Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Sakusa]

"I would appreciate it, but until I've worked out an agreement with your employer, I won't necessarily be fighting with you," Gywn replied, resting her head on a hand with an elbow on the side further from Zach and looking into the distance with a downcast expression. Though she was dressed like a nobleman's daughter, she barely had two gold coins to rub together for herself. Her brows furrowed and lips were set into a subtle frown, she was never the patient type, and she really hoped that this Raquel woman would hurry up and sort out her business so that she could at least pick up a job. "What kind of deal was it? What did you have to give up in order to just have the capacity to learn all about anima magic?" the pink-haired mage suddenly asked, a bit of life coming back to her, "If it were up to me, I'd ask for the power to make breakthroughs in self-healing and wide-range healing spells." She lifted the tome on her lap and let it fall back down lazily and then ran her thumb through the pages, making a zipping noise in the process, "It's what I meant to research when we finally arrived in Europa today, but with the weather like this, I'm afraid a trip to the University is unlikely. Well, at least I can use this opportunity to compile my notes..." she let out a heavy-hearted sigh.

[Snowy_One]

"That's nonsense." chirped up Tia. "I'm sure you have something to be resolved over that's just as important. I'm sure we all do. For me it's mastering as much magic as humanly possible, for him it's whatever. But if you want to help me with my resolve, why don't you tell me a bit more about your sword. It sounds really cool, being able to raise an auto-barrier like that and... and being forged by your father. Would you mind if I tried it out a bit? Under your supervision of course. I don't think I'll ever be really strong enough to use it in combat, but with some training and experience, maybe I could find some cool way to utilize the barrier rune?"

---

Robin sighed as she walked down the hall, taking a moment to rest against one of the walls with one arm above her head. Off in the distance she could hear a lot of people in the dining hall, so likely the other group had returned.

"<Well Robin. It's now or never. Bite the arrow and at least try to get him to acknowledge your existence or... or...>"

THUNK!

Robin's fist collided hard with the wall. "<Or else I grew up in Ohka alone.>"

---

The dining hall was definitely filled as Robin stepped inside. In one corner she could see that Tia was off bothering some people already, and it looked like a lot had happened. Great. Now she'd have to be careful in case something really bad had happened and she said the wrong thing. She really should have gone. Oh well.

With her keen eyes it didn't take long to spot Zach though, sitting down with a girl Robin didn't recall having seen before, or at least not having talked too. She could feel a small shudder run down her spine as she approached the two. That wasn't going to make this any easier.

"H-hey Zach. Misss." she said, a small shudder running down her spine at the image of Gwyn and Zach necking popped into her head. For a moment she looked at Zach, clearly wanting to talk to him, but then her attention shifted to Gwyn. "I do not think I have seen you before or met you yet." she said, extending her hand. "My name is Robin. May I know yours?"

Edited April 21, 2014 by Snowy_One

[-Cynthia-]

Main Hall

"Hmm, ya know y'all probably don't need to be carryin' these sacks outside with the rain and all. I'd be fine with ya droppin' it off in my room for now," she said to the fellas. Not that those sacks seemed terribly flimsy, but that much gold is heavy and if they got wet there could be trouble..."

Study

"Gee, thanks," Veronika responded sarcastically to Gabbie agreeing not to get in their way. She tapped her foot impatiently- Sardis could likely leave the city quickly and they had no other good way to locate him. She looked at Weyland pointedly, hoping that he could at least control his own employees.

[spoiler=Outer Sanctum]

With the attacker dealt with, Liam elected to stay back and let actual members of Cloud Legion deal with the situation for now, if they had need of him they would let him know. I killed the first human I ever met- I suspect my future dealings with humans will go much the same way.

[Mercakete]

Maw found that though she rather liked the kitchen (her breakfast had been quite nice,) she also enjoyed wandering the halls and, for the moment, sleeping on the steps. So, there she lay, content and unaware of the world around her, a silver, black, and white slab of fur on a step's corner, against the wall. People could still walk right past her if they wanted, though if someone drew near, her blue eye slipped open to see what was the matter. Once she assessed it was a non-threat, the eye would close again.

