Act Complete! Angelcynn: The Myrcian Conflict - Act 1

[Nanami Touko]

"You're not going to be serious about this unless I am, aren't you? ...Fine then!" Cass was a bit bothered that Adele didn't swing back in full force. It almost felt insulting, but she was simply relaying back what she'd promised. So Cass wound up again and punched her square in the chest, winding up for another. If Adele wanted to play it this way, then there was no point in holding back. "Let's have it out, then, Adele! I'm not the scrawny girl I used to be, so don't think these won't hurt!" Half-hearted wasn't on the table, anymore.

[Ether]

"Is that serious? I didn't even feel it." Adeltrudis replied with a smirk, replying in turn with a decidedly hard blow to Cassandra's stomach. Yeah, she could already tell this wasn't going to be as easy as it used to be...

[Terrador]

Angus gently scoops the bear up, holding the beast--goodness, this will not be possible for long--in one arm, weaving towards Marlain's corpse while flatly addressing Sidney.

"You misunderstand me, rogue. It's about standing, and you don't seem too smart besides. What d'you hope to gain by pissing off your employers, and encouraging the one healer not liable to kick the bucket to lose her head?" The squire rummages around the especially bloody rags, finding, as he expected, a ruined tome. He pockets it anyway, standing again. "'sides, you could do well learnin' when to shut your mouth. Neither one is dumb enough to bite that worm you're danglin', so honestly, I don't mind ya much... but really, you wanna keep a job that won't get ya tossed in a dungeon, you've got a lot to figure out yet."

Angus departs, giving Adele and Cassandra's squabble a passing glance before recognizing that Owen is in play and the axes aren't. From there, he makes his way towards Agro, hoping to introduce the two; if the bear can't handle his horse's presence, this zany endeavor will be over before it truly begins.

[riariadne]

Sidney rolled her eyes, zoning out most of the axe-horse-loser's words almost as soon as they began. "You don't seem like the first to talk about intelligence, seeing as you've got a lot to learn if you think I didn't get as far as I have without being pretty clever, but..." she fanned herself off, yawning, "you also must be hard of hearing. I only wish to discuss important things right now, not listen to yet another a joke of a lecture by the little half-knight. Now go on your way and try not to get infected messing around amongst the animals." The renegade looked to her nails with some level of interest- more than she had for what the squire had said, anyway.

[Nanami Touko]

Fist Fight

"Guh...!" Adele was certainly faster than her, the wind up she'd been storing quickly getting caught out for a swift jab to the gut, and a strong one at that. Not that it was enough to take her out! "Fine, then... Grrr! Adele!" Cass swung again, aiming back at Adele's stomach, finally putting her all into these, and trying to knock her friend over.

Adele grit her teeth as she saw the next one coming, bracing herself for the hit. She managed to absorb it relatively well, only taking a minor step back, and replying in kind, once again gauging the force behind Cassandra's blow, and with a little bit of technique to offset the fact that the Princess' higher physical strength, launched another shot at double the power, her fist slamming into Cassandra's chest.

"You'll have to do better then that, Cass."

"Ugh!" Cass faltered back a bit, panting heavily. This was ridiculous! She was certainly stronger than Adele by now! And she had to prove it! She wound up again and swung heavily into Adele's chest, not giving her a moment to relax. "Rahhhhh!" another fist came barreling in, aimed at her shoulder, trying to knock her off balance.

It was all Adeltrudis could do, to grit her teeth and bare the assault from Cassandra, her own blows growing more and more potent in line with the Princess. Trading a few blows at this pace, Adele launched a harsh hook into Cassandra's stomach, lifting her clean off the ground before sending her back, giving Adele a moment to catch her breath.

"Well, good to see you haven't gotten weaker since last time, at the very least." Adele noted with a smirk, holding a fist out at the ready.

