Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Mercakete]

Well this was somewhat unusual. Erica was talking to him in this fairly unused road practically as soon as he was back in Ursium. It was beginning to seem less like she just so happened to find him there while she was stationed at the port and more like she was actually interested in a full-blown conversation. That in and of its self was weird, since anyone who'd grown up in the same vicinity as him should have had a rather negative impression of him.

Something's not right here. "Is it so amazing that I finally got a job?" he asked a bit snappishly, crossing his arms and giving his sister a dubious glare.

[-Cynthia-]

"A little, but that's not the point," Erica responded, smirking a little. "Look Norbert I'll just level with you here, the Major General says that this merchant stole a holy relic from Wrath himself. I don't know how true this is or not, but that's a pretty serious crime- I'd really consider another employer if I were you," she said to him, her expression shifting to a frown.

[Mercakete]

So, this wasn't just a coincidence. It was weird that she was telling him this, though. His frown shifted to a grin, though, as he began laughing some. "Stole from Wrath? Raquel? Are you kidding me?" he asked, "That girl's a fragile fretter; she's always worried about one thing or another and she mopes a lot. She hardly ever confronts anyone and when she does, she's shaky. And isn't Wrath impossible to steal from anyway? He's supposed to be some all-powerful deity, right? How in Mercy's name could someone like Raquel possibly manage to steal something from someone like Wrath?"

Now he was just playing it off as a ridiculous joke, focusing on the question he was asking rather than the implications of Erica's warning in an attempt to make his mirth legitimate. "Hahah! If what you're saying was true, Wrath must be pretty embarrassed! HAH! How pathetic!"

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh Mercy have mercy Norbert, this isn't a joke. Look, I don't know how the merchant got ahold of this holy artifact, but the point is that Major General Selene thinks your group has something that belongs to the church. Did you know that Head Wrathite Bradford died and was replaced by Bishop Desmond? What do you think that means for your group?" Erica asked Norbert, praying to get an intelligent answer.

[Phoenix]

Pessimism

"Oh ... hi, Gytha," Raquel greeted, her mood and expression not changing much. She wasn't hiding anything save for Sandrock's stimulant high, so she decided to explain more in depth than she might have at any other time. "I'm not sure what to do about the emblem still. The dragon head said my training was finished, but nothing's changed ... literally nothing has changed, and I've tried to use it every so often. Anna suggested I have faith in the emblem see if that works but I don't even know how that works or how it would help here. What kind of artifact runs on faith?"

Persistence and Perseverance

"So I'm more interesting and a pretty 'safe' bet either way. Probably not how you meant it but that's what I heard," Suzume replied, smirking ever so slightly at him. "Well ... you're not the complete irredeemable jerk I was expecting, so ... I guess I'll give you a chance, despite not being sure about what that says about me ..." she explained, trailing off while trying to check to see where Anna was. As soon as she realized Anna was halfway down the streets and running at a pretty high speed, she gasped. "Where is she going?!"

Theory of Balance

"I use dark magic," Shadrak began. "As for how I get by, well it's not that hard. I'm not a hub of social activity so I've got plenty of time to manage my studies, training, and anything else I'd rather take care of by myself. Being on this ship for so long only gave everyone more free time than usual. I'm not sure which magic is best to be honest. When I was younger I was pretty sure darkness reigned supreme, but it's only the most versatile. I've heard of light mages obliterating targets in ways dark magic just can't, and anima mages causing destruction far beyond anything dark magic is capable of on its own. I figure there's a balance somewhere in all of the different techniques, styles, and teachings and that none of the elements are truly superior to the others, at least not overall. My teacher seems to believe the same."

[Mercakete]

So, it was emblem business she was thinking about. "Not sure," Gytha replied a bit indifferently with a shrug, "Worth a try. If that's how it works... Raquel, d' ye trust us t' protect ye when we get attacked?"

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

Norbert's laughter had faded about halfway through what Erica was saying. Even if he didn't know about the emblem, this was pretty serious. He still attempted to act like he didn't care that much, though. "How would I know?" he asked in reply with an indifferent shrug, "I don't pay attention to who teaches in the churches."