[spoiler=Plains]"Oh, how fortuitous!" the Dark Avian chimed in happily when his suspicion was confirmed. He quickly remembered his manners, though and returned to a friendly normal. He began again. "Ah, my apologies. It's just that I'm a traveler, you see." He caught that his speech was beginning to quicken again here and slowed it back down to normal once more. "Anyway, what, exactly, is a 'sovereign?' It sounds like someone who has quite the important rank, but I'm afraid there isn't much known about Corvus or Fallen Ones."

Aside from what was in Common, their talk was casual-sounding, but the contents were rather intimidating from what he could glean. A little worried, he asked, "And would you mind very much if I attempted your language? I can understand what you're saying for the most part, but some of the grammar and terminology is...strange."

Edited April 21, 2014 by Mercakete

[Phoenix]

Main Hall

"I certainly don't plan to," Reign replied, though he had to change course when she gave them a closer destination than before. "You'll have to lead the way; I don't know which room is yours."

Amon and Malik stopped as well, not wanting to lug their load a step farther than necessary. Amon was starting to wonder how Reign was handling his all on his own. They weren't going to get crushed under the weight and yet he'd put on a pretty good show as far as his expression went. He wasn't the only one who noticed apparently.

"Hey, Reign, are you as in good shape as the real Elrey?" Greta chimed in jokingly.

"No, I can't bench press a wyvern, sadly," Reign replied, shrugging with his free shoulder.

Study

"... fifty," Gabbie said after a long pause. She turned back to meet Raquel's scowl and crush it with a determined and immovable one of her own.

"You're CHARGING me again?!"

For Gabbie, it wasn't really about the money, just reminding Raquel that she wasn't some service she could utilize to her heart's content. "Even Steionn paid up ... in his own way, so why should it be any different for you? If foinding Sardis isn't worth a few gold and all your hollering is just for show, then you need to get over yourself and this 'rescue mission' of yours."

"You don't ... you don't need to use her for this, Raquel," Weyland chimed in all of a sudden. "I know someone else who might be able to help, though I honestly don't think it's a good idea to be doing this. Still, Gabriella's power is something that's hers and hers alone. I won't force her to use it; that's not how we do things here."

Gabbie's dark expression dissolved completely at those words. Weyland occasionally had to pressure her into doing things, but only things she already knew were in her job description. Him not taking Raquel's side here was something of a shock, a relief, and an endearing gesture all rolled into one soothing wave of warmth that quickly washed over her and eased all the tension that had been building up.

Weyland reached into his vest and pulled out a golden insignia, one identical to the ones Raquel and Amon had received. Raquel recognized it immediately and her jaw hung slightly. "His ... or her--I really don't know--name is Ryder, and he's a messenger of Nyx. He can find anyone, anywhere on the continent and deliver a message to them, though there is a fee involved. After Nyx dismantled one of our breakthroughs and the network we set up for it, we began having to rely quite heavily on him. That despicable mess aside, you can also pay Ryder to take you a certain distance ... which could obviously put you right where you want to be ... near Sardis."

"She gave me one of those too," Raquel grumbled, pulling out an insignia of her own. So it turned out that her backup plan was exactly the same as Weyland's alternative and with Gabbie giving a price, herself, there was no clear choice to make, here. Weyland also explained the details of how the insignia approach could work, though, which Raquel quickly memorized. "Maybe we should try to call Ryder first and see how much it'll cost us. We have a little time since I need to get enough people ready to fight if it comes to that, but I still want to hurry this up," she said, trying to keep her anger in check.

[spoiler=Ursian Plains]Ragna smiled. "The <sovereign> is our emperor ... our king--our ... most prestigious warrior and leader," she embellished Valdimarr's rank. "Don't worry, though ... there's no need to stand on formalities with him. He wouldn't gain any satisfaction from it."

<"What the hell is she talking about?"> Valdimarr listened to the gibberish in bemusement.

<"A bit of mindless praise here, a bit of actual truth there ... nothing to concern yourself with, milord,"> Fury assured him.

<"Well ... this is some break ..."> Valdimarr began to stretch while he waited for Ragna to decide what to do with the newcomer.

