Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Ether]

"I didn't mean it like that... but it makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't have likely come up with something like that." Faatina shot back, hanging by the entrance to the Dauntless.

[Phoenix]

Dauntless

"I wouldn't have either if you and I hadn't had this talk," Reign noted with a slight grin.

Buffet

"Oh ... well I still think it's the best way to handle this so I ... guess I'll get on that. I just hope all of this works," Raquel replied to Gar before glancing over in Colin's direction. This was going to be on her terms, yes, but she still hadn't decided what her terms were yet. She'd need a minute or two to figure something out. She only needed to distract him, but this would also be a good opportunity to try and pry whatever information he was holding back out of him. The only problem was security. She knew some in the group wouldn't like the idea of her being alone with him, but she wasn't sure a chaperone would help matters much, especially not overprotective ones. This was suddenly sounding harder than she originally thought it would be.

[Ether]

"Thank you again, Reign. I'll go find him now." Faatina concluded, as she moved away from the Dauntless.

[Eail]

"Cocky, me? Never Mar, that's a silly idea." The sage said with a chuckle. "You need some help Aneda or do you plan on sitting there until it's time to move out?"

[roymbrog]

Volga stared and drooled while Kat laughed. “Aww, you don’t have to impress me. I can help you carry it next time, if you want,” she said, dismounting. The wyvern tried to move forward, but was stopped by a hand to her nose. She couldn’t have it yet, apparently. “I don’t think she minds if it’s, uh, cleaned… But we can take part back for ourselves. It’s more than big enough to last her a day.”

Taking her axe from its holster, Katrina looked at the deer a moment before taking a solid smack at its hindquarters to try and take off a leg. A few more strikes and Kat was holding a bloody deer haunch by the foot. “This good?”

---

Valter eventually decided standing out in the grass wasn't helping matters much, and left Phyllis to graze as he walked in the direction of the campfire and Dauntless. Someone somewhere was probably doing something about breakfast, and as long as it wasn't leftover bear meat he was fine with it. That was just something he absolutely refused to touch.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"If you say so," Gar relented on that point. "I suppose the fact that I'm most effective as both messenger and watcher in case the Colin-guy tries something should be noted," Gar commented. "Since someone's inevitably gonna worry about this, I'll try and assuage them, or at the very least try and get them to rampage subtly." Granted this could entirely be taken as a ploy from Gar working with Colin which made this all the more risky. Which was nice.

[Click This]

Oh? It seemed she wasn't familiar with trading houses and general stores, but Mao supposed she didn't travel often.

"Who am I? I'm Mao Ehrendott. I'm the proprietor of the Ehrendott company. I'm not a noble or anything fancy like that. Middle class, yes. How wealthy I am, I rather not disclose." Mao sloshed the flask around, impatient to finally have her caffeine. The merchant had no problems in disclosing her standing, but she certainly didn't want Tia to sue her or something if anything unfortunate came up in the future, all on the account she had money. "But Mao, you might say, that means you must have lots of gold! That's both true and untrue. You know how a trading company has branches, ships, goods? Much of a merchant's wealth is in those things. The Ehrendott Company is no exception." She looked at the flask once more. "Of course, when my head isn't in such a lovely state, I'll make more sense and tell you some more relevant stuff."

[ReformBlade]

"Leverager? Isn't that the ship I was on? Er, we were anyway... Dang it, I forget already, but I think that's where I met your group, but if I'm getting you right, this is all happening somewhat recently, right?" The woman pulled back from her position, a rather serious look to her face as she stared at the ground, trying to figure things out. This seems extremely dangerous, and from the sounds of it, at least in my gut it feels like this is gonna end up with bloodshed. I know I can fight, I know I can help but will it make the difference at all? Talk of legendary artifacts, vasilus, people being kidnapped? Am I really able to grasp this scope or am I just gonna get brushed aside later? Looking back to shadrak, "If it comes to a fight... what are you going to do? You'll help her, won't you? That's what I'd like to do but this sounds bigger, too big for either of us, any of us in my opinion unless i'm missing out on some mysterious power not revealed to us..."

"Huh? I'm ok. What, am I not ok because I'm not acting like a complete retard suddenly?" Well that sounded pretty fucking defensive for no reason, Aneda... "Look man, sorry, I just need to think before I set out. At worst I'll catch up with you guys on Hannah, she can go pretty fast and it'd just be me and this egg." sighing deeply and shaking her head, "I don't know what it is but something's got me bugging out. Maybe it's the dream, I don't know, but it's precisely because I don't know I need to find out what's... wrong with me."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I can be friendly when I choose to be," she said to Colin noncommittally. "Any information you can give us right now would be quite helpful."

