Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[Xinnidy]

"Huh...?" Üllr was already surprised at Jeremiah's appearance, followed by Iris' affirmation of their tension. He could only stare at the two with doubt and concern as their exchange kept on, both tense and intimate. "Huh???"

There was too much going on, especially for Üllr's understanding of Jeremiah --which could be summarized as 'strong important foreign man'. Iris and Jeremiah were acquainted? He did something wrong to her and her sister? And Iris was... well, she was obviously hurting about something.

"Wha...??" It was visibly uncomfortable to watch this back and forth from the sidelines. Üllr was no longer stanced up, walking awkward steps towards the two while holding his arm. "What happened? What did you do to Iris?" It... felt like he should at least know that much, Iris' story mattered to him, even if that sunk how little he understood about it...

---

"Hm! Hmhmhmhmhm~ Yes, I suppose that will do, Ser Ren. Thank you kindly for the offer." Turning from Natalya to his tag-along knight, Chris gave a brief nod, "The siege engines need their shelter from the elements, especially with the sea in walking distance! We keep them all in the wall's second annexed barracks. Used to be for more of the local army, but well... the numbers aren't as they were in Oswald's days --or so I hear, I just helped repurpose the place."

With a spin and a hold on Ren's wrist, Chris gently tugged. "So, if you fancy a walk outside, or a little lesson on modern siege engines, follow me!" It was certainly a topic he was impassioned by.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Xinnidy

[Billy12510]

"There certainly isn't rest when it comes to an undertaking of this magnitude. Take your time, you'll find me here still when you're finished." Syndra saw Owen off with one of his attendants, which left her all by herself. It wouldn't last too long, as she started walking over towards where the Commander was walking with the Evokers. "Ah, Commander, can I borrow you for just a minute? There's something I wanted to ask you about in regards to our planned raid of Kazran." Syndra hoped this wouldn't take overly long, there was still her own personal preparations to take care of for this job, which meant a stroll into Eslcas proper.

[Bluemask 96]

Gean saw a blurr of white as Aly whizzed past her and gained in on Cass, suddenly the race was heated. Well, you gotta try to not be last "Captain".  With that Gean threw all her strength into her legs and picked up speed, she might not be able to win, but she'd make this close for sure.

---

Kise's sales pitch was just as candid as it was thorough. Not only did she answer everyone's questions, she furthered her credibility by pointing out things that baffled the young knight, especially her final deduction. Jesse wasn't one to pry on her comrades past, especially her fellow friends sent by Lady Celine, so Syta being Lufirian was definitely a surprise. Jesse turned towards Syta's direction just in time to catch a fading flinch from the jack-of-all-trades. Clearly that wasn’t info she wanted to be super open about, so Jesse thought best to leave it for now.

This was Jesse's first time hearing the finer print of the discount for Kise's wares, and though the fox had and solid argument in favor, Jesse wasn't quite convinced just yet. Sure she didn't know when she would meet her end either, but she knew where she'd like to end her life, plus she'd still be short of cash for the lance currently, and there were still other places in Esclas she'd like to check. "I'll have to pass for this venture Kise, but we'll be traveling together for a while still, so I won't say no, to the lance nor the discount."

That brought Jesse to the last new part of this conversation. Not one but two unknown people had come to visit Kise's shop, and considering they both had Karzan related requests, they were just your normal passersby.  Jesse turned to the sheep woman. "If you're here to help with the assault, I can share with what I know, after you tell us who you might be?"

[GoldsbroTSG]

"O-oh, of course! Sorry, wasn't trying to rush." Miria laughed off her worry as Amera brought up also wanting to look at Kise's shop. She nodded at Seila's reply to her question, and decided to let the new crew shop.

Miria herself was saving her funds for the future, but it didn't hurt to window shop from a distance. She gave a clap as Kise wrapped up her sales-pitch. It reminded her of home a bit, and her many times she was able to make solid deals with traveling traders.

Then some new faces came in as well, one in particular getting particularly interested in the fact they going after Kazran. Jesse started a reply, but Miria walked up, and followed up with the other woman.

"We're on our way to soon. I--" She paused for a moment. "I can take you to our boss who's discussing things with the Gaffneys, last I saw. But, what're you trying to know?"

 

[TheRoon]

Lucy really did have a way with words, in between the somewhat serious lesson was a phrase that made Renais blush a teensy bit. "Ah? Shafts and-L-Lucy!" She cleared her voice. I already have issues keeping my mind out of the gutter, I don't need someone to push me in... She turned her head and pouted. "Hm...but yes, the crystal is the most important part." She settled down and looked over her own staff briefly. "I'll remember it well." When Sari approached and offered to take it easy Renais turned her attention to the man.

"I appreciate the offer, Sari. Going all out might not be the best idea, I saw your work on the Underground after all." She took a stance. "But at the very least I want to see some of that strength, if I'm going to fight beside everyone I need to settle my fears one step at a time." She lifted her staff and grasped it firmly with both hands. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for body swings, I've got sharp eye sight after all." She only hoped her body can keep up with her eyes.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

"What do you mean 'where I'll go'?" Kieran shook his hands to jingle the chains, "I'm not going anywhere until the commander above decides I am, and then after that... It's not like I can disappear into the shadows like a certain someone." Kieran then softened, and leaned back into Marigold, "I said I had to pay back all of my debts, I've got Owen, I've got the Tigers, and I've got this woman on my arm who swears that hope sounds terrible on her voice. So... I'll find a reason, or at least, I'll try." There are people you can ask about this... A way to... Hah... Lady gives you one moment of heartfelt feelings and here you are trying to figure out how to make them real. You're so soft, Kieran. ...You're so... Ha... Maybe it would have been better if I had been from the start. Maybe. 