"You can 'attempt' it all you like, but if you start making progress, I'm not sure I'd ever be willing to let you go~" Ragna teasingly warned the dark avian.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

It's not nonsense. I really don't... Though, Eva felt that would be a futile point to argue, and she didn't want to get all serious again, not so soon. As for the sword, Eva made a grand shrug, and turned herself slightly so that she could easily tilt her head towards both conversations. "I don't know much else. I said that magic is pretty much foreign to me; I don't even turn this thing on, it just starts itself. And still gonna be a no on that one, kid," she said with a smirk, lightly reaching out to ruffle the top of Tia's hair, "I wouldn't trust anyone else with this, so don't take it personally. Buuuuut," she then continued, reaching behind her and unstrapping it off of her back, carefully swinging it around to her front. "You can take a look, I guess. Don't think about taking it," she said, grip firm on the hilt, finger pressing its trigger, "I'm trusting you to just look." While Tia was entertaining herself there, she turned her face back to Jericho, with a bit of an apologetic smile on.

Edited April 21, 2014 by I have opinions

[Rothene]

Deciding not to waste such a fine midday, Mireille thought about practicing the Rising Shield technique...then remembered promptly that it would destroy part of the greenery despite its defensive nature. Sighing, the Ursian noblewoman instead took out her notebook to write out the latest chapter of her novel.

Taking inspiration from the two knights the group fought, Mireille named them...looking around the garden, Mireille spotted a big wedge nearby, perhaps it was left there from someone careless. Naming the two knights Biggs and Wedge, she then went to designing some backstory for them of very mundane nature.

[Mercakete]

[spoiler=Hardly a Plain Break]The Dark Avian was a little alarmed when he found that indeed, this sovereign was their people's leader. He relaxed again, however, when she clarified that they -- or at least, he -- wouldn't be offended by a lack of formality. The other two were talking again. Something about the conversation he was having with the strange-looking woman. He didn't bother to decipher it any more as she was answering another question of his. This answer was a little...odd. He couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that, given the threatening nature of what the other two had been talking about in reference to her. Still, he didn't want to presume any ill-will without it being blatant, so he decided to suspend any guesses on that.

<"Thank you,"> he cheerily replied, deciding to start with simply speaking in as simplified a form of Quilesh as he could coherently convey. <It would probably be best to start with only basic sentences. Take out any but the most essential words...> He decided to speak to the three on the whole at this point since he felt that ignoring them all when speaking their language would just be plain rude. <"My name is Tryphon. Pleased to meet you.">

[-Cynthia-]

Main Hall

"Luckily, I'm only on the second floor," Nadya said, taking the lead and moving up the staircase. "Not sure I'll believe this wyvern bench pressin' business until I see it in action. Seems impossible unless it's a baby or somethin' which ain't very impressive at all," she remarked to Reign as they walked.

Study

You can't command your employees to do things? I wonder how he ever managed to make such a business with an attitude like that...maybe it's an Ursian thing, Veronika thougt to herself, before the suggestion of Ryder came up which caused her brow to furrow. "I don't see how delivering Raquel right to Sardis would be beneficial to our cause- she would just be captured or killed. I would want at least some of our group to accompany her."

[Phoenix]

Hallway

"Oh I wasn't being serious," Reign noted along the way, "but he might have had some people wondering. He's not too shabby with his fists, though." Reign scowled at the air for a moment after that, having a bit of first hand experience, though that was years ago, before he was much of a man or even enrolled at the academy for that matter. Reign still had one edge over his older brother, though, far stronger magic at his disposal.

"I was going to say ..." Malik began, "there is no way he can lift Isis, no way, no how."

Study

"If he's in this city, you might be able to convince Ryder to simply guide you to the spot," Weyland offered, though he wasn't sure if Ryder would go for something like that if it took up too much of their time. They were part of a service that spanned the entire continent, so they didn't likely have a lot of free time between summons and the errands themselves. "Best to contact him first and ask. Depending on the answer, you can go from there."

Ryder's prices go up the more danger you put that pegasus in, so you moight want to consider that," Gabbie warned. "My fee's bound to be less than that guy's given what you're trying to do."

"It sounds like you really want that fifty gold," Raquel muttered angrily.