Nadya

"Ya would think it'd be better to put the mounted people with other mounts for more mobility, while the slow people stuck with each other. I ain't exactly a tactics expert, but I've stayed alive this along so...take that for what it's worth," she said to Blake.

Fortress

Clara giggled at Cecily's comment. "I can't imagine Layla hugging us unless she was really drunk...can 'her kind' even get drunk?" Clara wondered aloud.

--

"That is a comforting thought at least. Stay safe Samael," Layla said before stepping out of the room, seeking out her subordinates.

[Snike]

And here it was, the moment of truth. Would the would-be romantic hero give up the goods in the name of 'friendship', or would he go home single and with a broken heart? Soon they would find out. Axel decided to keep quiet and see what Colin's next move would be.

***

Upon Gabriella's request, Blake carefully leaned his staff onto his shoulder, retrieved his notes from his jacket, opened them, and stared for a moment.

"...Well, from what I've seen and heard, you're pretty fast, pretty accurate, and you're not prone to being taken out very easily. That means you could go just about anywhere, either as an attacker or a defender..," He said, as he looked at his notes. "... How about with Bert and Valter? That way you and the former can alternate between attacking and covering the latter, while he snipes the enemy."

Then Bert brought up his pegasus Rizen -the one who saved the Phoenix, evidently-, and began to list the ways she had been helpful to his fighting capabilities. At this, the swordsman put away his notes and listened to the explanation, his left hand on his staff and his right by his side.

"I understand that she may help with single combat, but at the same time, using her to directly attack the enemy poses a risk, since you're sacrificing mobility for some extra force," Blake said, once the pegasus rider had finished. "You can use those tactics if you want, but you'll have to understand there's a risk in not just making passes at the opponent. At least, that's how I see it."

Then, Nadya suggested that he put Gabbie on a team with all mounts, to which he smiled. "I guess that's another point towards the team I proposed. All three parties are mounted."

***

"Yes, Ma'am," Grant said, as he was healed against his will. "Thank you, Miss Synthia. As for Shadrak, well, some people have different senses of priority. His might just be interacting with the other sex."

[Phoenix]

Near Dauntless

"Weeeeell that's a start I guess," Colin said in a disappointed tone. "Hmm, oh I know. Tell me about yourself," he suggested with a wide smile. "I hardly know anything about you and now's a good time to learn something new and interesting~"

Buffet

"Are you suggesting you be my lookout?" Raquel asked, cocking her head at the man again. "I-I'm fine with that, I just want to be sure that's what you meant. And yes, please, talk Shadrak and Bert down if they find out about it before I'm finished ..."

Fight Club

"I usually foight unmounted but I suppose it'll be foine as long as I just stick to quick passes until I get Ringo some plating," Gabbie replied, seeming to agree to the team proposal. "I take it Valter doesn't know about this suggestion yet ...? If not, we should probably tell him," she suggested to Bert and Blake.

Campfire

"It was the Prometheus. The two ships were in port at the same time, but the Prometheus is the one we rode on together," Shadrak clarified while trying to shut out the bad memories. "But if Raquel fights, I'm fighting. There's really nothing else to do. I made that decision back in Tremere when even though we were doing some pretty shady work, I stuck by her. So yeah, if this blows up in our faces, I'll sure as hell be sending attack spells into the smoke to hit whatever enemies I can and ... hope for the best."

Fortress

"You can ask her, but I'm sure not bringing it up," Cecily replied, withdrawing some.

--------------

Once Layla and Ripper had left, Sardis turned toward Cassandra. "The emblem's presence can't be disguised from another wielder, but yours can, so I need you to remain here. It will simply appear as if the emblem is in safe storage. Once you sense them, cease your meditations and wait," he instructed her.

"Okay," she replied simply.

Samael stood up and put his hood back on. "Suddenly I'm excited, Sardis," he said, looking over to the man. "This is going to be interesting, even from the sidelines. Regardless of the outcome, I'm looking forward to it."

"At least someone is ..."

[roymbrog]

…Ma’am? Synthia was pretty sure- scratch that- pretty damn certain that Grant was older than her. Whether it was an intentional jab or a difference in manners she couldn’t tell, but looked a bit put off regardless. “Yes, well, you’re welcome. Just don’t go getting yourself beat up again,” she said. That fight had nothing to do with training or friendly competition, Zachary was just being a jerk. So was Shadrak, she thought. She would have to warn Mushirah about that later.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"We don't have all the time in the world, so I'll make this brief. I'm Veronika Rusayev, daughter of a Neviskotian general. I'm engaged," she said, holding up her hand with the ring on it to demonstrate, "and looking for my fiance. I believe your organization may be involved," she finished to him. I wonder if those revelations may hurt me later...eh this organization may have gathered that much intelligence anyway.