---

In that one moment, Jeremiah did something he had only allowed himself to do in front of his family and friends; let his guard down. So when Iris dashed forward, even one of his caliber, at this distance, and her speed was left helpless to... her half hug, and half slam of her fist against his chest, claw tapping against the necklace he kept out of sight. It had been instinct almost, because by the time that Jeremiah realized all that had happened, his arms were already halfway around Iris. He paused for a long moment, before finishing his gesture, "...That's what I took from you, and I'm sorry for it. Now I have you in tears again... Catherine and Veltica would be furious with me. It would have been simpler to let you hate me for what I did... but I already took a potentially brighter future from you, and... I couldn't let myself take more from you. You... deserve to understand what the world is like without fear, and hatred... so I have to start with this."

Jeremiah turned his gaze to the blue wolf, obviously very confused with all that was happening at this moment, "We haven't met directly. I'm Jeremiah, and... years ago, I had to kill Iris's father. Justified it may have been... not apologizing for what it did to Iris, was not." This is... the way forward. It always has been. It's what I believed to start... but fear, and anguish changes a person. You saw that when she attacked you that night... How poignant a representation... Well, start believing again if that's where you believe to go. Even if it is only these two... two is enough. 

[Nanami Touko]

Your promises of purchase later are worthless to me! Borrow some gold! Make a purchase now! Haggle! Ugh... These idiots are too straitlaced~! Even to try and get me to lower the prices of things, even me, how come? Because the discount's already so severe? If you're willing to give up that delicious energy then you should be willing to drive a harder bargain for it. It'd take a complete moron to see that I don't CARE about the gold, but I need to keep up pretenses for those complete morons... Hahhhhh... So difficult, my life. Woe is me...

Then there was the damn sheep... She'd shown an interest in things-- those wandering eyes wouldn't be missed, but as soon as Kazran was brought up, purchases were off the table. Kise couldn't help herself, biting her lip and huffing, turning her head away from the newcomer and beaming smiles at Jesse, even if she was pissed off at the woman. She'd have three centuries of acting, this wouldn't be new. "Of course~! It's not like the weapons are going to grow legs and walk off on their own, hmhmhmhm~ They'll be here when you're willing to afford it... Maybe. No telling when this task gets too taxing for me to handle... You'd best think it over very, very thoroughly. Maybe you can borrow gold from someone, hmm?"

---

Iris slowly pushed herself away, only to speak with Ullr; she wasn't uncomfortable with things in the slightest. "He... Yeah. Hic... Del was... H-He raised me, but he was a bad person. He was a part of horrible things... So what... What Jeremiah had to do was, necessary. Even if it hurt. And... Mmm." Iris didn't want to get into the details of the argument, not right now. If Ullr asked again when they were alone, she'd tell him. Everything. "Thank you," she said sheepishly to Jeremiah, bounding off at Ullr again and jumping him in a hug!

"Hey! We should go into town! I wanna get some clothes and see what's here! We can punch at each other later, right?" She'd wrapped her legs and her tail around Ullr, holding onto his waist and beaming a smile at him. She was back to normal. "You wanna go too, right? I bet I can put on something real nice. Something that'll even make you bark, mreheheh~" The Sacred Texts had plenty on clothing. She had to put it to use...

---

Ren let themselves get dragged along by Chris, quite amused by their excitement over things. "You should tell me why you like them so much while we walk. I'm sure you could talk my ear off all day with how much you seem to put into them..." The comment on the size of the local army wasn't lost on them, really sinking in just how long Eslcas had been suffering for. I can't fathom the weight on Owen's shoulders... Being one of the only people in a country to try and keep these people safe, despite the rest banging on his doors and smashing at his walls. He's brave... And he has good people under him.

---

"Heehee! Hahah~! Ahhh, you're so dang cute! I can see why everyone's a fan, dang~" Lucretia giggled as Renais got in place, leaning against her staff to keep herself up. "Make sure to work those legs, and those hips! Center of gravity~"

Versaris took a deep breath. He wasn't used to holding back like this, so he wasn't sure why they were putting him up to this... "Alright... I'm going to do right left and repeat, but feel free to jump back or fall over as safely as you can to get me to stop. Or, just... Say stop. I've never done this before, especially not with healers..." He spun his sword and started towards Renais, not being very gung ho about it. He didn't want to work himself up. "I'll admit, Lucretia did surprise me. Let's see if you can too, Renais... Hup!" A quick swing aimed for her right side, then a spin towards the left. He was using the flat of the blade to make sure nothing went wrong... If she could handle this, he'd repeat, and then throw in a curve ball.

---

"Heh, you'll find a reason, huh? Dumbass. There's been an easy reason staring you in the face for years now... You just never looked because I didn't have cannons like Bella." She stuck her tongue out at him and snickered, flopping with a yawn. "Think I'll take a nap here. Pretty comfortable... Don't do anything strange to me while I'm out, yeah? Not that I think you have it in you, anyway..." Mm... Hope. Guess meeting the Tigers and seeing what they could do against the Underground's, made me... More hopeful than I ever have been. Like being around has a purpose. A reason. Something... Mm. Gahh, fuck you, Kieran! You've got me acting sappy, this sucks... But I guess... I don't hate it...

Edited December 12, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[JakezuGD]

The boy had a tendency for rattling off his business in short order, it seemed, what with not really giving Tasha much space in the conversation to add her own thoughts before he was already practically leaving it. Still, the idea of having magically mobile artillery to support them was a very nice one, even if she herself was surely not going to understand how exactly it worked. "Sounds good to me. I'm not the person to ask when it comes to gauging how strong of a mage someone is, but we've got a good few of 'em in our group, even discounting those two, since they aren't coming along," she replied, nodding toward the stairs and the Evokers. "I'll take finding out about stuff any route I can get it, so if you can do that for me, that'd be nice."

One of the people who could fit the previous description as well as being one of the key players as of current, even if it was mostly against her will, saw fit to enter the discussion as well. "Oh, Syndra. Sure, I didn't have much of a plan for right now, besides talking business with people who have business to talk." Tasha began to address Chris, "If you wanted someone to try out the magic thing, she's..." but turned back to them only to see them already walking off. "Bundle of energy, that one, huh? Didn't even stick around long enough for me to thank 'em for the compliment." She shrugged and gave her full attention to Syndra, now the only person requesting to see her for the moment. "Anyway, what about the plan did you want to talk about? I have my own questions about the details I'll have to hash out with Owen, but I'll answer anything I can, yeah?"