"It's not about the money, really," Gabbie looked the other way and put a hand on her hip. After that, she sighed and added, "Just a remoinder that I'm not in this for the same reasons as you two and I'm not going to do whatever you ask without a good reason. Rushing after Sardis the very next day after a brutal battle isn't a good enough reason for me, personally. Even if your father's with him, you're just begging for a massacre, and this toime we'll be the ones at fault, and we'll be the ones that get hunted down by the guards afterward ... and all because your brain shuts off whenever it's toime to deal with Sardis and your turncoat of a father."

"What if your father was the one Sardis was holding?!" Raquel quickly countered, on the verge of shouting again. Weyland was so close to getting a word in, too, but after that, he wasn't sure he should cut Gabbie off, partially because he was curious about her answer.

Gabbie winced, and then, after a moment of thought, she thoughtfully mused, "I think ... I would convince some allies to help me kill everyone there," while exaggerating her pondering gestures.

"What ...?" Raquel wasn't sure if she meant everyone save for her father or everyone period and it was a disturbing thought for her to have to consider. Maybe they were just worlds apart ....

[spoiler=Ursian Plains]<"Valdimarr,"> the sovereign reluctantly introduced himself, glancing to Ragna immediately afterward and receiving a playful grin for it. He didn't know if this dark avian was going to be her little pet, an experiment, or just a tag along, but not knowing for certain was really starting to irk him.

<"Hmph,"> Fury hesitated a moment. <"You may refer to me as Fury. Now ... what is it you want, avian?">

[Mercakete]

[spoiler=Plains]Tryphon was elated: he'd apparently spoken fairly well for his first try! In fact, he was all smiles in an instant and it was somewhat difficult for him to keep his composure. It was getting easier to understand these Fallen Ones, too, though they could have been using simpler sentences for his benefit. Even if they were, it didn't douse his spirits at all. Though he was excited, he tried to stick to their language, keeping out the extra words he was used to speaking when using his native tongue. <"I never expected to meet Fallen Ones in Ursium! What an opportunity! You see, I'm a traveler. I've traveled nearly all of Sardius! I've lived in Aquila, Neviskotia, Rexia, Tracea, and, for a time, here in Ursium. Though I have never been to the mountain ranges between your home and Rexia -- I doubt the dragons there have any particularly interesting landmarks, nor would they welcome outsiders -- and I have never been to Sanctuary or Corvus, I have seen all other parts of the known world.">

He then turned his attention specifically to Valdimarr. <"Before now, I thought that Corvus was closed off to me. Meeting Fallen Ones, and especially the Sovereign, perhaps it isn't. Would you please take me to Corvus and allow me to live there for a while? I would love to learn more about your language, culture, home, and people!">

[ReformBlade]

Irritated at the new girl's tone, he had to speak up, "I'd greatly appreciate it if you wouldn't describe something that's caused me years of mental stress and the occasional nightmare as a mere 'whatever', ma'am." the irritation in his voice was thinly veiled and he wasn't too concerned about it going any further as his conversation with Eva was interrupted by Tia. He'd avoid being rude by taking another massive bite out of the apple and loving every second of it.

Gathering up her courage and taking a deep breath, feeling presentable enough, she decided to go and venture outside of her room and maybe try to go talk to other people or at least merely enjoy other people's company. It was all kinds of awkward for Mushirah, having to stick closely to walls to lean on something just in case she'd lose her balance, taking as much time as she felt comfortable with taking since it wasn't a race in her mind, not to mention she was stressed out in general so moving faster would have potentially made her panic more... and that's no good. After what felt like an eternity to the one armed girl, she made it to the dining hall and quickly took the closest seat she could which happened to be near a Jericho and an Eva. Forgetting her manners, she simply took a deep breath and calmed herself down before saying a somewhat shy "Hello." to any who would hear.

The newcomer took Jericho by surprise, namely because of how awkward he felt her interruption was and secondly noticing a distinct lack of a right arm. He might've asked about it right off the bat had he been the only one around but he didn't feel like being a classless dick just yet, "Hi... you alright miss? You seem out of breath..."

"Yeah... Just a bit, stressed out right now." she offered as an explanation, not saying what was causing it.

"Uh huh." Jericho nodded, taking final bite from his apple and calling it a day on the poor thing.