Fortress

"Uhh yeah me neither," Clara said, when Layla appeared near the pegasus sisters as if summoned, causing Clara to jump slightly. Clara hadn't seen or heard her approach. How does she do that? Clara wondered.

"We're not staying here to help a bungled operation, so you three should pack your things quickly and head out," Layla instructed her pegasi. She briefly considered using their names until she realized they would know she was referring to them and she couldn't remember their names anyway.

Edited April 7, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Mercakete]

When his name came up in the suggested team for Gabbie, Norbert was...surprisingly okay with it. He liked both of the people who would evidently be in his team, which helped a lot, though someone else making decisions for him still irked him some. The fact that it would be the wyvern girl and Valter made it easier. Blake's suggestion for combat strategy made a lot of sense, too. Really, that would suit Norbert just fine. When Blake started giving advice regarding Rizen's effectiveness, though...

"It wouldn't be much different from normal combat," Norbert explained, "Passes, just like usual, only Rizen would be trying to stick her horn into someone's neck as we go by in addition to my trying to knock the guy's head off. Mounted combat's best done on the move. It's not like she'd be standing there in front of someone waiting to be hit."

When the wyvern girl suggested they go find Valter and tell him about the team, Norbert only half agreed with her. Frowning some, he gave his own thoughts. "I think we should ask him what he thinks. If there's some other people he feels more comfortable teaming up with, then we should take that into consideration too."

[ReformBlade]

"Ah, thank you for clearing up that mix up, and for saving me from being hit on..." she threw in as a joke, albeit pretty badly timed but eh, whaddaya gonna do. Relaxing herself again, Mushirah looked around. "Seems all we can do is hope, eh? Ah well, just leaves more time for me, you, everyone else to focus on the more fun, possibly mundane things in life..."

[Phoenix]

Near Dauntless

"Engaged? See," he began nodding confidently. "... somebody managed to get past that all of that aloofness," Colin teased. "Tell me about him," he immediately followed up.

Campfire

"Fun? Hmm." Oh boy, a nigh foreign concept to the young shaman. It wasn't that he had no idea what fun was, but the last couple of months had been anything but. He was beginning to lose his sense of it altogether. "Well ... as long as it's not another silly festival game with pointless prizes," he said, thinking of his mundane ... trinket thing.

Fight Club

Gabbie shrugged at Bert's suggestion. She didn't see any reason for him not to team up with them and couldn't come up with any alternatives that she thought might suit the man, but she wasn't exactly keeping track of the social structure of the group, or Valter's place in it; she couldn't care less, frankly. In the end she decided that 'on principle' if nothing else.

Fortress

We're leaving? Just like that? I guess she doesn't care about spying on Sardis anymore. That or she found what she was looking for and we don't need to be here any longer. Fine by me, Cecily mused. "Are we going back to the manse, or to another rundown dump out in the sticks somewhere?" she asked. She wanted to know in advance if the next destination was even worth looking forward to.

"You guys are leaving? Well, I hope we cross paths again sometime," Silvia said to the three sisters. "I was hoping Colin would get back in time too but I guess not. He'll be really disappointed."

"Oh well," Cecily muttered under her breath.

[ReformBlade]

"You're an odd one, or maybe I'm just too sheltered, hehe." A festival sounds pretty fun, nut I guess he's not much of a crowd goer... Yeah that pretty much adds up. This guy needs to loosen up or something. "So from what i'm gathering you don't really let yourself just, I don't know, relax much, do you? Maybe relax is the wrong word... You seem to be a very... goal oriented sort of guy. Am I right?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"As much as I can at least," Gar clarified. "I'll stay in sight of you as much as possible once I'm talking to the others, then come back once I'm done."

[Snowy_One]

Tia looked at Mao for a moment, clearly a bit confused. "But... You're perfectly clear now. You are a merchant girl name Mao Ehrendott. You have wealth, but not enough to be considered nobility or upper-class. Your wealth is largely invested in various ships and other such items to enable you to preform your task of being a merchant better instead of being locked up in physical form. So, as a result, you are wealthy despite not having much coin, you are only middle-class despite owning a trading company, and you're groggy because you just woke up. Is that right Maomao?" asked Tia, giggling at the thought of giving Mao a nickname in return for the 'Tea' nickname.