---

"If they don't have baths for some reason, the Channel's right there," Elisa said back, a weak giggle leaving her lips. Her energy might have been coming back, but she was still a good bit out of it, even as she was guiding them to whichever room seemed most suitable for them to take. "...Do we even have that much to do right now? There's only so much we can try researching when we can't use our magic properly, and our diplomatic options are pretty much nothing while we're in Islexia." The strawberry blonde scratched her neck a little, walking over to their chosen bed and flopping over, taking her boots off to get comfortable without bothering to take her mantle off, eyes closed in a content smile. "Haaahh... I need a bath too, but a bed is even better."

---

Belladonna nodded and followed Owen, finding nothing to complain about with his terms. Once they were in private, she began with the obvious inquiry, keeping calm for the moment with firm eye contact with her lord. "Now that things have changed regarding our allies again, I assume I'm to provide my services to the Iron Tigers as well, should they request them, yes?" The answer to that was so obvious she didn't bother waiting for an answer, considering previous similar instances on a smaller scale, such as Seila's group joining them, and continued to what she actually wanted to ask about. "I know you would rather have me stay in safety, but I must ask you to let me go with them. To attack Kazran... and further, should this plan be successful."

[Ether]

The first woman to answer her seemed ready to divulge almost straight away, although the second seemed to have just the slightest more pause. Well, asking for a name and cause wasn't really so much of an ask, so if this was them pivoting to a more... hard-ball approach, it was still rather lax. Not that Roxanne had any problem with that. She couldn't help but make note of the merchant's audible huff. Oops... she had given the poor fox a bit of a no-sell there, hadn't she? A year of life, huh...

"Of course, of course. My name is Roxanne. Roxanne Vallena. As for what I want to know, well... anything that can help, to be honest. I'll be frank with you... Kazran has killed and badly hurt the closest thing I've got to family in this part of the world. They... I... we just want to get rid of him. If you're going to attack him, then you want the same, right? Get back at him for what he's done to monsters, to clouded, to everybody." Roxanne shook her head a little bit. There were more details, but those could be saved for this Boss, unless she needed to divulge them to gain access at all. 

"If you guys are taking a swing at Kazran, well that might be even better than information. Maybe less people need to die at his hands." Roxanne added, before sheepishly rubbing the back of her head as she glanced over at this Kise.

"She's with you guys, right? As an apology for stiffing you on a sale, and as a thank you for giving me a lead... call it a show of good faith. If that discount is lifetime, then to good health and surviving to use it when I have more gold. I have plenty of years, take it." Roxanne extended her hand towards the fox... was that how this worked? If she needed something else, surely she would say. What was a year? She had two-hundred odd of them courtesy of mom... and about as much chance of meeting a natural end as Islexia becoming a monster paradise and haven. If she could jam her foot in the door for so little a cost, then so be it. 

[Xinnidy]

That took a turn for the heavy quickly --not that it already wasn't emotionally charged, of course--, and Jeremiah gave a very brief summary. "You...?" Üllr jumped on the spot, holding himself back while his brain processed things. Killing someone's father was a horrible aggression, he understood that. Still, neither Jeremiah or Iris were fighting, they were trying to come to terms with what happened.

Iris finally corroborated his claim, speaking that her father wasn't a good person. "Ah..." Üllr finally felt like he understood enough to calm down, looking straight at Iris as she came closer to him... and then jumped him for a hug. "Hwa?" Üllr wasn't ready for the accompanying mood change, being slow to hug her back. She probably needed the support after all that... "Mmm, yeah, okay. We can take a break and go to town... bark?" He didn't get what she meant by that. "Could buy some stuff for fighting too... yeah, let's go." Üllr let her enjoy the hug, patting her back, as his gaze slowly moved back to Jeremiah. "She's not evil. She won't be. I'll stay with her." Whatever concern Jeremiah had... Üllr wanted him to know he had his own stakes in that.

---

"Oh! Fine, if you insist~" An excuse to talk was all that Christopher needed, with a devious smirk to follow. "Now where do I begin? My interest goes further than siege weapons, to be fair. It all started with rune inscribing, you see. There are many ways to store mana and have it flow through non-living material, you see, but there's always been a need to find consistency --what makes a material good, how it can conduct, etc. This is the basis of how our standard catalysts are tomes wrought in special inks and magical gems for staves, see? But there's a way to alter a material's properties beyond its inherent attributes." He snapped his fingers, leading them just outside the castle at that point. "Over there!" Turning to head to the barracks with his tag-along, Chris skirted around the conglomerate near the entrance --seemed a bit busy enough as it were. "Part of the Lions, too? Anyways, to keep it simple, irregular shapes and indentations were noted to change a material's affinity, and with the current need for better, more efficient materials... it's a whole field that's still just being tapped! As for myself, I got into runic design from a book. You know... the first homebrew rune I did was a tome -well, a page. It was a flux spelltome, and my modification made it a blue hue instead of its usual current of mana. It also went out of power after two casts. Eheheh~"

"Ah, here we are!" Having arrived, Chris unceremoniously pushed the entrance doors open, giving way to the rather empty space with wooden bolts, wheels, and platforms spread about near the corners of the spacious main room. "And how it relates to siege weapons... well. Stone and wood are fairly easy materials to carve. They are a bit on the mundane side for magical capacity --but that can be fixed with quantity... and good crafting quality." He spun around, an arm outstretched into the room, skirt flaring a little. "Now," Christopher smirked, "Do you want to see a siege platform move on its own~?"

