Masquerade Part 2: Army of Darkness

[riariadne]

"I'll be careful, then. See you when we get back, okay?" She looked back to Lanos, intrigued by his situation a bit. "Unusual? Like it just feels silly for you both?" Vriska's squeaking seemed to confirm this, Valha feeling a bit awkward after she adjusted herself and mumbled a bit, glaring at Kendeall as he walked by. "Well, alright... Yeah, this wasn't cheap. Ingverd helped me pay 'n the kid gave me a discount, 'n we're still both out of money now. Well, I'm sure I'll get a hold of more soon enough. Well, we should head back soon, yeah?"

[Nanami Touko]

Waiting

Yeah, they definitely are. Best to take my leave, then. Ingverd flipped the lever and was off, making his way to the inn fairly quickly. Inside his room, and inside one of his traveling sacks, he retrieved the two practice swords that he owned--they weren't much more than long, thing slabs of wood, shaped like a sword would be--and made his way to the entrance of the inn. With one at each side, he sat himself outside, whistling against the inn's wall.

Toast Talk

Marty served Sonia a full breakfast, toast included, sitting down on a stool on the other side of the bar. "So, er, what's yer business with 'em? I caught that they saved you from some fort, they all went and dealt with. Mind sayin' anythin' other'n that?"

Edited March 22, 2014 by I have opinions

[MRDRHAWK]

Kendeall cracked his neck as he saw Angus approaching him, giving him a nod of acknowledgement before he started talking. "To a degree... I did have this weird dream related to my fortune from before, but it didn't exactly mess with my sleep or anything." He replied, grabbing a seat on the couch again as he did so. "What about you? You manage to sleep well?"

[charlie_]

"Sorta... I managed to fall asleep again after getting up..." he muttered, rubbing his eyes."You ready to get moving again? It's a long walk to Felson, I think."

[MRDRHAWK]

Kendeall let out a big yawn as Angus had asked him that, flipping to his side on the couch. "Well... a bit more sleep couldn't hurt... After all, like you said, it is a long walk... and knowing our luck, we'll probably get ambushed a few times over on the way there." He replied, stretching his arms out in an attempt to loosen himself up, misguided as it may have been.

[Vestige]

Ophelia thought for a moment, and pondered about what it was Makin was saying. Truth be told, she couldn't really understand the issue, let alone empathize with her. "<My apologies, however, I cannot say I truly understand the issue you are having. The plight of men--or in this case half a man--is not something I am well versed in.>" she said. "<I have no offspring to speak of, save for a rather amusing two-legged creature who takes pride in his ability to stay on my back in flight.>" she grinned. She was talking about Raith of course. "<My kin of blood is in all likelihood dead. Back in the mountains we lived for ourselves, and ourselves alone. I killed for food. I killed to maintain my territory. And I killed to survive. That was my life, and to a certain degree it still is. But now I share that life with a peculiar child, and though at times it is a tiresome task, I find myself attached to him. His enemies become my enemies, his success is my success.>" What she was trying to say is, is that it's not so bad having someone else to share your troubles with. "<Perhaps they--your...comrades--aren't being dragged so much as following...?>" she wondered.

[charlie_]

"You think we'll get ambushed again? Our luck can't be that bad, can it?" he laughed. "Dunno how long you're gonna have to sleep though, I've got no idea where the boss is right now, she could be back whenever."

[MRDRHAWK]

Kendeall sighed, knowing full well that Makin would probably be back soon. "Well, since whatsizname isn't actually dead, and we're on our way to Felson, I imagine that something's gonna try to kill us."

[Nanami Touko]

Useful Insight

For a dragon, Ophelia seemed to be rather down to earth, and have a firm grasp of morals. Or some sort of morals? Makin was impressed no matter what someone would consider them, taking a moment to listen and think. At least there was a small thought in her mind that was amused by Ophelia considering herself Raith's mother. She giggled. "<I think I understand what you mean. I just worry that I'm having people follow me into something they don't want to be a part of... Though, I guess that's not my decision anymore, as they know what's happening now. If any of them don't want to be a part of it they'll stay here or move on.>" Makin sighed, but was definitely feeling better. "<I never thought that talking to a dragon would cheer me up, but here I am. Thanks, Ophelia.>"

"<Oh, and,>" she added, "<I'm finding myself getting a bit attached to your human. I hope you don't get jealous.>" She pulled herself off the tree and almost went to pet Ophelia, but stopped, as that would be a rather dehumanizing thing... But she wasn't human, but... No matter, Makin felt it would've been awkward. "<I've got a ghost and a fortune teller to meet with, so I'll leave you to your flying about. Say hello to Raith for me, if you see him.>" She waved goodbye to the kind dragon, and made her way to Hilda's abode.

