Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I'm sure beating up their dudes is the lesser crime here," Gar rolled his eyes at that silly little proclamation. Some of the others turned the conversation a bit, outburst here, unsavory types there and so on. "Warning the king in advance wouldn't have accomplished a thing. Because frankly speaking, a Fallen attack was a ridiculous idea to consider until it suddenly happened. It's why yelling the same thing at Nevoskotia will probably accomplish nothing." Gar sighed at the situation. "IF any information gets leaked then we know there's another spy about. Hell, that invisible girl may still be skulking about somehow anyway."

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

Shadrak's gaze wandered a little and hit thoughts began to dwell on the spot just behind him. He reached back there to make sure there was no one there after Ayano was mentioned. Nothing. Not even a slight breeze from her swiftly relocating or anything like that. Next he looked over at Gabbie again, wondering if she knew.

Ayano's been missing since the ball. I could look further but I'm sure she's fine. Right now I'm just trying to make sure there aren't any enemies closing in on us, Gabbie thought, wincing slightly.

Raquel still wasn't sure an early warning wouldn't have helped at least a little, but she supposed arguing in hindsight was pointless. She hoped the Neviskotians wouldn't be this theoretically stubborn now that there was some evidence. Ursium had never been hit like this before, at least not by the Fallen. "So, where the archives are concerned, how many people can we bring? I mean this is happening indoors so I doubt we can take everyone or if we'll have a lot of room to maneuver."

Shadrak was a little surprised to hear her say that but he supposed it was an issue. They definitely weren't bringing any mounts with them. The hallway leading to the archives alone would permit it for the most part, at least not the wyverns. "It's a little cramped for a battle, but it shouldn't take that many of us to overpower them. Let's just take any volunteers we can get for now and decide how many to use once we get there. The situation might have changed a little from yesterday, so it's worth it to be prepared."

Main Entrance

<"If I heard right, Steinn's focusing on a gate in this country. Amon's probably going to take us to the one in Kigen since Raquel's group seems bent on taking the one in Neviskotia,"> Haythem explained. It seemed stupid to let two groups focus on the same target while leaving another gate completely unassigned.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Well I plan on attending, if only to avoid an interrogation. Others in our group may wish to do the same." Hiding in a church seems odd after we were attacked in one previously, but perhaps that's the last place anyone would look for us.

Nadya

Oh great, I'm stuck in this Steinn mess anyway. "<Yeah, but how does that lead to killin' Valdimarr exactly? It's not like the Fallen need some fancy gate to attack Kigen,>" Nadya pointed out.

Edited February 16, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[ReformBlade]

"Well, certainly not now with a bunch of things happening, but I've never been on a hunting escapade, it could be fun." Jericho said, almost as if he was thinking out loud, but still being considerate and acknowledging the woman. "Sure, but also, come ask me if you want to as well. I may forget since I've never really been accustomed to it, you'd have a better idea of when and how to do it and what not." And with a nod, he did continue, "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about while we're still here?"

[Snowy_One]

"There is plenty I would like to talk about, but I need to make sure that, indeed, others will be going to Skotia and that I will not be alone in my journey first."

[Snike]

"Have fun with those knights," Axel said, crossing his arms. "There's work to be done around here, and besides, I want to know a bit more about the Fallen army."

Interrogation wasn't that scary to the lance wielder, considering his previous brushes with death.

***

Gabriella, could you ask Steinn about arc demons?, a voice said, inside of Gabbie's head. Speaking of death...

[Balcerzak]

"Well, it might be a little early for lunch yet. Hmm, maybe time for second breakfast though," Theodore said with a laugh before continuing. "I jest, I jest. Though," with a final couple twists of the Johnson-head, "Now that I've finished up these wheels here, maybe I won't see about grabbing a piece of fruit or something and continuing my earlier stroll. Maybe check in on the folks I came in here with last night. The one with the short skirt, the knives and the tomes was Angelica, I think the feisty fire mage called himself Jericho, and hmm, having a bit of trouble coming up with the lightning mage's name at the moment. Well... it'll come to me. Anyway, don't feel near so bad about your deadline with the fresh set of hands having shown up, and this is more than likely something they're actually paid to be doing, ha! I'm of more than half a mind to check in on the progress in the afternoon though, or maybe earlier if my curiosity gets the best of me again. Maybe there'll be another relatively simple task for me to chip in with too or something. Anyway, Connor, it's been fun."