---

"Ahh, so it's about that. I see." Owen nodded in response, "You are more than free to aid them, though it will definitely be a shame to lose numbers if you intend to tag along with them. I've been expecting that  of the sellswords, but we'll be missing your services. Still, if you deem it important for your growth as an alchemist... well, who am I to contest something like that?" He leaned on the table, smile  bittersweet. "Eslcas' doors are always open, as your home. Come back alive and stronger --for our sake." There wasn't much time to sit and take the proceedings slow with how much he still had to handle. Owen stood upright promptly, lifting the weight of his diplomatic persona with a sigh. "Haah... The Tigers are getting a great deal out of this. I'm starting to envy them. Hah!"

Moving around the table, towards the door, Owen paused. "Ah, that reminds me." He turned towards Bella once more, "Could you do me a favor, Bella? There was another person supposed to attend the meeting according to Nita, somebody also tagging with the Tigers, a cat clouded that works on our siege team. I still haven't seen or heard anything from them... so give them a tug on the ear for me, if you find them. If I had to guess... they just unceremoniously went to the barracks to tinker with their toys rather than meeting people." He chuckled, opening the door out. "Engineers... well, I'll see you later. Stay safe, Bella." It was time to go back to Syndra and Tasha, and pick up from there.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Xinnidy

[mcd900]

Seila pondered the offer quietly for a long moment. Thirteen thousand gold was a lot - more than any of them had, more than the three of them combined - and even with a sixty-six percent discount, it still came out to half their sum. She idly toyed with the brim of her hat as she watched the fox pitch to her other potential customers, Ember, Jesse, the sheep - Roxanne, she called herself - the sheep taking to the fox rather quickly.

A year of life... She was no trained merchant, but thirteen thousand gold was not an unusual sum for an artifact of such quality, she felt. A year of life... I have never heard of such magic before. Is that truly the worth of a year of life, then...? Nine thousand gold? It is... not untrue that we have slain for less. Nine thousand gold, then; is that the cost of power, to her? 'Fair exchange', she says...

Seila crossed her arms, listening to her continue - she did indeed have a talent for perceiving magic, it seemed; though admittedly her acknowledgement of Ember as aligned to fire was... relatively unimpressive, compared to the rest. To call out thunder as her own specialty, though, was more notable. "Mm. It is an impressive tome... but even with such a discount, I find myself shrinking from the thought of paying so much when I could not control such powerful magic. You might find Amera or Ember more willing to purchase something, and I would be glad to lend them the gold should they need it, but I am sorry to say I can do no more myself than thank you for showing me such a rarity." She dipped her head in appreciation, hat following.

---

"M-Mrah...? O-Oh, no, um..." Laniva's tail swayed a bit as she suddenly found herself closely observed by a concerned Syta. "Nn... i-it's nothing, Syta, it's just... it's silly, really..." She huffed a bit, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed with how seriously Syta was asking her now. "Hahh... mrrh. It's, just... with how Amera is, I was just a little worried that you'd treat me like an actual cat... like y-you'd bring me a fish or something. It's, it's silly! I told you it was silly..." She was blushing ever so slightly now, having a little difficulty looking at her directly, ears flopping a bit, tail all over the place. "I'm, I'm fine. Really."

After a brief moment, Syta's flinch at being called out by Kise not being lost on her despite only catching it out of the side of her vision, she sighed. "U-Um... thank you, though, Syta... for asking." She gently tugged on Syta's arm, bringing her just a bit closer from around her back, taking her hand in her own, face flushed. "C-Come on, the others are probably almost done looking at her shop now..."

Edited December 13, 2023 by mcd900

[Billy12510]

"Magic thing? What about a magic thing?" Whoever it was that was talking to the Commander about this had already left it seemed. Well, there was still time to track whomever it was down later if Syndra wanted to find out more about it. "Well, I guess that's something to look into later perhaps, but with respect to what I wanted to talk about..." Syndra then paused and swallowed. Only one way to go from here... "I had an idea to bring someone from here with us to fight Kazran, with Lord Owen's approval, but you're probably not going to like who it is... I'll just be honest, I want to bring Kieran with us. Just to eliminate Kazran, and then he's out of our lives for good. I spoke with him in the dungeons alongside Lord Owen and the others. I think he genuinely regrets what he did to the Iron Tigers and wants to make up for it, and Owen agrees, but I wanted to know what you thought. If you don't want him to come with us, then that's the end of it, I'll respect your decision and tell Owen to leave him behind. Personally, I don't think he'd have the stones to try backstabbing us again, especially in front of his boss, but that's what I wanted to talk with you about."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh my gosh... Lani~" Syta couldn't help her smile at the cat's awkward nature towards things, squeezing that hand tightly. "You're so silly... You know I wouldn't do that. Not unless you asked for some. I just like your ears a lot... They're soft. You could be any other Clouded with lovely fluffy ears and I'd still want to pet them. I'm not about to start treating you like a pet, don't worry." She leaned a little into the arm holding her hand, blushing some. "Not after the kisses we've shared..." The talks of purchasing from Kise did seem to be going nowhere, so they'd be heading into town shortly. Syta did feel a little bad for the fox, but giving away life was a hard sell... Or... Not hard enough. It seemed their newcomer was completely fine doing so. "Well. You don't see that every day." It wasn't Syta's business what they did with their life force, nor was Kise gaining power a bad thing, so it seemed... So she shrugged and then latched onto Laniva's arm, hugging it tight. "Keep me safe today, my knight in shining armor~"

Kise gently set the Thoron down as Seila was a no-sell, but the sheep, she seemed interesting in offering one on good faith. Kise's eyes narrowed, but her lips curled into a smile. "Really? Well, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so goes the saying, but it does seem quite generous for someone you've just met... Maybe I'm nefarious~ How could you tell? Hmhmhm-- but." Before things could be rethought, Kise grasped the sheep's hand, and in one swift and perhaps dangerous moment, opened up the woman's mana and stole that precious drop. Mikoto had been careful about it, just in case things went wrong, but Kise was plenty confident, dropping that spec of energy into her mouth as Roxanne's mana closed again. Her tails bristled and she shivered, smiling wider. "Hahh, delicious~ Every time... Brace yourself for the exhaustion. It'll come, and pass, and you'll be the same as you were~" The swaying fluff behind her... Suddenly, without any tell, it seemed as though she was once again at six tails. Another had formed from seemingly nowhere...

She placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest some, nodding. "Anyone else~? I'm not above charity, and it is lifetime... I never forget a customer. Ever." Once I have your mana inside me, knowing I've met you before becomes quite simple... Hmhmhmhm~

Amera shivered at the swift sight, just a little confused and scared, leaning closer to Seila. "I, uh, I'm good! I'm no good at these sorta fancy things, anyway... I'm just good at throwing my fists, and not in any really, technical way... Mrow..."

---

Ren did their best to follow along with Chris' explanation on giving non-living things mana. It made enough sense, but it was still very complicated at the level of creating new things. Staffs made enough sense. A stick that could handle the channeling of magic and a conduit gem at the end of it to let that magic flow from the staff towards the target individual... Making something that big and complicated out of wood rock and metal, enough to heft itself and fire projectiles. Ren assumed that Chris was still making use of physics and leverage to make something like a trebuchet function; it would be impossibly taxing to make something throw a stone without gravity aiding in its launch, especially all on its own, but... Maybe. They didn't know. Were they about to see something amazing?

"I'd love to see one move... And, er, yes, that group is also associated with the Tigers... You must study this a lot to get it all to function properly. And source your materials carefully... Which, must be extra difficult with Kazran breathing down your necks. Hahh..." Just another painful reminder for Ren that the coming clash couldn't be avoided, by any means. They weren't afraid of the Tigers getting harmed, it was more... The chance of their truth being seen again. At least the ones that did see haven't come prying about it.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[Bluemask 96]

So Roxanne was her name, and her goal was the same as theirs: eliminating Kazran, and after openly taking Kise's discount, it would be in poor faith not to share what they knew with the sheep. Jesse stood a little closer just in case this exhaustion was a bit too much and Roxanne needed support. 

"Yes out goal is as you've guessed, we are preparing for an assault on Kazran. Our group is working directly with Lord Gaffney, so if you want more details, I can introduce you to him." Jesse then turned to Miria. "You guys can continue shopping, I'll take care of this. If they were open to working together, then we would have even more of a fighting force with them. Chances were looking up. 

It was at this point that Jesse noticed the dragon trying to get Ember's attention. "Ember, does she need help too?" If there were more folks to round up, best to get them now.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Bluemask 96

[GoldsbroTSG]

The woman; Roxanne, explained herself as someone who has had people hurt by Kazran. Miria watched, and nodded as she followed along as Roxanne spoke. She put her hand to her mouth and pondered. It sucked how much harder it was to just put her faith that she meant well. She very easily could've, but she also couldn't. However, she went and showed her good faith by going to Kise, and the cub eased up a bit, hiding a sigh.

"...Yeah." Miria agreed with Jesse as she explained their situation to Roxanne. "Sorry, we've had an unfortunate few days, but... If you're willing help out Kise then," She gave a nod. "If you got it down, Jesse, you can take her to meet Tasha and the Gaffneys." She gave a thumbs-up to her fellow Shroud, and smiled. "Looking forward to working with you, Roxanne." And she turned back over to the new woman, giving a smile.

After that, she moved over to the other new face, who was trying to commune with Ember, it looked. She wasn't going to interject just yet.

[Ether]

"Nefarious? Perhaps. You folk are the best chance I have, so I suppose I'll have to risk it." Was it really that easy? Roxanne wasn't a stranger to odd sorts of magic, Lufiria being the eternal home of such things, but Kise had only taken her hand for a moment, extracted something, and swallowed it within just about an instant. That a process like extracting life force could be quite so... efficient, was a tad alarming. But it was too late to do anything about it now, and right on cue came the wave of exhaustion that Kise had prewarned. It seemed one of the women, Jesse apparently, had gotten into position to assist her should she need it, but after a short amount of time, the fatigue passed, Roxanne shaking her head as it did so. If nothing else, it seemed her gamble had paid off. These two seemed amicable to the idea of helping her out, and introducing her to the higher-ups.

"I-I'm okay. Mmm... you weren't kidding, I've never felt so tired quite so suddenly." Roxanne mused as her body caught up with itself. As the exhaustion passed she felt... fine? No worse for wear insofar as she could tell. Opening and closing her hand a few times, ever so slightly moving the conduits beneath her cloak... motor functions were normal, her magic felt the same as always. How peculiar. Looking towards the fox merchant... was she fluffier than before? Must be seeing things...

"That's quite the trick you have there, miss Kise. I'd be fascinated to learn how it works if you'd indulge me... later on, of course. And please, if you would show me to this boss of yours. I'm looking forward to working with you as well, err..." She had gotten a few names, but not this girl's, not yet. Well, all in due time. 

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Just like that, it came to an end--Iris pushed herself away for a moment to explain what had happened with Ullr. It was clear on the boy's face, a familiar sense of apprehension. Iris quickly uttered a thank you before bounding off into the wolf's arms, asking to go into town, and saying that she was going to find something that was going to make him bark. Jeremiah couldn't help a chuckle, but then the wolf's eyes were locked on him again. Looking a bit closer, the young man was short, but there was obvious definition to him; his arms looked to be larger than Jeremiah's own--if it were simply a contest of strength Jeremiah didn't like his odds. However, it was the flame that flickered behind his verdant eyes when he spoke that brought a faint grin to Jeremiah's face, "...Yes, I know that. She'll need people to stand beside her." Slowly the two trudged away, and Jeremiah sighed. Looking down at his hand, he never imagined that he'd have been saying sorry, much less hugging a creation. Yet... it hadn't been so long ago that he'd thought them similar to people like them. When had he lost that belief? It was frustrating, frightening even... but what mattered now was that the spark was here again. Jeremiah saw them off, and turned back to the group he had arrived with--but not without taking note of the group now surrounding the Kitsune. 