Once there, she let herself in and set down a sack of one thousand gold. It clanked loudly against the table.

"Why, Makin!" Hilda said, incredibly surprised and confused by what had just happened in front of her. She had to blink a few times to see if she was truly seeing this or if she had been hallucinating. "Wh-Whatever do you need?" She attempted to hold an air of calm, but she was clearly still baffled.

"You're going to touch the ghost and read into his past. He keeps freaking out over Felson, so you're going to find out, for the both of us, what he's freaking out over." Makin felt a bit rude, being to blunt about it. But it was what had to happen, or else Kadin might not fight well in battle; might end up hurting one of them; might end up hurting himself. Makin dared to wonder what would happen if he ended up hurting Maja. "He'll be here soon, I figure. So do your best. You will be able to touch him, right?"

Hilda was beside herself. It was quite a feat to have been thrust upon her so early in the day, but she slowly ended up nodding. "If he has formed enough of a bond in this world, I should be able to... Or at least, I will try, and see what I get out of him. Felson, you say? My... How worrying." Hilda remembered what she'd told Kadin, hoping that she wasn't the reason for his apparent instability.

[scorri]

Kadin had been watching Hilda's from afar and saw Makin go in. Taking a few seconds to compose himself more, he headed in. Slipping through the door, he sighed. Going over to the table, he stood there silently, still not entirely sure why he'd been told to come here, though the sack of gold on the table gave him a bit of a clue.

[Oersted]

Lanos briefly wondered what Ingverd had been chuckling about as he watched the elf leave; he quickly came to the conclusion that with Ingverd, it could've been anything and put it aside. It wasn't like it was a crime to chuckle after all. "H-Hey, I'm not a pillow," Lanos responded to Vriska comment and actions, feeling rather awkward and not entirely sure what the proper response was in this situation. Magic-and-axes-man's passing comment only served to embarrass him and given his current emotions couldn't even manage a glare. He was thankful when Valha brought the topic back to her sword. "W-Well, it'll surely be a good sword, right? If it was a kid I don't think they'd try to rip you off... Sure, if you want to. There isn't really much to do anyway."

Edited March 23, 2014 by Oersted

[riariadne]

"Well, he marked it down a lot, so if that price would still be a ripoff then that'd be surprisin', don't you think?" Valha reasoned. "Well, anyway, we should go. Bet you can't catch up draggin' her around!" Valha took off immediately, weaving through the trees deftly and making circles around detours for no real reason and generally taking her time.

[Nanami Touko]

The Future And The Past

Kadin's sudden appearance made Hilda jump in her chair, placing a hand over her chest and taking a few deep breaths. "I may be getting too old for these things... Alright. Kadin, are you alright with all this? I realize that Makin may want to delve into your past, but I won't do anything you are uncomfortable with... Though, if you are here, I assume you also with to know. Are you truly sure about this? I have never told a ghost of who they were, but I have heard that it can be a painful process." Hilda was quite worried, but would perform if he was alright. I truly, truly hope that nothing bad comes of this...

[scorri]

Kadin closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I need... I need to know who I am before we go to Felson. If something there were to trigger my memories... and either resulted in me being unable to fight or to find out that I was aligned against the goals of this group... I cannot allow this to happen. Either we do this now, or I leave the group. Those are my only real options."

[Nanami Touko]

What Needs to be Known

"Alright... Come here." Hilda stood and waited for Kadin to move over to her. Her eyes opened wide, and she concentrated on her hands. A small, almost transparent layer of magic wrapped around them. She quickly grabbed onto his hands, and much to the ghost's surprise, was actually touching him! Her eyes closed shortly after, and she started to concentrate elsewhere. Makin, meanwhile, backed up. If things started flying around the room. It wouldn't do to get beaned with a flying candle or dinner plate. She pressed herself up against the far wall, and waited.

Sure enough, the room began to rumble, very slightly. The candles went out, and Hilda's eyes opened. They were glowing a bright white, and she was mouthing words, but not saying anything. It only lasted a few moments, not even a minute. The candles returned to burning, and Hilda collapsed back into her chair, a pained expression on her face, her eyes closed. It would be another few moments before she would begin to speak again, the first thing leaving her lips a sigh.

"W-Well? What did you see?" Makin slowly pulled herself closer from her wall spot, a bit worried.

"This... This man, he... He was..." Hilda was continuing to catch her breath, finally opening her eyes, a look of great sadness on them. "He was murdered, by the council... Poison, made to look like suicide. Just... Just terrible." A hand covered her mouth, as she was almost crying.