Then, a bit more seriously, he added, "Though having a major general trying to take something you don't have doesn't sound good."

His eyes shifted to Erica with distrust as he asked, "You're not opposing any of this, are you? Actually... Why are you here?" Narrowing his eyes some, he half-accused, "Following orders?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Wordplay's a fine thing like that," Gar smiled at Suzzy Q's take on his words. "I'm a completely irredeemable jerk in ways you don't expect then?" Gar chuckled. "Well from my view I'd say it makes you a mature person. But hey I'm not everyone." After that though was her getting all shocked at something. He followed her gaze to--that was the Weyland woman wasn't it? "Where indeed?" Gar asked as well. Must be something important.

[Snowy_One]

"I believe differently. Namely, I believe that each element has it's own unique features and capabilities, but water happens to have the best and most flexible set, just the most difficult to manipulate well as well. For example, in this port right now, this air is downright saturated with water and liquid. Imagine a very skilled water mage being able to utilize that water. Even if they just stuck to the basic techniques they would be able to attack a foe from almost ANYWHERE! Additionally, with proper manipulation, water can be made to boil, form a saw, make music, or even form golems. In fact, that's what I have been studying myself over the past few months. So far I've managed to make dolls filled with water move with enough effort, but the skin breaks too easily and they can't do much... But that is something that I can fix! Just give me a year or two and I'll have figured out a way to manage it entirely on my own!"

[-Cynthia-]

"Head Wrathite Desmond is much more...extreme in his views than Head Wrathite Bradford was. This means that the attacks against your groups will come under his authority- which means that they will come hard, fast, and in high numbers. Whatever mercenaries this Valcyn girl has assembled will have little chance," Erica said, almost sadly.

"And yes Norbert, I'm here under orders and I'm not opposing the Major General. Word has already been sent to headquarters back in Europa that you've landed here- but they'll take a few days to marshal. You can leave this group and find work elsewhere by then," she said in a pleading tone.

[Phoenix]

Le Faith

"Well I ..." Raquel paused, not quite having an answer at first like she thought. "I never really gave it much thought before. I'm always so worried about not doing enough myself. I guess I have mixed feelings about being protected as a whole. I have some faith that you'll all try to protect me no matter what we come up against, and let's face it, we've gone up against just about everything imaginable to some degree already ... but on the other hand I'm not sure I've got a lot of faith in the group's 'ability' to protect me. Granted the circumstances are usually pretty extreme when it happens, but I take about as much fire as the healers do and I've almost been killed a couple of times." She didn't bother to mention the kidnapping since it was a given, but also not quite fair to count, at least not in the sense that even Weyland and his people could protect her from Sardis.

Follow the Anna

"Mmm, that woman is my best chance to get something other than simple grunt work. I need to catch up to her. Are you coming?" Her plan was simple enough, chase down Anna on foot, inquire more about work, then if there was nothing immediate that would have to be done following that, she would spend some time with Gar until it was time for his group to leave. If Anna wanted to be followed all the way back to Europa, well ... she'd cross that bridge when she got to it. There was no guarantee she would even be able to get a job through that woman anyway.

Dolls

Dolls? Well I guess a young girl would play with dolls and the like. At least normal girls in regular households. Adding some magic's bound to make things more fun and interesting. Not sure I agree with most versatile, though. I mean look at the earth slayers who took on the dragons way back when. But I'd say dark magic is the most versatile myself~ "So wait, why are you using such thin skin on the dolls? Is that really necessary or is it a merging problem? I don't know a whole lot about magic but I do know you have to be able to merge your power with the water before you can control it directly. It'd be nice to find a way around that. Then you could make an enemy's waterskin explode on them like a grenade."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Sure, sounds like plenty of fun," Gar said and stretched out his legs for a run. He was probably the reason Suzzy Q hadn't talked to her already too, so this might make up for that, and they needed to head that way anyway. Granted if the runaway got outta town he'd have to stop, he couldn't afford to splinter off that much.

[Mercakete]

Norbert's expression only shifted from mistrusting to anger. "And what happens when Raquel doesn't give this thing over because she doesn't have it? They get attacked? By the MILITARY? Don't you have a war to fight or something else better to do than chase down a merchant and some hired arms?"

