'm not familiar with this town, eoither. I figure our noses will pick up somethin' once we get close and we can all just waltz in and order somethin' ... and then pray our stomachs can handle it ..." she replied as they began heading back across the deck and toward the loading ramp.

Reign

"Well I guess that's not too surprising ... one loss though, that's not bad. I'm guessing your healers are doing great-ish. One slip up, though ... apparently." Or did they just get picked apart by sharks or something like that? "H-hey wait, is Raquel on that list?!"

Tavern

"You and I could share a room. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm a gentleman. You can have the bed." Colin replied, putting on a cute, innocent face.

Simon immediately stepped in, having recovered from his brush with death. "Have you no shame, fellow agent?!"

"Not really. You telling me I can't even make an offer? I don't mind sleepin' on the floor if it means I've got some lovely company~"

"Oh but how long would you remain on the floor ... that is the question."

Good gods ... tell me this guy is just jealous and she's not actually with him or related to him. Ugh.

Arena

"One at a time, and in quick succession. The tournaments are more important than these 'expeditions', so they need more preparation time. The ground floor gets cleared out completely and cleaned up about an hour before the tournaments start." he explained. Suddenly the roar of the crowd picked up mightily. Something had happened inside the arena. The receptionist figured something else got destroyed spectacularly just then and let a scowl show up on his face.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

"I see. So tournaments are planned ahead of time. That makes sense. And these individual bouts are likely spur of the moment with whoever happens to be around..." Norbert mused aloud. Rapid succession, huh? Heh. Sounds like you could spend the whole day here and not get bored. "You have a tournament coming up soon?" A short moment of considering whether to ask more than just one question later, the pegasus rider continued, "And do you have to pay to watch the shows you have going on around here?" That covered a couple questions there.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Mercakete

[Eail]

Lowering his arms and letting out a great sigh of relief Zach began to speak

" This is a long story but one you need to hear. My name is Zachary Fairweather, I'm technically a member of a cult in this city but we can come back to that later. Earlier today the leader of the cult, a man named Cervantes, was approached by a messenger from the Org. He was told that the Org would be very grateful if you were to be captured and Cervantes was given that folder that is now in your hands. I was chosen to be the one to lead you into a trap at his Manse that would lead to your capture and being sent to the Org. This was a grave mistake on their part Miss Raquel."

Pausing and taking a breath Zach continued. " I came to this city to learn magic under the sage Kerrigan. For a few months I was his pupil before he said the only way he could continue to teach me was if I joined the cult he was a part of. I thought nothing of it and decided to join to continue my training. I faked as though I was actually a devote member for almost a year and a half until around last month. Cervantes personally came to my room and told me I had earned "The right to cleanse both body and soul by gazing upon the Goddess." He lead me into a room that had a bed in it, strapped down to that bed was a little girl. I was completely horrified by what I saw in that room and quickly came up with a lie about not being worthy enough to touch the "Goddess" as they called her."

Letting out another sigh Zach's gaze sunk to the ground. "For the past month I've been trying to come up with a plan to save that poor girl and escape this city, every possible plan has ended with my death until I was told about you Raquel. We can help each other! The cult is going to attack no matter what happens to me, they know what ship you've come to port on and are not above setting it ablaze. I can help you launch an attack on these men before they can come after you, the only thing I ask is that you help me save the girl."

Pointing to the folder that was in her hands "All the information that has been collected on you is in that folder, along with plans for the trap that the cult will spring"

[Snike]

"You could say that, I guess..." Blake said, growing a bit more serious. Then Reign was stunned by Raquel's name being on the list. "Yes, it is. Raquel made the decision to participate, and as far as I'm concerned, I shouldn't be arguing with the boss. So instead, I'm putting the most protection on her, so as to maximise the chances for her survival." It was a cold way of putting it, but that's what he really was doing.