Cass hadn't expected Adele to know how to fist fight so well. For what she lacked in strength she made up for in knowing how to angle her fists to make them hurt more. That also bugged Cass, who was breathing pretty heavy at this point, but still ready to swing... Or, well. She'd seen a few bar fights out in the city, and she knew a few tricks. Or rather, she thought she did. So why not try them? "You'll see just how strong I've gotten." With another swing coming, she quickly let her fist drop, tackling her full weight into Adele's stomach, trying to bring her down to the ground.

"Oof... damn, wha-?" Well, if anything, the following turn of events had certainly been unexpected. Having been prepared for a punch, the sudden take down was certainly effective, Adeltrudis quickly falling to the ground, underneath Cassandra. It was certainly a disadvantageous position, which Adele had rather limited options of getting out of. Settling on one, she forced her knee upwards into Cassandra's midsection, bringing her elbow down on the Princess' back in sync.

Cass figured her charge would be met with harsher hits, but with Adele on the ground there wasn't much momentum behind her knee. Her elbow, on the other hand, was something Cass hadn't expected, but she had to take it in stride. With a heavy grunt, Cassandra tried to shove herself on top of Adele, grabbing one of her wrists and trying her hardest to shove her down. "Rrrrrr, just, go down, already!" She was getting increasingly tired, so she probably wouldn't manage, unless Adele was also fading... But the older girl had more stamina than Cass.

It was becoming rather obvious by this point that Cassandra was running out of steam, which was a blessing for Adele. Using her free hand while she still had it. Adele pivoted on the ground to give herself some leverage, and used that leverage to deliver a hard blow to Cassandra's stomach.

"As if I would just go down like that." Adele replied, the fatigue clear in her voice, as she delivered a few more blows to Cassandra's stomach, trying to get the other girl off of her.

Still struggling to force her over, Cass couldn't get a grip on Adele's other hand, which left her stomach rather exposed to the punches coming out. Cassandra coughed and felt herself losing the last of her strength, groaning and slowly rolling off of her. She collapsed onto her back, taking some heavy breaths, and then sighed. "Looks like, I still can't, win... Ugh." It was a bit disheartening, but at least she wasn't feeling upset anymore. At least not in an angry way.

And it looked like that was enough to end it, which was a relief for Adele, as she was nearing her limits, and rapidly. The adrenaline leaving her once Cassandra rolled off, leaving Adele to collapse onto her own back, panting rather hard.

"Ugh... it's a damn good thing we're allies. There's no way I can win fights against you, anymore..."

"Hah... But you just, did. Geez..." Cassandra slowly groaned as she sat up, feeling up her stomach, knowing that would definitely bruise in the morning. At the very least, they hadn't broken anything, or aimed at the face. If someone's nose broke, that would mean more work for Jeeves, and that would be the worst thing. "I feel a bit better, now..."

"Nah, I wasn't fighting against you, Cass." Adele replied, groaning as well as she turned on her side to face the Princess, reaching out and clasping Cassandra's hand within her own.

"I was fighting for you, not against you. You're really precious to me, Cass... so no matter what, no matter how much stronger you get, it's not a fight I'll ever accept losing. Not even once..." Adele replied, managing to crack a smile, despite how battered she was. It was becoming glaringly obvious in the aftermath that Adeltrudis had no real grounds to win that brawl, unable to even pick herself up off the ground, which Cassandra herself had managed quite easily.

Cass smiled a bit, faintly blushing, letting Adele hold her hand. "And what's that supposed to mean? Goodness, Adele..." Cassandra felt she understood what Adele meant, but at the same time, she also didn't. But she wouldn't question it. At the surface, she figured it meant that Adele was there for her whenever she got upset, and that was good enough for the princess. She did wonder why Adele wasn't getting up, though.

Cass gently let go of her hand, and stumbled to her feet, brushing her battered dress off and shaking her head, coughing a bit. She held her hand out for Adele to take, smiling. "I figure I know what I have to do, now. Maybe. We'll see if it works out."

"It means exactly what I said. You mean a lot to me, and I'm gonna make sure I'm there for you when you need me, even if I probably shouldn't be." Adele replied, following Cassandra's hand and attempting to pull herself up, but to no avail.

