Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[Bluedoom]

As Rimsky watched Hale and Ernce talk about the thrall, with Hale explaining what Aldrick's magic actually was, Rimsky felt pity for the victim of such magic. Earlier he thought they were monsters, scum of the world, but now he felt pity, disgust and some fear. "Darn...if I fell victim to such magic...gah! Such thinking makes me shudder!" he thought to himself.

Then he saw Raelyn come by and give the mage girl a bowl of stew. Rimsky took a sniff and the smell made him relax a lot. "Wow, that's really good! Think I'm gonna go and get some stew. Guess you'll be alright now, yeah?" he said to the mage girl as went to get some stew.

But as he was about to, he was in for a shock. The chap from earlier...Ernce was it? He had fainted and was in a mess of stew and...blood stains on the floor didn't make the scene any better.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD? Alright Caslan, lemme help you out. Take his legs, we're gonna have ter put him on that seat." he said.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Bluedoom

[Rothene]

"Oh...I wasn...alright," Caslan muttered getting over his panic and helped Rimsky with carrying Ernce to a seat, "But we should get a healer to look at him, see if he's really tired or...or something."

[eclipse]

"All right. You go on ahead. I need to deliver this," Raelyn said quietly. She finished her ascent and peeked into the room with the prisoners. It looked like nothing of importance was happening, so she quietly dropped off the bowls of stew, and went back down. She put the tray down, grabbed her own bowl of stew (hmm, a bit on the cool side), and went up to the room Linn mentioned earlier.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn had quickly finished her food and proceeded to lay on the bed and think. Not the best plan, as she tended to go too far in her thinking, and just make herself anxious about things. This anxiety left as soon as she started doing something else, but in the moment, it was quite annoying. Especially when all she was thinking about was how to talk to Raelyn. She wouldn't get much more time to do so, as she heard the door knob turn, and there was Raelyn. "Oh, h-hey, Raelyn. Just...find yourself somewhere to sit, and we can talk."

[eclipse]

"Hey." Raelyn found a place to sit, and slowly began eating her dinner. Not bad at all! I wonder if Zeff has the skill necessary to run an inn? Heh, who am I kidding? Like he'd settle for Chandra! "Don't mind my dinner. What did you want to talk about?"

[Nanami Touko]

"I should mind your dinner. Zeff's a really good cook, and it'd be best to not let that food go to waste. Honestly surprised though, I didn't take him for much of a cook. Always seemed like the kind of person who only really cared about fighting..." she said, trailing off. "Ah! But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." And now things were going to get much more awkward for Linn. "Well... You seem like the sort of person that's had relationships before. I-I mean, working as a bar maid, you must've run into some men, or women -- if that's your thing -- that you liked. Well..." she began twiddling her fingers together as she spoke, "what are you supposed to...do?"

[Shin]

Aeson joined the meal, rather impressed with Zeff's handiwork. He may have been a grumpy onion, but he could make a pretty decent stew. After the meal, Aeson took a step outside, pondering the great mysteries of spirituality and the age old question to whether it were possible for a sheep to open a cupboard door.

[eclipse]

Oh great, that's one of those things that I always put on my "later" list. Even if the barmaid-turned-mercenary didn't have much direct experience with it, she had plenty of second-hand stories about it. Most of them ended badly, but there was the occasional newlywed that would stop by. Her parents spent most of their time running the tavern and making sure that their offspring didn't kill each other. If they had arguments, they did a good job of doing so when Raelyn wasn't around.

"Heh, when people are alone in a bar, crying in their drink, it usually ain't because their personal lives are going well. I could give you a long list of things to avoid, 'cause I've heard my share of drunk people missing their significant others." Sounds like she met someone special recently. . .he's probably in our company. . .that's the kind of guy I'd avoid. . .never mix work and love. . .unless you want to see your other half as a business partner. . . "If you wanna know what to do about a relationship that ain't there yet. . .well, if he's finding excuses to be alone with you, then talk to him until you're not nervous around him! The more the two of you relax, the easier it will be to talk to each other. . .and the better you understand each other, the less likely you'll end up in my kind of workplace. You don't have to ask him about super-heavy things at first. Establish a bit of common ground. If things go any further than that, though. . ." she trailed off and took a deep breath. "You might wanna talk to someone that's older than me, like Chandra."

[Nanami Touko]

"That all sounds like pretty good advice... Sorry for springing this on you, it's just so...weird." She noticed she was playing with her fingers, and quickly stopped herself. It wasn't a habit she enjoyed. "I've met plenty of people but I've never liked them more than just friends. I've always been focused on knowledge, exploration, etcetera, you know. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with anyone? But Caslan, he just..." she turned red, just a little, "he's nice, fun, sweet... I know it's far too early to call it something serious; we barely know each other! But I know the spark's there, so I don't want to mess anything up. Thanks for the advice, really." She smiled.

"So, uh... We barely know each other, so why don't we chat while they're sorting themselves out downstairs? Like..." she took a moment to think of how they could do this. "Okay. I'm Linn Meneth, I like exploration and studying the world around me. I like magic, and I love talking to people. What do you like?"