Makin was a bit lost on words. She looked at Kadin, wondering what his reaction would be, if any memories would come back. "So... Is that all?" was what she first said, eyes looking back towards Hilda.

"No... No, there was something else, but I... I do not know if I should say it. I..." She sighed and actually did start crying. The tears didn't last long, as she quickly wiped them away. "I'm sorry, Kadin. Whenever I do this, sometimes I receive the emotions tied to the memories. It's taking all of me to not burst into tears right now, but it looks like I couldn't hold them all back..." She finally managed to control her breathing, and looked him squarely in the eyes. "You were murdered, and usurped. You were a part of the council, but you'd found out something that they could not let you live for. You were planning on letting this secret be known... So they... They killed you." Hilda shivered. "I do not know what you had found out. I wish I could tell you. But I cannot, and I am so sorry..."

That was a bitter pill to swallow. Makin had no reassuring words for her spectral friend. She could only hope that he would stay now that he knew he was never against them.

Pillow

"You are right now..." she said, yawning. It was still early, and she was getting tired, being so comfortable. She let her eyes close, and began to doze off. All their talk of swords was making it fairly easy, as well. "Good night, Lanos..." she said with a final yawn, fidgeting a bit to get entirely comfortable. I wonder if you could buy the feathers off of harpies... They'd stuff pillows really well...

Edited March 23, 2014 by I have opinions

[scorri]

As she spoke the words to Kadin, memories came flooding back, slamming into him like a punch to his gut. He stumbled backwards and fell into the wall, passing part of the way into it, before regaining a bit of control over himself. "N... no. No no no no. Sophia. No." He curled up in on himself, memories flashing past him. Sitting with his wife in their house, raising wine glasses. Taking a drink. Then pain. Falling to the ground. Looking over and seeing his wife, collapsed on the ground as well. No. They'd killed her too. In case he had told her the secret. The secret. A pale memory of a caged man flashed past but he couldn't hold on to it. Pain. Him sitting on the council, arguing with the others. He was the Minister of Defense. Why wouldn't they listen? Pain.

Some time later, he slowly spoke, "Yes. I... I was the Minister of Defense. I don't... I don't recall much past that. But I would not be working with the council. Not anymore it seems."

[algae]

"The short version is that I did something stupid and got caught by bandits, then these guys saved me and their boss offered me work." She idly twirled a knife between her fingers, considering where to go from there. "Interesting people, though. Skilled enough to clear out that whole group of bandits like it was the easiest thing in the world..."

She paused a bit, "Actually, do you know anything about them? I haven't even heard the boss's name yet."

[Xinnidy]

Maja took a look outside, as she somehow lost interest in staying as she was done with her breakfast, and could do without company for a moment. "Right, I'll go take a walk, I don't think staying sat down on a chair so early would help me. See ya later, mmmkay?" She dismissed Joel as politely as she could think of and made her way outside. Somehow, Maja was definitely not the cheery self she woke up as.

Sighing, she took the pulley to the lower levels. The pulley was an engineering work that amazed her, so it was the first thing she thought to lift her spirits.

Reaching her destination, she wandered down somewhat aimlessly, her whereabouts or destination of none concern to her.

[Oersted]

"Well, you never know..." Lanos began but ended up not to elaborating on his point as Valha suddenly challenged him to a race. "Hey, you've always been faster 'n me anyway!" he called after Valha as she took off. "Geez, this is hardly fair... Well I guess you better grab hold, Vriska, this is going to be bit faster than before." Lanos waited a bit for Vriska to respond though after a minute of no response he looked back only to find Vriska sleeping. Looks like I'm not winning... Lanos thought as he began walking to the inn.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Oersted

[Nanami Touko]

Nonsense

HIlda could make some of what Kadin was now saying, though this Sophia was someone she had no knowledge of. Perhaps revealing all of that has stirred some of his own dormant memories... While she continued to muse to herself, Makin was a bit flabbergasted. Kadin had learned much of who he was, and it appeared as though it had caused some sort of mental breakdown to occur. She had no real idea of what to say, electing to wait until Kadin spoke. "That means you'll be staying with us, then?" she asked, hesitating a bit halfway through. She wouldn't blame him if he wanted to run away from all this. Facing death must've been terrifying enough, but to face those that did as much as murder you? Revenge was a strong feeling, Makin knew that well enough, but was it strong enough to fare someone as terrifying as that? She would accept his answer, either way. Even if she could not understand the feelings of dying and living as a ghost, she could understand vengeance.