"Urgh... geez, when did you even get stronger then me like this? I think I might need a little more than a hand, here..."

"What father doesn't know won't hurt him. I spent a lot of time training with Angus and the other squires, swinging axes and doing some of the more menial tasks around the castle. It wasn't good for much other than getting stronger... So, perhaps that's why. I doubt I'll grow much more, though, so don't expect me to be strong for much longer." Cass smiled, glad that she had people like Owen and Adele in her life. "Of course you should be here. What would I do without the two of you? But... Well, I do know what I have to do. So I'm going to do it."

Cass grabbed Adele's hand with both of her own, quickly pulling her up and hoping she'd manage to stand. With that done, and a quick pat on Adele's shoulder, Cass took a deep breath and headed over to Sidney.

She only had one thing to say.

"Alright, 'Skittles'. Hit me."

Edited January 25, 2016 by Snake Mom

[riariadne]

Sidney looked up from her hands, peering over her glasses at Cass. Sure, she'd been vaguely aware of the princess's fight with Adele in the background, but it didn't make the request seem any less ridiculous to her.

She paused for a moment to consider her options before merely poking the smaller girl's nose. "That's all. Hitting you doesn't solve problems. It's fun to mess around with people, but that doesn't mean I wanna punch you. And going by that, I'd rather not be punched back either!" Sidney stood tall again, posture better and with her clothes neatened up from before. "What do you think? Presentable? I want to look my best when we reach the mansion- as unlikely as instantly reaching peace is, a little sweet-talking can go a long way when the talks aren't a hundred percent honest. These sorts of clothes are actually rather common among the upper class in Raewald, and the glasses are very stylish."

[Nanami Touko]

There was Sidney's trademark... Character. It frustrated Cass, as usual, but instead of focus on that, or snap at her, she kept staring directly at her and trying to maintain seriousness. "I mean it. Hit me. Right here." Cass turned her face and tapped her cheek, leaning forward. "I'm not going to be satisfied with myself until you do. I don't care if you go full force or half-ass it, but I want a nice hit right here. I'm not going to strike you back and I'm not going to hold it against you... Rather, with how I've been acting, it's more than deserved."

[riariadne]

"Why?" The request seemed like nonsense to Sidney still. "It doesn't prove anything, or mean anything to me- especially not before a serious affair. Words were traded, you've... apologized, in your own way, we can move on and handle the situation maturely." She barely furthered her effort from before, giving a light flick. "I'll not do more than that. Is fashion not your strong suit? Are these things not as popular here in Wyke?"

[Nanami Touko]

Cass furrowed her brow as she was flicked, and leaned back, frowning at Sidney. She quickly place her head to her hand and sighed. "I can not comprehend you. I shout at you, I threaten you, I insult and degrade you. I refuse your thanks and I nearly take a swing at you... And you refuse to take anything back, even when offered? You can call it being nice, handling it "maturely", or simply moving on, but you'll have to forgive me for finding you incredibly unfathomable. Even I have realized how poorly I have been treating you, even if some of it was deserved, so I just... Ugh." Cass shook her head, folding her arms. "You frustrate me. You frustrate me because despite everything, I do not frustrate you." She still had no commentary on Sidney's sense of fashion. It wasn't important enough to talk about.

[riariadne]

Sidney sighed- why was it never easy? "Of course I don't enjoy being shouted at, bossed around, or being treated entirely undeservingly. I made my complaint known already, and you certainly could use an attitude adjustment, but what does hitting you do? Vengeance over something that ultimately doesn't really matter is childish. In the future, you'd be wise to remember that being a princess does not make you better than others- actions speak louder than status. Maybe you're really great to your friends all the time, but do you think your citizens will know about that if all they see is someone who sees themselves as better than commoners, just because you were lucky enough to be born royalty? That's not how it works. Pride comes before the fall." She paused for a bit to let her message sink in.