Theodore walked around over to the young heir of the company and returned the screwdriver; stood for a few moments with his hands on his hips, appraising the wagon he'd been working on; then gave a contented sigh. Unless there was something else Weyland or his associates needed, he was about to make his way to the workshop's exit.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"Huh," Shadrak uttered. Could have sworn he'd be up for this ... you know ... put those 'upstart armored chumps' in their place and whatnot. "Well, I'm obviously going," he shrugged. "Raquel, you should probably stay on the sidelines unless you've picked up stronger healing abilities or some good offensive spells. Those knights mean business and they'd probably down you in one hit if you got unlucky."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Shadrak. After this and all the other help I've given, you want me to sit this one out ... even though there's only a few guards. "I know healing and offensive spells already, my abilities are just too weak from neglect to use in a fight, and besides, I thought we were going to figure out the specifics when we got there ..." she reminded him. Better not to make them think she wanted to participate directly. What she really wanted was to see exactly what they were dealing with before making any decisions about direct participation.

A small whistle caught her attention next, but after a second of looking around, she realized that it had nothing to do with her. It was just Gabbie trying to get Steinn's attention. "Fine, we'll handle it once we're there, but that means we're more or less done here. I mean we should probably make some contingency plans in case we have to fight out way out of there, but otherwise the particulars for fighting those knights can wait until we get there."

We could really use Reign for this too but he's still missing ...

Steinn came closer to Gabbie and asked, "Something you need?" He could already tell she had a certain question on her mind, but better to let her get it out in the open.

"'Arcdemons?'" she asked, a look as curious as a child's on her face.

"Hmph," Steinn crossed his arms, "the arcdemons are going to be a serious problem, but I don't think you should be the ones to deal with them. Despite your talents I don't see you surviving a direct encounter with them. I only know of two but there are bound to be three by now if my father has indeed met his end. The first, Regios the Digger, is my great grandfather, a former emperor of Corvus. He is a titanic creature with an extremely tough hide and the ability to burrow into the earth at an alarming rate. Regios has never engaged the Kigenese before, but he'll likely do so now in order to distract them from the incursion forces at the gate. If that ploy works and the gate opens, even an early warning might not be enough to save that country. We'll see, I suppose ... but Regios is more than capable of destroying entire armies on its own."

"Fare thee well, Kigen. And the other one you mentioned?" Gabbie wrote off Kigen pretty quickly after the bit about Regios, but she wasn't actually sure the country was doomed if things did get as bad as all that. Still, best not to get her hopes up. Kigen had the longest run of any known country and that had to count for something, right?

"Vulcan the Charger, my grandfather, emperor prior to my father, and an arcdemon designed for relentless destruction. Vulcan is larger than most dragons, but not large enough to roll over an entire battalion. His main strength is his fire magic and he is capable of widespread annihilation. Despite how utterly wasteful the use of such a weapon is, they'll use him to dispatch a country's first batch of troops so the main army can move forward without exhausting themselves. That one will either show up here or in Neviskotia when the gates open. It simply depends on what's become of my father."

"Sense we might ... just might end up coming across this Vulcan thing, any suggestions?"

"Flee; Vulcan won't be alone and he if he notices you, he won't allow you to make the first move. Unless you can completely negate his magic, your best option is to flee."

Gettin' all that? She had to wonder what his interest in this was, and Steinn had to wonder who she was relaying all this to.

Workshop

I guess they are getting paid to do this, Anna mused. You'd think they'd complain less in that case but I guess complacency breeds ... well everything about these goofs. "Jeff, George, Greg, you three are on the caster. Move it," she pointed to the other end of the workshop. There was a lot of tools and scrap lying around there and it seemed like they would be building something from from the ground up for the new transport.

The original Dauntless still sat stripped of its deflector pads, emptied of its cargo, untacked from its horses, and abandoned in the shadows, it's battle scar, the most prominent feature. Anna winced when she caught sight of the vehicle again. She wasn't certain what to do with it now ... they had the test data they needed, part of which was going into this new transport, but short of using it for spare parts, she didn't have any ideas for retiring the vehicle itself.