[Nanami Touko]

Seemed Jericho's answer to anything would have to wait until Tia was gone, though that didn't surprise Eva much, considering how curt the girl had been. She didn't blame her; she seemed a bit young, and only interested in what she was interested in. Perhaps after a few more years she'd understand how they felt a little better. Eva sighed, and switched her sword into her left hand, using her right to lean on the table and tilt her head. Even if she understood his shutting up, it was still a bit disappointing.

Until another voice spoke up, Eva glancing over to the woman who-- Oh, oh wow... Rudely, and a bit unfortunately, Eva's gaze caught the lack of an arm and she felt herself staring far too long at it. Catching this, and awkwardly trying to find anything else to look at, Eva stammered out a "a-ah hello, s-sorry..." Trying to recover any tact she could, she quickly continued with a "what's your name? I don't think I've seen you around the estate, yet... I'm Eva." She almost offered her hand to shake, but since it was her right arm that was free, a quick mental slap corrected that action before it could happen and make things more awkward. Jericho got to asking if she was alright before Eva could, as well. Wish I hadn't stared... I'm horribly interested in that arm, or its lack...

[-Cynthia-]

Hallway

Reign seems a little jealous or somethin', Nadya noted, though she thought it rude to press the issue. "Isis is quite a big gal, luckily for me. She'll be the one who'll end up carryin' those bags- if Haythem is agreeable," Nadya said, revealing her master plan.

Study

The unreliable Gabbie or someone we don't know...I don't like either of those choices. "This seems like an exceptionally inappropriate time to make a sales pitch, but I say let's just go with Gabbie and get this information as quickly as possible. I'll have Synthia make the deduction later," Veronika said, sighing.

[ReformBlade]

Getting incredibly nervous at the staring, she was quite thankful that others were talking first instead of her starting up. "I-I'm Mushirah, pleased to meet you, Eva." The lady seemed pleasant enough to the earth mage, not sure what she was expecting in all honesty, though tension thick enough to cut with a knife was one of them.

"Well, Mushirah, what's got you so worked up? You're among comrades, don't worry, we won't bite!" jericho said, trying to be friendly and throw in a joke which seemed to have backfired as the woman flinched visibly and her demeanor only seemed to get worse. Good job Jericho...

The stump seemed to remember that it was ripped apart and started throbbing, but Mushirah was too scared to make any movements at the moment beyond the flinch and so stared blankly at the ground while she could have sworn her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. I should've just taken her advice and rested up, this isn't helping me out whatsoever and I'm probably going to get yelled at and more stressed out and everything's over now.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

The guards were namedropping things he'd never heard before. No doubt one of them was the wrong answer; Sergei's options, then, were to play their game and risk being turned away (or worse), or to simply try to get around it. That was an obvious choice for him. In something of a respectful gesture, Sergei dismounted, to which his horse snorted - more rain would certainly hit him now - and turned to face his inquisitors.

"A wagon carrying two women named Faatina and Veronika should have just come in," he explained, his disposition going military. "I'm with them. Had to make a detour. You can bring them here and they'll confirm it for you." He glanced up at the gloomy clouds, then back at them. "Meantime, I don't suppose you'll let me soak out here, will you?" They seemed like decent folk. Maybe this was just them halfheartedly testing him. Normally he'd appreciate that sort of use of authority, but when it was this wet outside it wasn't quite as entertaining.

[Nanami Touko]

This isn't going to go well, any time soon... Eva then thought carefully, an action that didn't happen often. If there was one thing she was good at, it was getting to the point. So after taking a deep breath, she did her best to put on a really calm tone. "If it's about your arm, don't worry. I'm sorry for staring... It doesn't make me feel awkward, if you're embarrassed or scared or worried about it, so while I know you can't put it out of your mind, try not to worry more than necessary, and just talk to us. You said Mushirah, right? Where are you from?" A smile followed, with an easy enough starting question, and without anything to do with her arm, she hoped.

[Snowy_One]

Tia gave a small squeal as Eva's hand came down to tossel her long, red, hair, messing it up a bit, but Tia didn't care too much. A cup of water and a few quick spells could easily fix it to give her the perfect bounce later if she really wanted too. For now her focus was on Eva's blade. Tia was unsure what exactly to make of the blade at all. After all, a blade that could automatically deflect magic?