"If you're better than others, prove it. That's what I do, anyway... I've gotten myself out of tougher situations than most people ever deal with. That's why I'm smart enough to not kill myself running into a mine, and to side with you guys instead of those losers back in the town we met. Ultimately, I am nothing if not successful. I don't need to be out here, and I'm almost certain that if anything ever got too tough I could fall back and probably avoid any trouble and have enough cash to live easy. But that doesn't prove anything to anyone at all. I'd be no better than, say, some twit prancing about, listening to orders and trying to act smug in a scenario they know nothing in. So instead it's about succeeding." The thief smirked, rather pleased with herself. "Maybe I got sidetracked a little there... but I made my point. Whining doesn't get anything done- if you're really sorry or something, you could heal me earlier the next time I need it or something."

[Nanami Touko]

Maybe Sidney didn't get how Cass resolved things, but she wasn't going to complain about not being hit. But... Maybe Sidney also didn't quite get the point of Cass' apology. "I'm not here because I think we're now equals... Even if you were, somehow, a noble, you are still a thief, and I will judge you as one. And if that's how you think things work, well, I don't think you're going to get very far in life." Cass shook her head, crossing her arms. "I am not apologizing for treating you like you are beneath me, to be clear. I am apologizing for going beyond that and treating you like dirt, nearly attempting to take your life. But if you think I'm about to stop telling you to stay away from my brother, for one thing, or treat you like a friend, you are very wrong. You are a hired hand... But you aren't part of our soldiers, or work for the castle, so... I will... Do my best to tolerate you, and your nature." Pride comes before the fall? If the citizens were so distraught with how we rule, they would've staged a coup, a revolution; some form of protest. I doubt Sidney is the majority, honestly.

"I will say that I don't think you've proved much. You have a large mouth and a lot of ideals. And you know not to walk straight into your death. But I think that just makes you loud, and smart, not better. If you don't need to be here, then I hope you find something else once we're finished with Dettard. But not to worry, Sidney." She waved her hand and started to walk away. "I won't let you bleed out. I can't have Jeeves' heart failing on him because I didn't take up proper duties. And I suppose I can control complaining about doing so... Hmmm."

She stopped for a moment before she got too far away. "Since I doubt you're about to listen to everything else, I will propose one thing. If you can address me as Cassandra-- not liege, not princess, not Sandy or Cass, just, Cassandra--, without your regular lick of sarcasm, then I will strive to treat you with respect. If you'd rather continue to fling nicknames about or slather lilts over my name, then we can remain at an impasse... I'm sure you're mature enough to concede me one thing, instead of continue confrontations." She started off again, this time to find out where Angus went. She still had words about his bear.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Shin]

With the foes from the forest beaten and their woes at least temporarily resolved, Owen's forces pressed onwards towards Dettard. The journey itself had been a long one, but they were met with almost no resistance on the way to his castle. Dettard was only one of the minor nobles, his lands were barely more impressive than that of Alleun. The fields were not particularly neglected, although one could tell that their upkeep was not quite among their lord's priorities. The first day of travel had been rather unremarkable. By the time they had arrived, it had reached early evening, the sun had not quite begun its descent although night would come within a few hours.

Lionel's men lead the way, ensuring their superiors remained safe from any surprises. Angus' steed, Agro seemed to tolerate the cub reasonably well, which was rather surprising. Jeeves managed to keep himself going, although still shaken from his own problems.

At last, it stood in front of them, Dettard's castle. An old traditional structure designed by his father before him. There was quite the welcoming party - Dettard had been expecting them. The soldiers were ready and waiting to attack, simply awaiting the order. Dettard stood proudly at of the doorways, his hand on his scabbard. Slender and stylishly dressed, Dettard very much looked the part of a young noble, perhaps one aspiring for more.

"So good of you to visit me, Prince Owen." he charmed, the venom in his voice apparent. "I appreciate you to take the time to visit someone so lowly as myself. I really am honoured, especially since you went through the trouble of inviting the Hermans. There isn't really time for pleasantries, I know why you're here and I don't feel like being hung. Face me with your blade.. I have much I need to tell you. I give you my word that my men will not interrupt our duel. The rest of your friends can play with Baleros."