Those questions were rhetorical, as was made obvious as he shook his head at the situation and continued speaking. "I'm not going to just fly away... I don't care if it's the military -- this is wrong! They don't deserve for everyone to let them just do whatever they want!"

Redirecting his gaze back to his sister, Norbert's tone lowered a bit. "You know, these people... Well, most of them are people I don't want to see harm come to. You're probably risking some things telling me this, too, so...thanks. I appreciate it. I can't leave them, though -- not because of this. You can request reassignment, though, right? You did this for me, so I don't want to have to fight you or let any of the others attack you with any sort of intent to kill."

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

"Hahaharr! Don't worry about that!" Gytha laughed, "I'm just glad t' hear ye know we do our best fer ye. That's what I was realla askin'. Well, if ye trust us, why not trust this emblem th' same way? If ye do that, maybe it'll do somethin'."

Edited February 8, 2013 by Mercakete

[Snowy_One]

"Actually, yes. That's exactly it. It's a merging problem. Best solution I've found is if you can pre-merge the water, but that's only practical if you want a dancing doll and not for what I'm hoping to accomplish which would be the removal of the skin entirely to form a fully functional water golem! Imagine it if it could be accomplished! A beast that couldn't be hurt or chipped away by weapon as it's not made from anything that can be physically cut or severed! Not to mention the other applications that such a discovery would merit. I mean, think about it! You would be able to manipulate infinitely small objects with only a hole large enough for a pin by carefully feeding water through to form digits! And if it gets combined with other forms of magic, your possibilities skyrocket! Purification of metals formally thought impossible. Medical alterations as opposed to mere healing! The potential of proper fluid control are immense!"

[-Cynthia-]

"You always were stubborn Norbert, even as a boy..." Erica said sadly. "If your merchant is truly innocent, she can submit herself to the Wrathites for examination. She will be searched and questioned and this matter can be resolved without violence." Although the Major General making a mistake of this magnitude seems unlikely...and without having some sort of motivation I don't know why that criminal organization would have kidnapped her. Is he lying to protect his friend or is this truly a misunderstanding...

[Phoenix]

Something About Meeting Places

"I guess anything new is worth a try. I'm just not sure how it's supposed to work ..." Raquel's doubts stemmed primarily from that one time she was able to get the emblem to work, but as she recalled, faith hadn't been on her mind at the time, and the result was something she wanted to accomplish long beforehand that also wasn't on her mind. That 'odd case' where she removed the emblem from the gemstone in her cloak still bothered her, and she wasn't sure there was anything that would work on a consistent basis as a result. But she had other matters to deal with now that the horses were ready to go. Also she wanted to make some progress before the stimulant worked its way out of Sandrock's system and the horse tried to sleep again. If that happened, she had no intentions of forcing the poor thing to work and they would have to rest for a few hours instead of leaving right away. For now she was still wired and giving that eerie stare to anything nearby that caught her attention. Everything was so vivid~

"I'll try it, but for now we're not in any danger, so I should get back to what I was doing. If you see any of the others, can you tell them to meet up by that watch tower over there?" Raquel pointed to a tower up north that stood out well enough and was nestled toward the northern edge of the port town. "We'll leave once everyone shows up, I guess."

Gabbie considered taking on the task while she listened in as well since the talk between Shadrak and Tia was starting to bore her into action and she figured Gytha wouldn't be able to spread word to everyone all on her own.

Something About Employment

Anna had a pretty good head start, and unless she had some planned stops along the way, Suzume's only chance in catching up was closing the gap between them with running and shortcuts. Unfortunately the latter was unavailable as a whole, and so Suzume took off as fast as she could heading for the loading ramp. Fortunately no one was coming up or down it at that moment, but she was approaching it from a bad angle. rather than slowing down, she redirected herself down toward the docks by leaping to and kicking off of the edge of the rail. From there it was a straight shot down to the docks and Anna was about two hundred feet ahead of them and closing.

Okay, I've still got it ... but I've spent two weeks wasting away and going out of my mind down in that cargo hold. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this up for very long. I can't lose sight of her.