Main Entrance

<"The guy did mention the gates being heavily guarded. If we happen to find Valdimarr guarding the gate in Kigen, we'll just kill him, take his emblem and call it a day. If we don't find him there, Steinn's the one we'll track down next,"> Fizza shrugged. It seemed simple enough to her; any approach more complicated than that seemed all too likely to fail.

<"Besides, if we find an emblem piece before then that doesn't have Amon's second goddess' name on it first, we'll take that one instead and probably leave this gate business to someone else,"> Malik added. <"The Kigenese are always under attack anyway, so I'm sure they'll manage a massive flanking maneuver just fine.">

<"That's wishful thinking mixed with a little bit of ignorance,"> Haythem thoughtfully noted, earning a scowl from Malik and all of Fizza's attention. <"See, flanking is always a relevant tactic no matter who your opponent is. You'll never encounter a force so large that it's totally useless. If the Kigenese don't prepare well enough, this gate business could be the end of them.">

[roymbrog]

Valter’s good humor faded again when he realized his choice of words dampened Joanna’s mood. He really should’ve thought more before he spoke. “…I’m sorry,” he said, and sighed. If all he could do was make her day worse, then so be it. He stepped back out of the doorway, assuming they were leaving soon if not right then.

---

“<Right…>” Katrina agreed, and pried her eyes off the ground below to look instead at where they were headed. It wasn’t long before she could see the edge of the city, as well the fight between a large green creature and a tree in the distance. “<Oh, hey! That’s him, isn’t it?>” As they neared their destination, Volga began picking up speed as she pulled into a dive in preparation to land. The wyvern’s sudden landings weren’t always the most comfortable for her passengers, but after going through thousands of them herself, Kat was pretty certain Eva would be fine.

OoC: It’s not gonna be worse than stopping slightly too fast in a car
Also I'm in the process of writing Synthia section but something came up I have to deal with so that'll be posted later

[Mercakete]

"Alright," he responded to the woman. When his guide offered to stay with him while things were handed, he appreciated the gesture, but, thinking on it a little, he replied, "I'll be fine on my own. You people look like you're pretty busy, so if there's something you need to do, you can go ahead. Thanks for the help."

[roymbrog]

Synthia nodded during Gytha’s explanation, before voicing her thoughts at the end. “I agree completely. Though, if they get even one foothold… I’m not sure even a Vasili could stop their combined forces,” she said. She didn’t have the chance to say much else, as two golden lights zipped into the dining hall and dropped off Raquel and Shadrak. The mage had to admit, she had no idea what just happened, and based on some of the others’ reactions, she wasn’t the only one. The lightshow was pretty easy to write off once Synthia knew it could be classified under ‘weird emblem anomaly’, and that made her feel less than normal.

Once Raquel returned and the warping business was explained, it seemed the conversation turned back to how to retrieve the emblem piece in the cathedral. Synthia was about to tune them out again and get back to speaking with Gytha when Steinn made the announcement about soldiers coming to interrogate those at the manor. She did not want to be involved in that at all. “I’m definitely going with them to the Cathedral,” she said. "I'm not interested in getting imprisoned for this mess..."

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"See you around Theodore," he said before heading back to work. He noticed Anna wince at the sight of the old Dauntless. "Yeah I wasn't sure what to do about that, so I just kinda had it put into the corner."

Nadya

She sure is confident. Maybe dumb. Maybe both, she thought regarding Fizza's plan to just kill Valdimarr. "<The Kigenese know how to fight the Fallen better than anyone else, so if ya believe Steinn with this whole gate thing then helpin' them is the best thing to do,>" she said with a sigh. Maybe I'm goin' to the wrong place, gettin' gold ain't gonna help anyone if they get killed by the Fallen, but how am I gonna stop some Fallen emperor anyway?