She was arguably one of the most confusing things present. She was obviously a powerful kitsune; one of the very rarest types of monster--in part because of Lufiria's actions. This was the last place he'd expected to see one, and much less expected that one would be so close with Aegean. There was one new face among then--the others he'd seen at least once--a sheep it looked like. His eyes returned to Renais's training exercise, Sari moving in with the flat of her blade, only time would tell how well she took to it. Lucretia was one of the better instructors he could think of to show Renais how to guard herself with her staff, the others at the top of that list, was Lucretia's doppelganger, and Catherine. Catherine always surprised people with how adept she was a staff in her hand; she wasn't strong, but Catherine could move when she really wanted to. With those thoughts in mind, Jeremiah almost didn't notice the tear that had formed at the corner of his eye, and the faint smile on his lips. 

---

Kieran faintly flinched as Marigold continued to tease him, though, not for the reason that she might have expected. It wasn't much of a secret amongst their group where Kieran's eyes tended to wander, and a particular trait of those he fancied. "Shut up... I had other reasons for not looking. It's not like it's nearly the only thing..." Shit, does she know I use cannons for Bella, and she's just using that to tease me, or did she just accidentally trip into that? Bella was almost supernaturally well endowed, so a different word was needed for her... Kieran then let out an exasperated sigh, "It's not like I can stop you from napping, I guess..." The small blush on Kieran's face couldn't really be hidden, "You really are something else... Never had any goddamn intention, and again," He jingled his chains, "Even if I was some kind of monster who would do that, I couldn't because I'm chained here still!" He just leaned up against the wall, and resigned himself to being a pillow for the time being. It could have been worse. A lot worse actually... Maybe you don't have Bella's cannons... not a lot of people could... but... Ha, shut up, and just sit Kieran. You've got a lot of work to do in the future before you can even think about any of that. 

---

Tio snickered, "Even if the channel is right there, I'm not exactly too keen on giving someone lucky a show. Besides... that water is likely quite cold, and while water is water, I'm more in the mood for a hot bath..." Elisa flopped herself on the bed, and Tio had half a mind to follow her, but she was sure that if she touched that bed, she wasn't going to get up. "We could at least plan our movements past this excursion, but... you are right that there isn't much that we can do right now. I'm certainly feeling better, but not nearly enough to be expending magic... A bath is really sounding like the plan here..." They'd been so exhausted that they hadn't been able to do much beyond talking and resting... even cuddling had been off the table for a majority since Elisa had been so out of it, and then her collapsing after the attack on the compound. 

[Xinnidy]

"Hmm..." With a final nod towards Jeremiah, hearing the man's parting words, Üllr held a paw to Iris' claw. "Let's go," Üllr turned to her, expression mellowing. "Let's look for a clothing store. I don't know them well." He took her claw closer to his chest, an awkward smile --something he barely did--, and started his steps towards the city, leading her.

---

"Oh yeah~ Well then!" With a devious smirk at Ren's go-ahead, Christopher turned around to the assortment of siege weapons by the nearest corner. More specifically, a wheeled platform besides --where one would install the necessary weapons, likely. "So, usually, it'd take the manpower of several people to keep a mobile siege weapon moving in the middle of a skirmish, making a siege weapon a matter of manpower and expertise that was only encroached by well skilled mages and expensive spells --however!" Tinkering with the platform for a moment, obscured from view, Chris snapped his finger, stepping back from the device with a skip on his step. "Thanks to the academic synthesis of engineering and magic, a nascent kind of mage that can handle these platforms alone could flourish --without the need of exceptional magical aptitude for long range spells, or a crew working by their side!"

With a whirr, the platform had come to move on its own, or perhaps more accurately, it had moved forwards, towards Chris, wheels turning on their own, stopping a few inches away from the imagineer cat. at its center was a contraption of stone, wood and several gems indented, runes carved intricately along it, emitting a faint shine. "With a proper core, a decently skilled mage can steer and move them on their own! Of course, the main issue becomes how efficient a core is. I can keep it moving for a good hour or so on my own mana, currently, but ideally you use some of the rocks and gems as storage --which means I got my work cut out for me these next days." Turning back to Ren after his explanation, Chris' smirk had turned into a sheepish smile. "Which is why having mages to help with would be really handy."

Edited December 18, 2023 by Xinnidy

[TheRoon]

"I'm sure you have a few fans yourself, Lucy." She eyed the fellow pinkette for a brief moment before she gave the training session the rest of her attention. "Move those legs and hips...center of gravity..." She repeated softly to herself while she kept her gaze on Sari's sword arm. While she had learned a lot at the academy she didn't learn how real fights would go down. That only came with her time as an Iron Tiger. She watched her comrades fight, she had no choice but to if she wanted to keep them safe. During that time she watched how they reacted to attacks and did her best to take that to heart, this was the perfect chance to replicate some of it.

When Sari threw out his swings the pink healer hopped away from one swing and blocked the other with lower end of her staff. Her arms trembled a little, but she did her best to settle herself down. While Renais had seen combat she very rarely was the target of most attacks, the team did an excellent job protecting her. While she appreciate it she couldn't help but get a little frustrated. She wanted to do more, she had to do more. "Hm!" Renais did her best to keep up with the repeated swings, her footwork served her well enough. Her sharp eyes caught his curve ball just in time, she brought her staff up to block the attack and planted both feet firmly into the ground. "Mm..." It really did seem like she put all her focus into improving. "...how am I so far, Lucretia? Sari?"

[Ursali]

Rrrrrgghh! Alriana mentally growled, in place of not being able to do it physically, as she continued to push her legs and tail to their theoretical limits to gain on and eventually overtake Cassandra. The princess had tried to put in a final push as she neared the rock, but Alriana's speed couldn't be beat, or at least couldn't be beat by Cassandra and Aegean. She was the first to the rock enough so that she had climbed out of the water by the time her opponents reached the finish line. She had remained submerged the entire race, panting hard for air instead of for exertion caused by the race. "Hahh, Haaahhh..." As Cassandra and Aegean trailed into finish she looked down at them from her rocky perch. "Still win, even though princess cheated."