Chapter 4: Dettard

- Seize the throne

Please provide coordinates for deployment! Only Owen can be placed on 7,16 if he accepts Dettard's challenge. Spreadsheet!

Jeeves approached Gerrard, the butler looking at him sternly. "Master Gerrard, please allow me to use one of the swords you are carrying. I am still able to fight, and I fear this battle will be far more difficult than one could imagine."

[charlie_]

[spoiler=as retro as space invaders]"That shouldn't be necessary." Claire answered, rolling her shoulder. Her arm wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was in better shape than it had been. She'd end up getting staff treatment soon enough anyway, so it'd just be a waste of a sling.

She was about to look around for Cassandra and see if she was coming, but heard her before she spotted her. She was screaming about a bear cub Angus had picked up, and sounded like he wanted to take. I knew he was naive, but this? It seemed absurd.

Eventually, Cassandra arrived and snapped Claire back to reality. "Thank you, princess." she muttered, relieved that the pain had finally stopped. It quickly became clear that the princess was not herself, as she didn't even attempt conversation. As soon as she was done, Claire watched her walk back towards the woods and throw herself down in a heap. She glanced back at Gerrard, confused, having paid no attention to the rest of the conversation.

She considered intervening, but others got there first, and then Cassandra and Adele started fighting for some reason. She had absolutely no idea why that was happening either. In the end, it seemed to have ended up okay at least? It was kind of hard to tell.

[Xinnidy]

[spoiler=RETRO: Of bruises and dresses]

Owen gulped, standing up and looking at the brawl with more concern after each punch. His expression turned almost comically panicked as he watched Cass tackle Adele and receive an elbow to the back. Owen quickly stood from the tree's respite and walked closer, catching on that the two noblewomen were (and THANKFULLY so) almost out of stamina; he stopped and continued being an observer, letting the two to finish their fist fight. It was an... interesting bonding moment for the two, to say the least. Adele's words surprised Owen the most, though he refrained from speaking, wondering if he was seeing more than there was.

Once Cass lifted Adele, Owen walked towards the two, albeit Cass quickly rushed to talk to Sidney --it seemed that the fight did help her make up her mind. Owen placed a hand on Adele's shoulder, "Thank you, for worrying so much about Cassandra. I'm sorry if she's ever a hassle. Ah..." Owen felt like he had words caught in his tongue, but ultimately shook his head and looked back at Adele. "Can you move fine? I'll tell Cass to help your bruises. We should leave soon, honestly." Owen sighed.

They were finally there, at the entrance to Dettard's minor castle, they were greeted by armed forces and no other than the man himself, setting his venomous tongue free. Owen's face held an unamused, irritated expression.

Owen gives his iron blade to Gerrard and takes the devil's edge. Takes Claire's leather armor.

"Is that so, oh, young Baron Dettard?" Owen retorted, "Tell me, what worth is the word of a traitor so intent on siding with brutes that have attacked our country time and again, and failed? Do you truly think you're accomplishing something greater than the crown?" Owen unsheathed his sword, deciding any diplomacy with Baron Dettard wasn't worth his mercy anymore. "Fine... Amuse me. I'll show you what a real prince is about."

Owen deploys at (7,16).

[Shin]

Dettard smirked, leading Owen past his guards to the hallway. He signalled to them as they stepped by them, the men lowering their weapons. "The crown? Your crown? You and our beloved king have been in my way for too long, Owen. You don't realise how privileged you are, sitting in daddy's castle whilst everyone else do all the work. You don't even deserve it, it should be me instead of you. Of course, sometimes in life we can't quite get what we always want, can we?"

[Ether]

[spoiler=RETRO]"You don't mind if I use you as a brace until she gets back, do you, Owen?" Adele asked, shaking on her feet as Cassandra released her and left to her own devices. Coughing a bit, the noble let out a sigh.

"She's really gotten strong. She grew fond of me because she thought I was a role model or something, but once she realizes that she's leaving me in the dust, I wonder how long that will last..."