Edited February 16, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Nanami Touko]

An abrupt landing was quickly followed by Eva hopping off of Volga, stumbling a little, and finally, slowly approaching Sasha. He had stopped wrestling with the tree and calmed down considerably when Eva approached, letting out a gasp of air that could be equivalent to a sigh. "<I know, I know, I left you here for a while and you're upset, understandably. But hey! I'm back now, and I've brought some friends, Kat and Volga. And you're allowed to come into the city now, too!>" She came over to him while she was talking and unlocked the chain that was attaching him to the three (any rope would've broken hours ago). He immediately threw himself at her, rubbing his head against her, eliciting a laugh. "<I missed you too, alright? Come on, let's head back.>" Like a big dog, honestly. "<Hey, Kat!>" she called back at the woman, "<we can head back now! He's more than fine. Just gotta get him off the ground and we're good to go. Thanks for the flight, I'll have to pay you back sometime.>"

[roymbrog]

They soon landed, and Kat watched as Eva hopped off to go meet her wyvern. “D’aaaaw,” she said, watching them reunite. He missed her, how cute! Volga reacted by looking curiously at the other wyvern before producing a friendly bellow in greeting. She was rather happy to see him, as it was weeks since she’d come across another of her kind (the wyvern didn’t count Ringo, he looked funny and not like a war wyvern at all).

“<Alright! And it’s no big deal really, I’m glad to help,>” Katrina answered. She gave a jesting gesture of a salute before she continued, “<I’ll meet you in the skies, then,>” as Volga began to take off.

[Phoenix]

Garage

"Well, it's not going in a museum, that's for sure. It'd be a total waste, and it's not like it's particularly special without the deflectors ... just a transport made mostly out of metal," Anna mused aloud. "I'll figure out something later, I guess."

"Come on, Anna, let's give it a proper burial," one of the workers spoke up jokingly.

"Get back to work, you clown."

Main Entrance

<"We'll just have to destroy the gate before they can ever use it,"> Haythem concluded. <"Huh, I guess that is pretty much what Steinn insisted on, come to think of it.">

<"If the gate does open then we'll have to use a lot of Kigenese as decoys so we can slipped by the big armies and deliver the killing blow. You know what would be neat though? Well, if it wasn't wrathdamn suicide? Going through the gate ourselves and checking out Tartarus~"> Fizza explained. <"That's assuming they work both ways ...">

<"You're right, that is suicide. Why did you even bring that up?"> Malik glared at her.

<"I don't know,"> she shrugged at him, <"sounds like fun if we can survive the trip.">

Hall of Mercy

"If you're certain, then I suppose I'll be heading back now." The priest placed his hand gently on Norbert's shoulder. "May the gods be with you today, lad." He left after the goodwill gesture and so did the cleric.

Joanna's Room

"No, it's alright," Joanna shook her head. "It can't be helped." She quickly stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. She probably wouldn't be back here until much later, maybe even after sundown, she realized. "Off to the dining hall, then," she put on as big a smile as she could manage, which was admittedly not that big. After she made sure she wouldn't collapse from hunger later, they could go see if Glen was alright.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"I suppose we could use the parts- it wouldn't be easy making new deflector pads from scratch. Out with the old and in with the new," he said, trying to sound cheerful. It's just a vehicle, but it does feel like losing an old friend...well maybe not that, more like losing a home. I did live in it for a few months. I hope we kill that guy who attacked it.

Nadya

"<I'm sure it would be interestin' for the few seconds before ya got ripped to pieces and used as chow,>" Nadya commented matter-of-factly. "<I don't really think ya can trust Steinn at all and this 'gates' thing could just be some big trick. If it's not though, well...I really hope y'all are successful,>" she said, sighing.

Edited February 17, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Garage

"We're not using deflector pads for this new model," Anna noted, sounding more serious than usual. Her calm tone had returned at least, but she was obviously about to get into some sensitive information and likely wouldn't go much further until Theodore was out of earshot. "This time we're using their successor models." The pads that would have been fitted to the unfinished airship in the basement ... "Frankly," Anna crossed her arms and made something like a pouting expression, "the deflectors are way too noisy and out on the road they can kick up a ton of dust."

"Merz, what am I lookin' at here?" a worker named Cody spoke up, holding some design plans in his hands. "Anna, what kind of contraption is this? It's like a guard wrapped around the horses and secured to the sides ... of the wagon? How are they supposed to get out of this thing? What's it for, even?"