"Hmmm... If it really is capable of such a thing it's likely more reflexive than intentionally triggered. I doubt it can read minds or intents as well, so casting around it would probably have to be limited, if at all. Likely not an issue since Eva isn't a mage herself and will be on the front lines. I wonder if it has a threshold for magic? Eva probably doesn't know since she can't use it but... maybe..." she thought to herself as she gently poked the blade.

"Interesting weapon. Eva, would you mind if I shot some water at it? Just a droplet. I want to see if it will activate or not. Oh. And hi." she said, her attention clearly on the blade.

[roymbrog]

Synthia showed slight surprise, before writing down a few more things. “Thank you. The special order was the tea,” it said. While it would be nice to eat whatever she wanted, the cooks were already pretty busy and she didn’t mind eating whatever was being served for lunch.

---

After a brief moment of hesitation, Valter sat in one of the chairs. Might as well be comfortable, he supposed. Glen’s disgust at the demon capturing incident was understandable and a sentiment the horseman shared. He was pretty sure whoever had ordered that operation last night didn’t have the authority to do so, however. Hopefully someone higher up would put a stop to the crazy idea before it went that far. He wasn’t holding his breath on that.

The subject changed, though Valter wasn’t more likely to offer input unprompted with this topic either. Joanna provided a pretty succinct summary of last night’s situation.

[Nanami Touko]

"Hmm? Oh, sure go ahead. Barrier's already on," she said, quickly, turning back to Mushirah and Jericho. Oh, wait. "What's your name again?" she quickly shot at Tia. If she'd been told the girl's name before she'd definitely forgotten it. Hope the barrier works against something silly like a bit of water... Well, as long as it's magic, it should. I don't want to get wet again; I just got out of the baths!

[Snowy_One]

"My name is Tia. Water mage extraordinaire and skilled mistmancer! And... hopefully one day, mistress of all magics!" she said, a broad grin on her face as she spoke. Then, she quickly fetched her tome and, with a small glass of water in-hand, started to cast. Before her a small droplet of water, no bigger than a raindrop, levitated up into the air, glittering in the roomlight, before suddenly changing shape into a long, narrow, needle-like object and shooting forwards towards Eva's blade!

"Perfect! It's clearly an attack, but wouldn't be able to do much more than poke Eva even it was actually aimed at her."

As the droplet shot forwards, though, exactly what Tia had expected to happen happened. Namely, before striking the blade, the magical barrier formed up to slow it. Water met barrier and Tia, not really keen on challenging the might of the blade, let her hold over the water go, causing the water droplet to suddenly stop and lose its shape before splattering hard onto the ground.

"Interesting. Does it deflect every bit of magic then? If so, that may be a problem with my mists. Maybe if you found a way to toggle it on and off, like a switch to control the flow of magic or something alchemical, you could allow friendly fire and spells through while shutting out enemy spells."

Edited April 22, 2014 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

Hallway

Amon and Malik looked at each other knowingly and eventually nodded. There was no way Haythem was going to say no to something this trivial, even if the sacks were a bit heavy. "He'll be agreeable," Malik muttered bitterly. He didn't have anything against Nadya really, but with how easily she could likely sucker Haythem into things, he was becoming weary of her joining them just the same. He was also starting to wonder if at the end of day, he was the only one truly loyal to the queen.

Study

"Alright, fine. Fifty, but if my father is with Sardis, I need to know that too," Raquel demanded, though her heart wasn't in it like before. Gabbie could up the price or withdraw the offer entirely if she pushed too hard, she knew.

Gabbie sighed and turned toward a chair. "Give a minute." Once she sat down, she closed her eyes and began to reach out with her mind.

"How long is this going to take?" Raquel muttered, ten seconds after Gabbie started.

"Not nearly as long as searching on your own," Gabbie jabbed.

Kitchen

"I guess you won't mind any old kind of tea then," Erica shrugged.

"Well she is trying to help her throat, so I guess the flavor's of little consequence right now," Johnny noted.

"Well how about some black tea, then? That's my favorite," Erica smiled widely, intending to make some for herself as well. Johnny shrugged as he reached for one of the pots and then glanced at Synthia. Then, he shrugged again. If she was going to get specific about what kind she wanted, now was definitely the time. Otherwise, everyone seemed happy.