"I actually am vaguely familiar with Ehrendott in my travels, but my focus just isn't on things like that. It's on magic and magic studies, going about and perfecting the art and trying to drive myself forwards and other things like that. My family actually was in the trading business as well, though nowhere near your level. One day, maybe, I should return and try to pick up the family business, but... I'm young and have a talent for magic! And I don't wanna go back just yet and, even if I do, magic will still be my big drive!"

---

"Yes. That should be more than enough. Remember, Rook was stupid, but lucky, last night and took down that bear. That should be more than enough for us to last for a while, especially if the wyverns eat elsewhere. We will need to salt that meat though if we want it to keep. I will clean it and salt it when we get back." said Robin with a nod.

"My father used to have a wyvern like this. Died before I was born but... he made sure I knew at least a little bit about them."

[Click This]

"Yes, that's pretty much it, Tea." Mao laughed. "But, Maomao, that's certainly new to me." Mao was called Maou by her captain friend on account of how she treated him, but was it. "In anycase, if my company is anything to look up to, I wouldn't be here right now, enjoying life. It's because the company has been consolidated that I feel safe enough to hand of management for a while and go on a pilgrimage like this." Indeed, the Ehrendott company was quite a bit larger than what it was just a few years ago. Mao had closed and sold off foreign branches, consolidated trading routes, and scrapped or sold old ships. With the profits regained from those, she reinforced the mainstay routes of the company with the newest and fastest ships and expanded trading houses. It was quite a grand idea at first, but worked quite well. Mao was interested in Tia's family business, however. The water mage didn't strike her a person who was involved in the merchanting world. "You said your family was in the trading business? If you don't mind me asking, what did they specialize in?"

[Snowy_One]

"Fish. They traded in fish. Nothing big mind you, just barely above fishermen themselves, but they managed to hold a living. Basically, they would buy some of the smaller boats and hire them out to some of the local fishermen as well as small plots of shore and, of whatever was caught, they would turn around and sell on the markets and then kick back a percentage of the profit to them. They weren't the wealthiest though. Took most of their money to get me the training I needed to become a full-fledged mage, but they managed to survive. Part of why I want to become the best mage possible is to show them just how worth-while their investment was. Kind of disappointing, actually, to think that, no matter how good or bad I am at this, they'll expect me home one day to take up the fish business. These things come naturally to you, Maomao, but I'm the type of person who loves experimenting and coming up with new things. That sort of thing doesn't fly very well in business unless done with more precautions than I like."

[Click This]

"Haha, I can attest to the rigidity against new advances in the business world. Nobody wishes to take a risk with new things when there's a chance of failure, but with magic, there are things even the shrewdest merchants can't refuse. That said, I wish you luck in your goals. As a water mage, with a good business sense, you might be able to go a long way if you ever take up the family business again. If you don't, I'm sure they can appreciate the endeavors you'll make as an accomplished mage."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika paused for a moment, being stuck on a subject she wasn't that eager to be on.

"Pavel is a member of the Neviskotian military- we met through my father. Brave, kind, honest- he was everything I wanted in a husband. Then he went on an assignment that had him missing for months at a time...longer than it should have. After some investigation, I ended up in Raquel's group," she concluded to Colin. That was a rather patchy version of our history, but I'm not about to betray more important information to the Organization about Pavel if I don't have to.

Fortress

"Say hi to him for me...and be careful," Clara said to Silvia. She felt a little bad about leaving them behind for a possible battle, but orders were orders.

"We're establishing a base further east, I've taken all I need out of Western Ursium for now," Layla half-answered Cecily, before handing her a scroll. "Follow the coordinates on the map after leaving here and be quick about it."

[scorri]

Marella rolled her eyes at Zach. "Riiiiight. Never you. Can't imagine what I was even thinking suggesting that." Frowning sadly at Aneda, she reached over and threw her arm around the girl and squeezed. "Hey, it'll be ok. You're surrounded by friends here and people who care about you. Take care of yourself first. You're important and don't let anything convince you otherwise. You take whatever time you need. And hey," she smiled at the girl, "Try smiling. It'll help, I promise."

[roymbrog]

Nodding at Robin’s explanation, Kat stepped out of the way to let Volga at her meal, which the wyvern went at with gusto. She’d probably be done within a few minutes at that rate. “Oh, your dad had one?” Katrina asked, genuinely curious. “A Makarov wyvern? She- uh…” Her face fell as she remembered something she’d much rather not. “John’s family bred these,” she said.

-----

Ah, another day, another mission. They were finally leaving this dump, thank goodness. Cloe pushed herself from the wall and briefly stretched before starting to leave the room. “I’ll go ahead and ready the pegasi, then,” she said in way of explanation. She was useless at maps and her sisters could fill her in later.