"It's just the base for a few custom fittings I had in mind," she offhandedly replied while looking the Dauntless over. She'd made her way over to it during Cody's questioning. Deciding to elaborate before he had to ask, she continued. "That 'guard' as you call it is made up of multiple moving and interlocking pieces ... pieces you'll have to forge by this evening. The idea is to create a base from which other parts can be easily mounted when they're needed, runes, rams, shields, and so on. This transport needs to be capable of assaulting a small fortress with only a little support, after all."

"Is that why there's a tiny ballista in the design?" Jeff chimed in, having acquired some design plans for the 'caster' she mentioned before.

"Precisely. The caster's my own take on the hex ballista. It can fire its own special ordnance or any random thing Connor here decides to try. Whatever the situation calls for, really. Whaddya think?" she asked, looking rather proud of herself.

"Goin' a little nuts here, aren't ya?"

Main Entrance

<"Don't worry so much, Nadya, no one trusts Steinn, not even Amon, bless his desperate little heart. The thing is,"> Fizza's face suddenly grew a bit dark and serious, <"Valdimarr's a threat to everyone in Sardius at this point. If we don't solve this gate problem Rex-Avaz and Tracea are next up on the menu ... and by then, they'll pretty much have this 'swift conquest' thing down to an exact science. It's better to be proactive in a situation like this, even if we have to 'team up' with our enemy's enemy for a little while.">

<"You hope we're successful?"> Haythem frowned, sensing some deeper meaning in those words. <"You mean you're not going to come with us after all?">

<"... that would really suck ... who's going to heal these two when they get hurt?"> Fizza frowned as well.

<"She's not the only healer that's ever been born ... we'll be alright,"> Malik muttered, mostly to himself.

[Mercakete]

Gytha nodded to Synthia when she stated that she was going with the group headed for the cathedral. She, herself, didn't really have many plans for the day, but she didn't really want to go to the cathedral. It sounded like they could only bring so many people effectively and they needed people with armor and/or magic. Besides, from the sound of things, the assault could be illegal, but then again, it wasn't as though they hadn't done illegal things before. That hit a nerve, thinking about it. "I'm not sure what I'm goin' t' do," she admitted, frowning down seriously at the table.

The talk of arcdemons had her worried, too. That and confused. She hoped they didn't have an aquatic one, but, looking over to him, she had to ask Steinn, "So, yer family turns inta arcdemons when they die?" Wonder if that's where sea monsters come from...

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

When the hand rested on his shoulder, Norbert stiffened up and figuratively bit his tongue. He wasn't comfortable with people just touching him out of the blue -- at least not strangers, even if this guy was a priest. The man said some blessing or farewell -- he wasn't sure if it was either or both -- and then left, as did the cleric. Once they were gone, he took a deep breath and quietly sighed. Well, I guess I just have to wait now.

So, he began just letting his eyes wander around the hall. It was a sorry sight, but not an unexpected one -- all those people on the verge of tears in prayer. That brought a solemn thought to mind -- something he didn't think about often. I wonder how Nigel's doing...

[Nanami Touko]

"<Wonderful! Alright, Sasha, just like we've trained...>" She pulled herself onto the wonderful wyvern, and gave him a few pats. He began to take off, but faltered a bit, falling slightly before picking it back up. Eva clung to the reins and the wyvern eventually stabled out, hovering at a good pace. "<Sorry about that!>" she shouted at Kat. "<Taking off and landing is still a bit of trouble for us! We'll get used to it eventually, I'm sure!>" Smiling awkwardly, she pointed at the city, and Sasha took off. Just watch, world. We're going to be the best team there is.

[Snike]

Yes. Ask him about their weaknesses, the voice continued. It will come in handy in the future.

***

"Hold on, this is the first I've heard of arc demons. How do they factor into the Fallen's numbers?, " Axel asked, pointedly. "And what do they consider a 'unit'?"

[scorri]

Lumi

"Hmmph, dark magic, eh? Personally I use ice magic, but I suppose dark magic isn't too bad either," She said with a slightly teasing grin. "So when did you join the group? Don't recall seeing you around before today. Did you get recruited in that fight? Certainly was an interesting one if not exactly something I'd be wanting to see every day, you know?"

Erion

"Right, well, I'm not fan of interrogations, so it seems like the best plan might be to head over and face these knights sooner rather than later? After all, why put it off? We're all basically as ready as we're going to be, beyond grabbing weapons or what not. Of course, I bow to your orders first Raquel," he said, actually bowing slightly with a grin.