Something About Golems

Wait a minute ... "Wouldn't it be easier to just work without the dolls if you're trying to make a ... water golem? An outer shell is an okay start I guess, but it's probably going to become a crutch and since this is water magic, that skin is creating problems of its own."

[roymbrog]

Well, the woman was alright and that was what really mattered. He would have to figure out how to beat some sense into that wyvern late, Jerald thought. But then Mushirah’s suggestion left him looking amused. “Believe me, we’ve tried that before, lass. The lizard’s brain is a sack of rocks but she still manages to get loose somehow…” He trailed off, remembering the reason he was confused originally. “You said we. Are you traveling with Rina, or…? Because, that’s definitely her wyvern,” he asked, jerking a thumb at Volga. Either that, or something had happened to Kat. He really hoped it wasn’t the latter.

-----

The shopkeeper kept track of the amount as Chelsea counted out the coins and after receiving them put them in a chest he kept under the table. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he replied, now waiting for them to leave.

Synthia, meanwhile, was ready to leave, but waited with palm outstretched for Chelsea to return her gold purse. “Thanks,” she told the healer, then seemed to contemplate something for a moment while her brow furrowed. A bit more guarded she continued. “I was going to go get something to eat before we left town. Did you want to come? I’m sure Raquel hasn’t even left the ship yet…”

[Mercakete]

"A'right," Gytha cheerily replied to about everything Raquel had just said, then added, "Though, maybe yer overthinkin' th' emblem. Just a thought I just had. Sort o' like how ye can throw somethin' at someone without thinkin' if yer mad at 'em, 'r how ye swing a sword. Ye just do it -- not much thought necessara fer th' actual action. Just fer how yer goin' t' do it once ye get th' motion t' second nature."

It was just a thought, so she left it at that before beginning to wander away. Raquel had said, after all, if she saw anyone to direct them to the tower. She supposed that meant exactly what it sounded like: if she happened upon anyone. That meant she wasn't being told to go look for people, so she could enjoy the port for a while before heading to the tower herself. That was how she took it anyway.

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

"Tch. Yeah, right," the pegasus rider replied, somewhat offended at what Erica was treating as a sure thing. After a short moment of consideration, Norbert asked, "Do you want to know a secret?"

[Snowy_One]

"Well, I tried that at first, attempting a straight-up water golem. The problem came fairly quickly though, namely in the surface of the golem. While it worked in very small-scale tests just fine, when I tried to size it up to the size of a normal doll, it couldn't hold it's cohesion while being idle. When it was moving it was forming and reforming constantly which was easy to adjust for, but sitting still it had to be adjusted for gravity and simply required too much focus and attention to be anything more than a novelty. Plus, when I tried to make it move off the table, the ground would get dirt inside of it fairly quickly and caused me to lose control, so it became apparent I needed some form of skin in order to allow it to function. My first draft actually scrapped the concept of a pure water golem all-together and instead had the water moving between various bladders on a much larger golem made of metal. In theory one skilled water mage could control the entire thing, but it would take a water mage, a thunder mage, and possibly an earth, fire, or really good blacksmith just to make the parts. Something I can't exactly afford. So... I moved on to dolls."

[-Cynthia-]

"Sure, whatever secrets you have you can share with me," Erica replied to Norbert. And here's the part where he reveals that his friend does have something I'm guessing- this story just doesn't add up with a random merchant.

[GoD]

'You're welcome Synthia."- she told the mage/healer as the troubadour handed back her purse.

When Synthia asked her, albeit cautiously, if she wanted to have lunch with her, Chelsea's eyes beamed with radiant joy at Synthia. "Oh yes, lunch! I usually forget to eat lunch or breakfast most of the time, and since I skipped breakfast I could go for something to eat. Ah, but don't worry I'll treat you and-"- Chelsea turned to face the other troubadour. "Wanna join us for lunch Nadya?"