And here they were, welcomed by an unfortunately expected procession. Adele mostly watched, a scowl on her face as Dettard made his address, welcoming Owen to a duel, which the prince accepted.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Owen..." Adeltrudis muttered under her breath, clutching her axe tightly. She didn't trust Dettard so far as she could throw him... on second thought, if she managed to get him over her shoulder, she might have been able to toss her a decent ways... she didn't trust him so far as she throw Graham! Yes, that seemed nice and reasonable. Regardless of who was throwing whom, she didn't like this arrangement... if she had her way, she'd bust through that armoured sod and back Owen up, 'honourable duel' or no. It wasn't as if that corridor wasn't most likely trapped, and were it not to be, then the scoundrel almost certainly had some sort of hidden weapon.

Adele receives the Dracoshield from Lionel, uses said Dracoshield, and deploys to (9,25)

Edited January 26, 2016 by Satin. Dark Lord of Fabric

[riariadne]

"You and the horse squire seem intent on telling me how you think my life will go," Sidney remarked. "If you can't get it through your head that your status does not put anyone 'beneath' you, then I've nothing more to say to you, Cassandra." She put a bit of emphasis on the name. "Some day all children grow up, I suppose... for your sake, you should hope that happens for you somewhat sooner rather than later." Sid strutted away from the princess even as she'd already made to distance herself, glad that the group decided to get a move on already. "Finally..."

--

It took long enough to reach the mansion, where Dettard posed a challenge to the prince. Sidney was rather surprised that he accepted it. Well, I can't say I've much faith that the Baron will play fair. So we shouldn't be hesitant to disrupt either... She strode to the front, rather close to an armored foe. "No problem for me," she spoke quietly, readying her dagger for action.

Sid on (9, 24)

Edited January 25, 2016 by Reinfleche

[Nanami Touko]

"Thank you for calling me Cassandra~" she shouted back, continuing her walk off, now with a smile on her face.

----------

After a while, Dettard's castle came into view, and none too soon after, the man himself. "Bastard!" she shouted at him, as he spouted his nonsense. His word? What is that worth? He's a snake, a vile, venomous snake, and it would do for us to chop that snake's head off! Cass expected Owen to scoff at the fool and disregard him immediately, but for some ungodly reason, he accepted the duel. "Owen, are you mad!? You can't trust him to play fair! Owen!!" But he was already walking off, Cassandra staring in utter disbelief. She gripped her axe tight, her knuckles going white, growling angrily at Dettard's men, scattered about them. "You'd all best get out of my way... If you think I'm going to let that gutter trash lay a single finger on my brother!"

Cass deploys on 9,28 Ò n Ó

[scorri]

As they approached the castle, Niko let out a deep sigh. So this was it. Time to end this hopefully. And then the man had the nerve to challenge the prince. As if he would ever... No. He's... Ugh, what is it with these siblings and having no sense of self-preservation... And then he noticed Cass getting ready to charge in and sighed. Duty called. He moved up near the princess and called out quietly to her, "I believe that I will be able to do some solid damage to that soldier up there. Perhaps you could help me by attacking after I hit him?"

Niko to 10-27

Edited January 26, 2016 by scorri

[Nanami Touko]

Niko had an idea about one of the soldiers, and Cass had a piece of her mind to share. "If there's one thing I hate more than bandits, Niko," Cass began, giving her axe a quick twirl and gripping it again, "it's turncoats. Turncoats who feel that some smarmy moron with a silver tongue is worth following over those who rightfully rule the kingdom. If you feel that is a good idea, by all means, set him on fire~" There was a certain lilt in her voice as she spoke, smirking and glaring the soldier down. Maybe he'd notice. She didn't care. "You weaken him and I will be his judge, jury, and executioner." From the clothes Jeeves had offered on their travels to replace her tattered one, she'd chosen to wear a lovely high cut red dress, atop a pair of black shorts, a long slit along the side to prevent it from getting in her way. Red was the color of the day, anyway. She didn't want to get anything stained.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Toogee]

Finally, they arrived at the castle. This was supposed to be the whole point of this journey. Once the castle was taken, he and Niko would have to find another job. Too bad; he doubted anyone else on the island would pay as well as royalty. Best to make the most of it. That meant finding Claire and offering more rides. After catching sight of her, The rider noticed her lack of armor ("aw yeah"). This was the perfect opening! Clearly knowing what his priorities were, Doug spit in his hands and slicked his hair back. As he took his place on the battlefield, he looked over to Claire.