Hoshi

"Well... while I am an employee of Weyland and could probably remain here with little to worry about... I... I want to see what more I can do. I want to see just how well I can harness my power in a fight. If you need magic, I will be there." Hoshi was still scared about fighting, but she figured if there were only a few knights, and quite a few of them, she'd probably be able to make it out ok.

[-Cynthia-]

Garage

"I think it's brilliant!" Connor exclaimed, thinking of all the various applications this design could have. "Of course that also means we're even more behind schedule than I thought, so I guess we need to get to work," Connor said, grabbing a wrench.

Dining Hall

"We still have some people to gather I think. Our entire group hasn't been informed of this and we might have need of their assistance," Veronika cautioned.

Main Entrance

"<Well...I'm workin' for Raquel still and she's in pretty big need of my help too. Besides, I ain't exactly welcome back in Kigen until I sell that thing I need to get rid of,>" she said cryptically, hoping Haythem would pick up on what she was talking about. It wasn't that she didn't trust Malik and Fizza...well actually that kind of was it.

[Toogee]

Location: Stables

“So, have you ever used magic before?”

Eli and Jam were walking outside the mansion, towards the stable area. The rider was keeping a sharp eye out for a giant army coming their way, eager to question him (possibly arrest him) for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. He’d have to fly into town and rethink where his life was going. With that said, Eli didn’t want the others to think of him as a coward. Thus he used Jam as a convenient excuse to get out of the strategy session.

“Oh, I can use light magic,” Jam replied, demonstrating with a few sparkles from her hands. “I mean, I’m not the strongest out there, but it’s handy in a pinch.”

“Well then, the hard part is already done,” Eli said with some relief, “I was afraid was going to have to teach from scratch.”

When they arrived at the stables, Eli immediately went for his pegasus Betty. In her stall was the set of saddle, bags, and harnesses. Jam stood outside the stall and petted the steed while Eli rummaged through his things. The peg, seeing no harm coming from the girl, nuzzled her back.

“You have a beautiful peg,” Jam commented, giggling as Betty pushed her with her head.

“Yeah, well, she can be rough too,” Eli replied, attempting to retain some masculinity. He’d heard enough comments about peg riders being a female profession. “Ah, here we are.”

Eli returned to Jam with the most beat up staff she had ever seen. The shaft had a hairline fracture running up it, both ends were chipped, and the orb on top could have used some heavy polishing.

“Uh, what’s that supposed to be?” Jam asked curiously

“This is to be your first staff,” Eli replied in a matter of fact manner. “It was mine when I started healing. It’s not nearly as powerful as it once was, so there shouldn’t be any risk of explosion.”

“Explosion?!”

((OOC: I apologize if the stables are occupied. I’m not trying to ignore anyone. Feel free to interact if you want ;).))

[Snowy_One]

Robin gulped as she entered into the dining room, a nervous shudder in her spine. This was it, to say the least. She could see Raquel easily enough, seemingly busy along with Shadrak and the others, but this was important!

So why couldn't she move forwards and instead just stand stock still in the doorway like some sort of stone statue, gulping in fear? She had punched Rook over an insult, stood up to Gytha over shooting a prisoner, and just got up in Raquel's face about heading home, so now, when she could be polite and think about it, why couldn't she even move?

"raquel." she said, her voice feeble and a bit weak as she tried to speak up. "<ineedtoknowifotherpeoplearegoingtoskotiawithme.>" she said in a tone not so much 'blurting' as 'whispering softly' as she remained put, likely out of earshot for Raquel to make out any distinct words.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"No," Steinn replied to Gytha, looking a little put off by the thought, "otherwise putting Valdimarr down wouldn't help our situation much. The arcdemons are more powerful than any individual kestrelii. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise, they were emperors themselves once and are now inhabiting massive new bodies. The arcdemons are being created. Supposedly it's a way of honoring our dying emperors, but this only started with Architect Fervor. If my sources are to be believed--and they are--she is one of the oldest living architects, nearly as old as your country, in fact," his gaze went over the various Neviskotian natives in the dining hall.