---

"Huh..." Ember hadn't been expecting a further demonstration of the multi-tailed fox's ability to sense magic. Revealing Syta as Lufirian, or herself as aligned with fire, wasn't impressive as far as she was concerned; she could've know about Syta from unrelated things to sensing magic and her own alignment to fire was blatantly obvious. Nailing Amera as aligned with thunder was however further proof of the woman's ability, neither of her companions had shown anything that could've hinted towards their magic. "Kinda of a nifty ability you got there, where'd you pick that up?" She wasn't really expecting an answer to the question, more just asked a filler while Seila mulled over the woman's pitch.

And what a pitch it was, a year of your life for, roughly, a nine-thousand gold discount. Or more, if you could scrounge up more gold to buy more things. If their group were to pool all their gold, it wouldn't be impossible for them to buy two of the woman's items. But that would require at least one of them do the trade, maybe two of them if the fox woman caught onto their sharing gold. Seila seemed out, at least for now, leaving Ember left to answer the fox. However, before she could a dragon clouded of all things approached her and asked how she might go about meeting Owen. "Yeah, just have to head on in through the courtyard," she said, turning to point towards the castle's main gate, "state yer purpose to the guards if they question ya, and just ask one of the staff for Owen's whereabouts." While Amera or Seila might still have referred to him as Lord Owen, Ember felt she had enough... Familiarity with the man that she had earned the omission of his title. "Nah I got her Jesse, she just wants to meet with Owen."

"He's not a hard man to find if you want to find 'em. Pretty open minded too, so I'm sure he'll hear your request." With that, and with Miria's attention also on the woman, Ember turned her attention back to Kise. "I'm with Seila and Jesse on this one, more or less. At least right now. If you're still here when we get back I might take your offer for that pair of mythril gauntlets, but I don't wanna promise ya anything incase I don't follow through."

The sheep clouded however had taken Kise's discount, even for no particular item at the moment. Ember couldn't really agree or understand why, but it wasn't her business to pry into the woman's, who had introduced herself as Roxanne, reasons; however it did give everyone present a chance to see the actual process of how she took a year of someone's life. To Ember, who had little knowledge of magic, it didn't look like much of anything had happened until the fox spontaneously sprouted another tail. Was that supposed to happen. would it happen every time? Questions even someone as bold as her didn't feel like asking.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Ursali

[Nanami Touko]

"Tell you? How this works~? Hahaha~! No, never! This is my livelihood, I'm afraid. I couldn't possibly share trade secrets... Seeing it should be more than enough for you~" Kise was all smiles again, all genuine smiles, always enjoying the rush of fresh Voima in her system. That her tail had returned so readily meant that either, Luthier hadn't done as much damage as she'd thought, or her body was acclimating to it all better after so many long years. Either way... I'll gut you like a fish next time we meet, Luthier. With my bare hands~

"That's fine, sweetie. The gauntlets will be here, and so will I... So feel free to come back later, hmhmhm~" Having made a single transaction, she was quite satisfied, leaning back against Akai. "You all have a lovely time in town... I'll be here, nice and comfortable, until you get back~ And, miss hellhound... Years and years and years of practice. That's all~ I'm quite adept with magic."

---

Iris happily squeezed his paw in her claw, slowly climbing onto his back after she head, legs around his stomach, tail around his waist; she had to make sure she didn't fall off. "Let's go Ullr! I don't really know them well either, but when we see clothes in a window, we'll know that's the right store~!" She was all smiles now, her baggage gone for the moment, everything looking up... There was just Ullr to deal with. She'd been feeling weird around him for a while now. A good weird. She wanted to feel more of it. "You know... You look really good when you smile. Makes me feel all sortsa ways, Ullr... I hope I can make you feel special today~"

---

"Me? Fans? No way~" Maybe she did, maybe some of the girls around here had budding feelings, but it sure was a taco parade with the Tigers... No nice and tough guys. Hahh... How long will my search last~ There was no time to muse on that longer, watching Renais manage to parry against Sari's swings. "Woohoo~! Keep it up, girl! Brace with your legs, make sure you don't lose your footing!"

"Hm." She had the precision to do this, but her arms were already starting to shake. If anyone put any real power behind their swings... "I'm going to swing harder now, Renais. Try to keep up. Going for six... If you can stay standing, we'll call that a success." He was plenty stronger than most of the people they'd fought, so if she could handle him even at half his strength... Maybe she had some promise in this method of self defence.

---

"Hahh... Yeah... You, sure did... Hh..." Cass had swam her heart out, but still, Alriana was already atop the rocks by the time Cass was climbing them, huffing and panting. She'd barely beaten Gean, only because of her little cheat of a headstart. "Hahhh, whew! What a thrill~! I missed this... Mmm." Cass sat down, soaked, shaking her hair off some. "Hahh... Sorry for cheating. Guess I wanted to see how far you could push yourself... Really... Wanted to make sure you had the stamina to take out Kazran. Mmm... I..."

Her head fell some, hair hiding her eyes, staring down at the rock. "I really want you all to succeed. And I'll be there. I'll be there next to the both of you... I'll swing my axe as hard as I can, bite that fucker's neck if I have to... But I'm still scared. Scared that we'll fail. That everything we've built up will crash down around us... I mean, look at me. Look at us. Owen and I are eighteen... We're barely adults, and we have to help all these people?" She sighed and hugged her legs close to herself. "Owen's so strong. He's so much better at handling it than I am... I really hope we succeed. I really do..."

---

"Yes... Typically these would take... Oh. Oh my!" The platform had suddenly come to life, moving its way towards Chris. They leaned forward and inspected the intricate rune work in the stone that made up the platform's centre, nodding slowly. "I see... That's pretty ingenious. And all you need are some mages to help it along? Mmm..." Ren pulled their staff forward and aimed it at the platform. "Do you mind if I try mine? My mana is... a little unique, so I don't know if it'll work, but better to try than not, right?"