Information

"I see, I see," Marty said, nodding along to what Sonia was saying. He hadn't expected to be questioned. "Oh, I can't say I know much 'bout any of 'em other'n Ingverd, Makin, and Vriska. The last one there I know 'bout as much as the rest of the town, but I can say I've been pretty personal with the others... Guess it's why I'm so used to Makin abusin' my inn, here." He scratched his hair, pulling his stool a bit closer. "Well, her name's Makin Tiarn. She's a naga. She's a rather sturdy character, aside from the unusual outburst you saw this mornin'... But she's real dependable, almost too much so. Tends to take stuff on herself. Doesn't like to let others help. I ain't no doctor, but I'd think she doesn't want what happened to Gerrod to happen to anyone else."

He stopped droning on about the snake, turning his attention to the elf. "And Ingverd, he lived here for his whole childhood until he left as a teenager. Seemed a bit bored around here, if ye ask me. Came back a few years later during his travels with the snake an' their company. He seemed more fulfilled. Good fer him if ye ask me. Always good to have somethin' ye can enjoy in life, and if it's mercenary work, then it is." He stopped. "Sorry 'bout that. I went on for a bit there. Anythin' specific ye wanted to know?"

Edited March 24, 2014 by I have opinions

[scorri]

"What else can I do?" Kadin said, almost bitterly. "I have nothing else to exist for except my revenge. Nothing. They took everything... everyone... away from me. So yes. I'll come. And I'll fight. You can depend on that."

[Nanami Touko]

Outcome

That was a rather negative thought. Makin was pleased that he'd be coming, but she didn't want him thinking like that. Not sure there's much I can do to change it, though... "You have us, for whatever that's worth. I know it won't replace your whole life; nothing will. But you're not alone, alright? That said," she folded her arms, and smiled, "don't forget that feeling of revenge. It'll be something strong to hold onto when you fight. That's all I have to say. I take it you don't have anything else, Hilda?"

The woman clued back into the conversation, shaking her head. "No, I don't. But please, inform me ahead of time when you need something so arduous. I'd rather not strain myself so early in the morning."

Makin nodded. "Alright. See you around, then. Let's go, Kadin." She swung open the door and made her way back up town. But before she left, she said to him, "actually, you can feel free to do whatever you'd like around here. I realize you were just hit with something pretty personal, so take all the time you need, as long as you've back when we leave." She then left on one of the lifts.

[riariadne]

Valha laughed gleefully as she continued her aerial tour of the city for far longer than was necessary, though she was a little sad to see that Lanos indeed couldn't keep up due to carrying Vriska. Well, makes sense... guess my expectations weren't too realistic. As he approached the inn, she made her descent, not wanting to take so long as to actually lose, and landed somewhat heavily right before Ingverd. "Well, that was fun! You got the stuff already? Well, I suppose I left plenty of time to prepare. I'm ready whenever... well, not really. Need a little bit to catch my breath, yeah?"

[Refa]

Never thought I'd end up here again, thought Quincy as he passed through the village gates of his birthplace. Despite his last visit being four years ago, the village remained the same as he had always remembered it. Not that I should have expected anything different. People here are as likely to change as they are to willingly drink poison. Might as well get a room before they're all taken, he thought discontentedly. While he had enough funds to just get by for a few weeks, his situation would become rather dire if he didn't acquire some source of income by then. Bah, there's a time for thoughts like these and it's after I've had at least six pints of beer in my gullet. And with that pleasant thought in mind, he continued towards the local inn.

Having stayed at the same inn on all of his past visits, he could get there blindfolded if needed. The same could not be said of a certain traveler he noticed along his way; generally it was very hard for Quincy to distinguish people among a crowd, but then again it wasn't every day that you saw a harpy carrying some sort of girl on his back. When opportunity knocks on my door, who am I to refuse? The do gooders always pay the most, after all, Quincy grinned slyly as he gradually started slowing down his walking until he was moving at the same pace as the harpy. "Good sir," Quincy started in his most obsequious voice, which all things considered wasn't very obsequious at all. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem rather...lost. I'm quite familiar with this place myself, and I certainly wouldn't mind leading you to your destination. Or would you rather burden yourself with that young lady all day?" Quincy added, unable to resist adding that one little snide comment at the end.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Refa

[scorri]

Kadin slowly rose from the ground. He bowed to Hilda and then left the shop without saying a word. He set off for the forest, hoping to get away from everything for a little while. He just... Sophia. My darling, I'm so sorry. Your death is on my hands. But I will avenge us. I am just glad that you are not stuck on this plane like me. You deserve peace. Something the likes of me should never have it seems.