To answer Axel, Steinn just smoothly transitioned. "Adding an archdemon to an army would be like adding two or three of Weyland's tanks to your own forces; there's a marked increase in destructive potential, if nothing else. Regios is mostly a decoy, but he's plenty capable of fighting alone; Vulcan is likely a vanguard, meant to soften up anything in the army's way if not outright destroy it. I'm not sure what they'll do with my father. As for a 'unit', that's a context dependent term where the military is concerned. It could mean an individual, or an entire division of troops. Same as your own loose terms."

"Back to archdemons," Gabbie interjected, "What kinds of weaknesses do they have?"

"I wouldn't call them weaknesses, but each archdemon has been tailored for certain roles. Vulcan for example, requires protection on each of its flanks, or it can be pushed onto defense by a strong enough force. Vulcan wasn't created to fight from a defensive posture and it won't perform as well in those conditions. If it can be isolated, surrounded, and hit with everything one can muster, it can be defeated. I have no advice for Regios at the moment. That creature can simply burrow into the ground to escape most threats and following it into one of its tunnels is suicidal."

"Fare thee well, Kigen," Gabbie repeated.

"That's all the information I have on the archdemons, unfortunately. Best to focus on the gates and avoid them for the time being if the gates do open."

"I was hoping to at least figure out where Reign was before we head out, but I'm not nearly as worried as I was last night. I just don't know where his parents live so I've got no way to be sure," Raquel replied to Erion. "Blake vanished before this meeting started too ..."

"Unless he can stop a sword two thirds his own height without leaving himself open we probably don't need his help with the actual fighting," Shadrak cautiously noted.

"I at least need to see if I can find some public records-" she paused when she heard her name again. This time it was Robin, though she looked completely out of it. To make things even more vain and confusing, she said something Raquel could barely hear. She couldn't make out a single word but at least knew she wasn't speaking common anymore. "Uhm ... what?"

"Robin you've got to speak up," Shadrak frowned.

Garage

"That's why these little interruptions that keep piling up are really trying my patience," Anna growled, though she was forcing a smile too, which had to count for something. "Anyway," her face and tone returned to something close to normal. "I'm glad you agree, Connor, especially since this thing is going to be your shield and workshop while you're gone."

"After what happened to the Dauntless, how is it even a remotely good idea to send Connor back out there with those guys?" George asked. "Did we at least figure out a way to stop the light spell that skewered the Dauntless?"

"No amount of armor plating can shrug off an aureola spell, period. This transport's going to make use of both physical and magical defenses. The caster's also for making sure they get in the first shot in either case. I'm not holding anything back on this one since Raquel seems bent on taking the fight to them this time. That's what the 'guard' is for. The horses have to be protected from incoming fire too, not just the passengers," Anna explained. "So yeah, we're very behind schedule ... and gods help anyone stupid enough to slow us down today," she concluded, her gaze growing dark and murderous.

Main Entrance

<"Hmm,"> Haythem put his hand on his chin. <"What if ...">

That pause was so long, Malik wondered if he was even thinking about this anymore or just waiting for someone else to fill in the blank. Fizza assumed the latter and immediately said, <"Sell it Weyland~">

Hallways

On the way to the cathedral's massive dining hall, Joanna mulled over her options. Soup sounded nice, but they were probably going to be out for most of the day and lunch might not be much of an option this time around. I doubt anyone was in the mood to make pie, especially enough for a large number of people. Perhaps soup is the only thing available right now. Maybe some fruit to go with it, like an apple or something else that isn't too messy ...

"Ahahhh ..." The cleric from the Hall of Mercy stepped out into the hallway just before they reached one of the intersections. "Joanna."

"Y-yes?" That look in her eye ...

"I trust you've taken care of your business this morning. We're a little short handed right now and need every able hand we can get."

As a matter of fact I haven't, but I suppose breakfast can wait if we're that short handed ...

"I want you to help out with a blessing ceremony. Seems a rider wants to take his pegasus into battle with him from now on. I trust you know how the ceremony works and can lead if I can't find anyone else?"

A male rider? That's rare, but so are ceremonys with only one person. "I'll ... try," she offered. She'd seen the ceremony enough times to know how to mimic every part of it, but that didn't necessarily qualify her to lead the thing, at least not in her eyes.