Edited December 18, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[JakezuGD]

"One of the Gaffneys' people wanted people to help move their apparently magic-propelled artillery, that's all I know. Shouldn't be hard to find them if that's what they're traveling with if you're interested," Tasha replied quickly, shutting up to get the conversation that no longer had an involved party present out of their mouths for now. Her attention was quickly grabbed by Syndra's uncharacteristic hesitation to bring up whatever she was about to. While they were far from the closest people in the Tigers, she knew the girl as headstrong and confident, though she was probably being affected by the attempt on her life on some level. If not by the act itself, the simple fact of them being in much bigger leagues now.

The actual reason blindsided Tasha a little, though, blinking as she thought over the information. "You went to talk with him, and that came out to you wanting to bring him with us instead of either of you wanting the other dead? Call that a surprise, but honestly, if he's willing to go, might as well bring him along. Man was ready to die at gunpoint when I held him up, I'm sure he had no plan for if Luthier failed in his mission." Her tail whipped to the side at the thought of that man, even as she kept calm otherwise. "Maybe he's figured out something for himself, so good for him if he did. Always better to have people who want to live to fix their mistakes than not, yeah?" She put on something of a smug smile to finish her train of thought with, "Besides, I still have to tell him off for thinking we couldn't do it."

Though the tiger was content with letting that be the end of it, someone who could give his view on the same matter was approaching in her sight. "Speaking of, I guess I'll be getting our temporary employer's opinion on the matter soon."

---

Owen was a very busy man today, that much Bella was prepared for, but the speed at which he handled the matter without even questioning her reasoning - or even hearing her reasoning in the first place - shocked her somewhat. He didn't tend to be this quick to judge intent, but perhaps that was just how much he implicitly trusted her. "I see. Thank you, Lord Owen, I'll be back before you know it. I will take care of the other matter as well." While she only gave a very short reply and a quick bow to the departing master of the castle, her sad expression told a story different from what she'd said.

Left alone to her thoughts, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, arms crossed under her chest. "You're a silly boy, Owen... You know why I came back here. Are you trying to save my emotions, or just not considering everything because of your hurry?" Quietly, she spoke to herself, letting out a slow sigh. I don't need others to help keep up my facade for me. Maybe you'll understand later why I put it up to begin with... if I live to tell the tale of this excursion.

---

"Then I'll be the one who's lucky and come with you.~" Elisa smiled, still keeping her eyes shut while somehow trying to stave off the imminent, encroaching sleep she oh so needed. If taking a bath with Tio was on the table, she'd keep herself from slipping off to dreamland even if it took getting out of this awfully comfortable bed a bit earlier. Much as it might get boring with relatively little for them to do, she couldn't help being glad about that in their current condition, hopefully letting them get back into good health by the time they'd be moving again. "Haah... You know, maybe it's a good thing I'm still so tired. Any other time we'd get a chance to relax like this, we wouldn't be sleeping much...~ Hehe."

[Bluemask 96]

"Well if she wants to meet Owen, she may as well come with us, we're heading that way too." It was best to get all introductions done at once, for Lord Owen's sake. "Sorry about that, the name's Jesse, pleasure to meet you Roxanne." It looked like folks were done with Kise's expo for now, and it was at this moment Jesse noticed the beast behind the enthusiastic shop owner. Quite the companion... 

"Well if we're done here, I'll introduce these two to Lord Owen, he's probably back in the meeting room." Jesse waved to the rest of the shopping group. There was definitely time to catch up with them later, Jesse was curious as to what Eslcas had to offer. For now, she had introductions to take care of. "We can be off ladies, can I get your name too miss dragon?"

---

Gean was the last of the group to arrive, though she did manage to close the gap between her and Cass. It had been ages since she had fun with others in the water like this. Gean joined the two on top of the rock, just in time to hear Cass' true intentions come out. It seemed that the weight of this mission was weighing on her harder than she let off at first.

A smile showed on Gean's face as she looked up, hair glistening from the water. "Well I have a ton of things I want and need to do, so warlord or not, I'm going to succeed on this mission. Plus, I can't let my first voyage as Captain Aegean end in failure can I?" The anxieties and worry that Gean had on the ship were gone from her voice, as if the race washed them away. She would do this, and do whatever else she needed to in order to be with the people she loved.

[Ether]

"Well, it was worth a shot. Magic like that is quite interesting, after all. I won't pry further." Roxanne gave a light bow to Kise alongside, turning towards Jesse afterwards. She still hadn't gotten the other woman's name, but it seemed like that could come with time, Jesse being the one to escort them to see the mercenaries boss as well as Gaffney. On that note, it seemed that the dragon that had approached looking for Lord Gaffney would also be taken along... had she overplayed her hand? It seemed that perhaps less effort might have been needed to get an audience than she expected. In the middle of war preparations?

Roxanne wasn't going to bring up the lacking security, since it would almost assuredly jeopardize her own position, but it was a tad disconcerting. If access to Kazran was anywhere near as easy as access to Gaffney, the former would have surely been eliminated years ago.

"The pleasure is all mine, Jesse. I suppose we should be off... so long as you don't intend to proposition an end to hostilities, miss, I suppose there's little harm in making the one trip."

[MRDRHAWK]

Success! Mina was glad that everyone seemed to not be freaking out about her asking about seeing Lord Owen, given how lively the castle seemed. Then again, it wasn’t like she was here for anything bad… quite the opposite, really. “Oh, that’d be great, thanks. Um… sorry, I never did catch your names to thank you all properly.”

Wait, she hadn’t introduced herself yet, either. Way to be smooth, Mina. “Sorry! Sorry. My name’s Mina. Mina Sabnoc. My brother and I run a clinic in town.” She hoped maybe that might ring a bell with any of them - probably not, but it would make things easier. She already felt awkward for intruding. “If you’d like, we can swing by after I’ve spoken to Lord Owen. I’m sure Ryon would love to meet some new people for a change.”