Edited February 9, 2013 by GoD

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

And Suzzy Q was off! With an impressive display of acrobatics she was zipping and running down after the runaway as fast as she could. Which wasn't that fast, but Gar attributed that to being prisonered up in a cargo hold without proper exercise routines. Still, either way when Gar started his own chase he caught up fairly easy. He was probably faster than her at her best anyway, and he'd been stuck in enough ships that he'd learned how to minimize aptitude lose. His new equipment was weighing him down though, nothing he could do about that without pointless risks. "Nothing like a brisk run to get the blood flowing," Gar made small talk as the two chased the runaway. Though in retrospect that was an incredibly dumb idea. He was too used to other Guildies when it came to chasing people down. Mobility was a key factor for any Howling Voice operative, and for Gar it was especially important since it was the only way to avoid being brutalized during his training.

[Mercakete]

"Good," Norbert replied, his uncertainty being replaced with a fairly unreadable expression as he rested his hands on his hips in a more relaxed posture, "The truth is, this wouldn't be the first time Wrathite soldiers attacked us. When Raquel didn't show them what they wanted to see, we had to defend ourselves."

The pegasus rider's expression shifted to a readable one again: a quiet anger with a hint of disappointment. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight off any of my sisters, but you know how well I take being attacked. ...Or maybe you don't." His tone and expression darkened some at his last sentence as he recalled that most -- if not all -- of his sisters were under the impression that he was the one to always start the fights he got in as a child. It wasn't quite relevant for the time being, so he left that alone. "The point is, I fight back and you know it. Even if she's my sister."

Though he wouldn't actually kill the vast majority of his sisters, he didn't feel the need to clarify this, thinking it should be obvious from what he'd said earlier. Whether this lack of clarity would be of any consequence or not remains to be seen.

[Phoenix]

Since We're Here

With all of her immediate exchanges handled, Raquel decided to try and do a bit of last minute item shopping before leaving Sergio. With the next city some days out, it was actually a rather good idea. She was more interested in provisions and replacements for worn out items though, not simply fighting gear. She wanted to let Connor and Veronika know first, though.

"Hey, Connor, Gabb- ... ie ... Look, the others just don't stick, alright?!" she quickly defended.

Gabbie gave Raquel a bit of a scowl in response and then sighed. "Just finish what you were going to say and then buzz off ..."

"Fine. I'm going to try and stock up on a few things while we're here. Everyone should meet up by that tower over there once you're ready to go. Once everyone's there, we can leave. Umm, Gabbie?"

"Whaaat?"

"I have Gytha on this too, but you've also got a wyvern, so could you help round everyone up or at least tell them where to meet us?"

"Sure, I've clearly got nothing more important to do," came her passive aggressive answer.

And now Raquel was just plain uncomfortable.

The Tortoise, The Hare, and The Gar

"Just knowing I might lose her if we don't keep up has my blood more than just flowi-wait a minute," she cut herself off. "You're taller than me and probably faster than both of us; you should be able to catch up to her, so don't wait up for me! We can talk afterward, so hurry!"

Other Things

"So what do you plan on doing once you figure all of this out? You've got some pretty big ideas, but what would you do with that one in particular?" Shadrak followed up with another question. He wasn't initially interested, but thinking back on his own goal of getting stronger and his reasons for it, he began to wonder what hers were.

Plans

Reign wandered by the Dauntless as Raquel explained the situation to Connor and Gabbie, and he just kept on walking because he was planning on heading to the tower immediately and waiting for everyone else, at least for the moment. Gar and Suzume came speeding by too which which was interesting. He wasn't sure if they were racing or chasing a thief. Probably the former since he didn't see anyone trying to evade them from where he was standing, only people trying to avoid being run over by them. "I should probably share these but ..." He looked down at the basket he was carrying. "Heh, first come first served I guess." He then began heading toward the tower.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Good points," Gar shrugged. Might as well. Gar increased his stride and quickly reached the maximum speed he was comfortable with, which allowed him to blaze right past Suzzy Q.

[Snowy_One]

"Once I figure all this out? I move on to the next thing and try to perfect that, silly! That's what it means to be a mage to me. To constantly be trying to improve and progress until, eventually, you can't improve any more. I build a water golem today, tomorrow I devise a way to prevent floods, the day after that I learn how to explore the depths of the ocean, and after that... I keep going until I can't do anything more. Push yourself to the limits of your imagination, make the most awesome magical spells you can, and then outdo those! Why, does that seem so odd or bizarre?"