"So, going without armor today, huh? We should probably get together- er, stick together...for safety. Let me know if you need to go away with me...um, you know...from all the stabbing things. I'll let you sit in front this time."

Doug attempts to woo on 9,26

[charlie_]

After what happened in the last fight, talking to Doug was kind of embarrassing, so she wasn't exactly thrilled when he came up and started blabbing to her about battle plans and stuff. "I doubt I'll really need a lift indoors." she responded, pushing her hair out of her face. "And wouldn't that just end up blocking your view?" Either way, it didn't matter how 'friendly' Doug was being. She wasn't looking to fly any time soon.

Claire deploys at (10,26)

[Oersted]

[spoiler=retroactivity]"Very well," Gerrard said as he folded his arms across his chest, his eyes going back to the majority of the group. He spotted the bear cub by Angus and couldn't help but roll his eyes when the younger vassal proposed raising it for some yet to be determined use; however, it didn't manage to hold his attention and he ended up focusing on the altercation between the princess and the thief, a frown appearing on his face as it continued.

His expression snapped back to neutral when the princess split off and approached him and Claire, remaining such until the princess had gone and collapsed against a tree. The frown returned when Claire seemed to look at him for an explanation. He answered in a quieter tone. "The princess acted rashly the prince scolded her. I take it she's upset with herself more than anything else."

Owen and Adele were quick to check up on Cass and Gerrard resumed watching the group. Adele and Cass' fight managed to get him to raise an eyebrow in both confusion and surprise but that was all there to be said on that.

After all the delays they'd had to deal with, they were at the doorsteps of the traitorous Dettard's castle. Finally, they could put an end to this pitifully foolish man's ambitions. As he passed by the Jeeves the butler stopped him, asking for a stronger blade. "Of course," Gerrard answered as he unfastened the steel blade's strap and handed it to the old butler. "However, I feel I must ask that you don't strain yourself more than necessary."

Gerrard deploys on 11,25. He also gives Jeeves the Steel Blade.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Oersted

[Jedi]

So they had finally arrived at the Castle, Owen and Dettard had spared no time in making quick words with each other, however Lord Owen had accepted a duel by the traitorous cur.

"Not... exactly what I had in mind, but do as you feel is right my Lord" He quickly conveyed a message to the rest, "If the Baron makes even the slightest hint of playing dirty, jump in." Although he noticed Doug's attempts to woo Clarie and gave him a blank stare. "Does he even know the seriousness of this moment?"

Lionel set himself up on (9,27) his steel lance at the ready, waiting to see how to progress from here.

[Tryhard]

The young prince had clout, at least. Jean was impressed at his haste to accept another man's challenge - few would have the gall to do so in these times. Though he felt no personal disdain for this Dettard, he could see why Prince Owen would have to deal with him. One thing did unnerve him, and it was talk of traitors and turncoats from that Cassandra. Jean wondered briefly how he was seen as one when his own country turned against him. The assassins that went after him would have the same orders: the traitor cannot be allowed to live under crime of treason. He shook away the thought quickly; generally those attempting to kill you aren't just misunderstood - at least he was innocent.

Hopefully Prince Owen would be more than just talk and be able to handle himself, and Jean and the rest of his comrades would be able to secure the perimeter of the castle before moving to assist. With that in mind, he set off. Jean hoped that he wouldn't have to use his firearm in close quarters inside the castle, but was ready to if necessary.

Jean deploys at 10, 25.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Tryhard