Main Gate

"Faatina and Veronika?" the guard echoed, a little confused. That was oddly specific and yet ... the names he picked weren't the pair an intruder would have used, he felt. His partner reached the same conclusion, only faster, as he spoke up next, before he got the chance.

"Alright, head on inside. Stables are off to the left from the main entrance; there's a little path from the driveway that leads right to it ... you can't miss it." After getting an annoyed look from his partner, the guard said, "It'll be fine ..."

Glen's Place

It wasn't easy to steer away from the topic of government or military corruption, but eventually, Glen got to talking about himself and his work ... and how it was in danger due to how insecure Europa really was. It was worth a try, at least, Joanna figured. Eventually Glen told them to make themselves at home while he go and prepared lunch, if not for the three of them then at least for himself. Joanna wasn't going to stop him since he'd apparently had a very light breakfast, unlike her.

While various smells of spices came from the kitchen, they waited. Joanna had one of the tomes in her lap, but she hadn't opened it. Instead, she sat there staring at the cover and wondering about various things. "Perhpas ..." she began, a little quieter than she intended, "we should leave soon ...?"

[spoiler=Ursian Plains]<"Are you serious?"> Valdimarr asked, looking bemused like before. Without waiting for an answer from Tryphon, he looked to Fury and repeated the question, <"Is he serious?"> Again, without waiting for an answer from Fury, he looked back to Tryphon. <"I doubt a soft one like you would be so interested in Corvus after getting a good long look at it ... but sure, we'll bring you back with us once matters up here are taken care of.">

<"Don't expect to leave anytime soon, though,"> Ragna gave a friendly warning as she gently placed a hand on the dark avian's shoulder.

[-Cynthia-]

Hallway

"Y'all Rexian fellas are so helpful, well except that guy Lilith fried," Nadya remarked cheerfully, remembering their entrance to Sanctuary. We live in some interestin' times...

Study

Veronika began pacing around the study, watching Gabbie carefully. She didn't want to disrupt the concentration required to do this magical thing, so she stayed silent for the time being.

[Balcerzak]

The sound of an approaching figure interrupted the reverie of her training, and demanded a shift in focus. Somewhat heavy footfalls... only one pair, though. The smell of wet grass, worms, and above all wet wyvern was kind of making it impossible to get a read on who it was based on scent, so when Cyrus called out, still at a bit of a healthy distance, Helena felt a sense of relief. It wouldn't have been impossible for her to have dealt with a stranger, alone and at a disadvantage, but it wouldn't have been preferred by any means.

Reaching to the side, she grabbed her staff, and then went to stand up. Unfortunately, Helena had forgotten about the half-finished knitting she'd left on her lap, and she clucked her tongue to herself when she felt it fall to the ground. "Well, should be fine to brush any mud out after its dried..." she muttered, as she crouched down and felt around for it, intending to stow it, the needles, and the yarn in her pack in the pouch above where she kept her assorted herbs (wild carrot, ginger root, parsley and so forth).

The healer was making no effort to rush, really, doing things fairly leisurely as a mild revenge. She let a small frown slip across her face when she'd turned to the direction the voice had come from and tugged at her tunic, pulling the wet fabric up and away from where it had been cloyingly sticking to her skin. "I'm all wet, Cyrus," Helena called out a bit bemused, before adding in a little bit of a mocking tone. "How long were you planning on making me wait for you to come." After a pause though she laughed and stuck out her tongue so that he knew she was joking.

The actual news he conveyed was surprising though, and warranted reply, provided he wasn't similarly pranking her. "What were Weyland's people doing at the college, recruiting from the graduating class? Is it even the right season for that? I mean, don't get me wrong, working under him could have its benefits..."

[Rothene]

Still polishing his armour, Itsuki mused over the good old days when he was a mere grunt, full of patriotism and glory tendencies. Then it occured to him that that had not changed over the years, rendering his musings moot. Sighing, the Kigenese knight resumed polishing his armour to keep it in good shape, sometimes it just sucked to be an old man with no pesky grandchildren around to scold and ramble on about how they had things easy.

Maybe I should have paid more attention to family. I wonder where did half my pension went...I sent savings to my daughter but...what happened to all of it after she died?