[Toogee]

"More or less, yeah," he said. "I'm probably not as good as you are, but I think the stew turned out alright. You should get some food while it's still hot."

As Chandra took a sip of the stew, she nodded in agreement. "Nice touch with the spices," she said. "Thanks for the help."

Seeing that everyone was more or less fed, Chandra decided to take her own bowl and sit down for a moment to savor the meal. That was until she spotted Rimsky and Caslan attempting to carry a fainted Ernce into a chair. No rest for the weary; Chandra set her spoon down and quickly came to assist, staff in hand.

"What happened to him?" she asked the two, beginning a healing spell as an initial treatment.

[#!/dev/haru]

Val was all but silent for the proceedings, dead silent even as the gag was pulled away and too deep in thought to respond even as her wounds were mended. After a minute or two of stalling, she finally turned her gaze up towards the one questioning her.

"You'll have to bring it up with the man himself, my friend. It's not my prerogative to let you in on that, simply because that isn't information I was privy to." She looked away once more, staring out the window. "It was never really my intent to pry into matters in which I don't belong, but it seems to me that at this point you have little other option. The man's paying you rather handsomely for just such a thing, after all." She smiles, the first time such an expression has crossed her face in the time the others have known of her.

She looks back up at the half-dwarf and the smile fades as quickly as it showed up. She bares a once-bound arm, a segment of incinerated, withered rope falling off as she stands up, unbound. "I don't like hurting people. It's not my way. But if you don't go, I'll have to do it myself, and he likely won't be happy about it; it may be worth asking yourself whether getting on the bad side of a man so powerful as to inadvertantly call on an entire foreign military branch's search efforts is such a good idea." She shakes her head. "All I can tell you is, the Senians are many things, and 'friendly' ain't one of them. Perhaps you can tell that much for yourself, though." She gestures to the town, and for another second, a look of regret crosses her eyes.

[Rothene]

With Chandra around to heal Ernce, Caslan stopped fretting and answered after placing the human on a chair, "Well, Ernce was all pale and absent minded, but he talked coherently and all...and...erm, he fell face first into his stew while eating then fainted on the ground."

With everything seemingly alright, Caslan snapped his fingers and went back to his seat after he said, "Well, with you to tend to him, I'll go back and finish my meal."

[scorri]

Toqua grunted at Val's comments. "That's more than she's ever told me. Least she's finally admitting that he's important and not just her boss." Rubbing his wrists where the ropes had dug in, he shook his head. "Sorry boss, they grabbed us when we got to tha inn. Village was empty before then. But they were hidin in here. Shoulda been more alert. We relaxed a bit when we didn't find anyone before that."

Adari meanwhile cursed loudly and stood up with a half-drawn sword before Hale reappeared. "What tha... Magic. Illusion. How long were ya hidden? Have ya been at this table at any point?"

[Snike]

"I was at the table up until the point your boss slammed it. Better to be safe than sorry," Hale said, as he shrugged. "But you didn't answer my question. What did the thrall look like?"

About a dozen feet away, one of the mercenaries passed out, but was quickly attended to by his comrades. It was none of his concern, though, so the light mage turned his attention back to Adari.

***

"He was paying us for the monster extermination job. Rescue service not included," Andre responded, crossing his arms. "But we're going to have to retrieve him, given that from what I heard already at least one Senian got away. I would've rather had known about this earlier, but it doesn't matter at this point, because, you're right, we don't have an option at this point, to find out why we were dragged into this."

The head Harrier fell silent for a moment, as he took one of the bowls of stew Raelyn had brought in. "Anyways, you're going to be helping us with our rescue effort, so if you have any more information to share with us, that'd be great. If not, eat up. We're leaving as soon as this meal is over."

He took a bite of the stew, then said, to Toqua, "Next time, if you don't see anyone, leave. Odds are if it isn't a trap you can come back later."

Edited October 18, 2013 by Snike

[eclipse]

"Hah, you might have what it takes to work in an inn!" Raelyn exclaimed with a laugh. "My name's Raelyn. Nothin' like a proper shopping trip to lift my spirits! Inthus had the best jewelry I've ever seen!" I had some sort of weird knack with fishing, but I doubt Linn would believe me. "How do you like this company so far? I think we're damn lucky to have as many reasonable people as we've got!"

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, I know! I wish I'd had more gold at the time, there was a pair of earrings I definitely would've gotten. All I have are these...rather dull ones. Alas, perhaps I'll have enough once I'm done with the work here." Raelyn then asked her what she thought of the group, and Linn smiled wide. "Everyone here's wonderful. As far as I've seen, anyway. They're all worth talking to and have something to say or some story to tell..."

She started thinking about everyone she'd spoken too so far, "Andre's a bit frightening but he's probably a nice person under that gruff mercenary exterior. And then there's Caslan, but you probably don't want to hear more about that. Zeff has great cooking, and is fun to talk to! Chandra's really helpful. Alfonso's super friendly. Aeson can always make me laugh. Ernce doesn't talk much, but he's a nice person too. And you're great too, Raelyn! I can't believe how lucky I am to have met you all."

[scorri]

Adari shook her head and muttered before facing Hale again, "Right. Well, I'd appreciate it if ya didn't do that again. Yer not in danger from us, no need ta hide. As fer tha thrall... Bout my height, lean, long dark black hair, and sky blue eyes. But her eyes were weird; all dilated and such. Pretty, either elvish or half-elf. Left handed maybe?" She shrugged. "That's all I can remember."

Toqua muttered as his cheeks turned slightly red. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry boss. We just needed ta find him. He was our source of money and, well, she seemed ta find him important. Heard one of 'em mention a fort on the border of Antar and Celisia though. Might want ta head there. Don't bode well fer the state of Antar though."

[Bluedoom]

" Oh heya Chandra, just in time too! I think he can't stomach the bloodstains all over this place!" Rimsky replied, relieved that a healer had come to their aid. With Caslan's help, Rimsky put Ernce on the chair, and then, grabbing one of the few bowls of stew left, went and sat next to Caslan.

"You doin' alright, Cas? Can't say I've been fine, I think I just want to-" Rimsky yawned, and continued, "Take a nice nap after this. Too much physical work, less sleep. Ugh."

[Snike]

"That's... interesting," Hale said, looking down as he heard the description of the thrall. The physical description was all the same, but, well, that was plain impossible. No, it must be coincidence. "... Yes, well, what I can tell you is that woman's had her mind suppressed. If we end up encountering her again, if you don't mind, could I deal with her? I believe there's a way to break that suppression, without outright killing the thrall."

***

"Oh, really now, " Andre said, looking from his subordinate to Val. "Well, thank you for the tip, anyways. I'll ask the prisoner about it myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you two alone."

And with that said, the half-dwarf took his stew and began to head downstairs.

***

If he wasn't too thrilled about a meal then, Jacob certainly didn't have the appetite for it as one of his fellow recruits- Ernce, was it?- fainted. Yeah, the Celisan sword wielder figured he'd have rations later, if he was feeling hungry. For now, solitaire.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Snike

[Oersted]

"Ugh, what happened?" Ernce asked aloud upon regaining consciousness. His head hurt, his face was wet, his hair was soaked and he felt strangely warm where he was wet. Not the best way to wake up in his opinion but it could've been worse; he could've woken up on the floor meaning either no one noticed him or no one could be bothered to help him. He was glad that at least someone had the decency to pick him up off the ground and put him in a chair. Opening his eyes he was reminded of why he fainted in the first place with all the blood on the walls but he also noticed Chandra in front of him. "Thanks for helping me," he said, figuring that she had been the one that put him in his current seat. As such he decided to tell her why he'd fainted. "For some reason I just can't stand excessive amounts of blood. I've no qualms about killing but I can't stand all the blood. It's kind of pathetic really."

[eclipse]

"Ahahaha, thanks~!" Raelyn said airily. Far too trusting for my tastes. I'd best keep an eye on her. "So far, things are going well. I haven't seen things get out of hand with the current bunch, even if things were a little rough starting out. You guys have been a great help! I guess it's my job to make sure nothing bad happens to you guys in the back, even if I'm not that tough myself." My only hope for defense is to kill the other guy before he can kill me.

[Rothene]

Caslan chuckled at the dwarf's suggestion suddenly realising he was indeed quite tired, "Yeah, nap would be good. I'm amazed that I still have the energy to eat after all the activity today, with all the fighting and searching for loot. Maybe's it's the company that gives the extra energy..." the elf trailed off briefly as he looked up the stairs and wondered what Linn was up to. Deciding it was none of his business, Caslan continued pointing his spoon at Ernce, "...hopefully this is not all the rest we're getting. If it is, then he probably is the best off among all of us, getting actual sleep from the looks of it. So what are your thoughts about the mercenary company?"

[Vestige]

He finished feeding Aina and returned to his own food. The stew had gotten slightly colder in the time it had taken for him to feed her, but there was nothing to be done. Food was food after all. "So Aina, tell me. Your sword belonged to your grandfather, no? What kind of man was he like?"

[Nanami Touko]

"You're pretty tough. Tougher than I am. I'm surprised I've made it this far. I haven't even gone down in a fight yet! It just makes me feel like my turn's coming up next, and I'm not sure I'm ready for the feeling. But, anyway...we should probably go back downstairs and see what everyone's up to. I said what was on my mind and got to know you a bit more, so I'm satisfied." She stood herself up with another lovely stretch, and started to leave the room. "Do you think we're going to rest here tonight, or leave to make camp somewhere else? I know it's a rather gross inn at the moment, but the beds are so much better than the ground..."

Edited October 19, 2013 by I have opinions

[eclipse]

"I dunno if the two that were tied up in the room would wanna stay here," Raelyn mused. "It's the boss' call, of course." Wonder if there's any seconds on the stew. . .and I wonder if I can convince Zeff and Chandra to open a restaurant. That was pretty good! "I don't think anything drastic happened down there, but I wouldn't mind another helping of stew!" With that, Raelyn waved and walked downstairs.