Thalion nods at Riven and Flare's comments. "Where are our mentors? Surely they're around here somewhere." He sighs as Cynthia's thoughts further sour Thalion already poor mood. "So what's to become of us now?"
"If we have passed the test, then I would presume we are full citizens and deserve to be treated as such." Cynthia mused. She paused for another moment. "Of course, I don't seem to recall hearing anyone actually saying we passed..." she added. "So perhaps we're not quite so valued as of yet."
You go out to the testing grounds and look for your mentors and after asking around a bit your learn that they still haven't arrived. Nobody has seen them.
The girl you met this morning arrives "Finally I found you! I was worried the assassins might have gotten to you already!" she says seeming panicked. "Follow me quick, we need to get to the docks. There is a ship waiting for us...We have to get to Riddleport! We need to find Malcom and his master before they get to them too."
Riven is surprised by the girls panic. "We need to talk to our masters first, I do not like being so in the dark."
"They are the ones who sent me to look for you! she takes a deep breath and explains. "The village was attacked by the Red Mantis! I'm sorry but at least one of your masters is dead. Joley went down and the others were fighting of six armed men to give me time to get away...I do not know what happened to the other mentors...I ran here as fast as I could and started looking for you...I'm so sorry I'll tell you everything I can on the way but we need to get going."
"Woah! Woah! Woah! Ship? Riddleport? Where's Andrela? And Joley! And Zack and Isabea too! Who's Malcom, and who's his master? Who's they?" Thalion responds with similar urgency, and realizes he forgot to breath in that bit of rambling. He takes a moment to do just that before continuing. "Who are you exactly? I mean, I know you're...uh...what's your name again?" The cleric blushes at his inability to remember the girl's name, and looks to his friends for help to cover his lapse.
"Wait! What?! What happened to Joley!" Thalion is nearly screaming as he responds to her news.
Flare was just exhausted. She'd spent so much time slowly working herself up, that eventually she'd just given up on words for the most part. "What he said... who are you..?"
The girl motions for you to follow her and starts moving towards the dock she talk while walking and looking around nervously at rooftops and at the crowd. "I'm sorry about your masters I really am I had hope that my warning would be on time that you could all escape. My name is Andrianna and I'm just a girl who ran away from home to go on an adventure...I'm not important like you are...A man took me under his wing after I found a bit more adventure than I could handle...His name was Lucien Quintos, he trained me and taught me things...I know you have marks on your arms...Lucien didn't tell me everything just that those who bear that mark are supposes to save the world from some evil that will try to destroy the world. There is a cult that worships this evil thing that was stopped once before by the goddess Elpis and it seems they hired the worlds most skilled and dangerous assassins to hunt down and kill everyone who bears that mark along with the former chosen of Elpis who guard them."
Victor looks at the girl sceptically, but believes that there is something in her story that might have a grain of truth. For one thing, it contained a plausible explanation as to why the Mantis organisation would target them...for another she apparently had some knowledge of his mark.
"We trusted someone we thought an ally, and were betrayed...can you give us a reason to trust you enough to leave on the word of someone we don't really know?"
She stops and thinks "...Well...Lucian said your marks would glow more brightly if danger was near and if a certain starmetal was held up to them...It should glow very brightly if someone that meant you harm was right in front of you."
Victor considers this new information, before coming to a quick decision, "Good enough for me then, lead us on"
"How convenient." Cynthia observed. She had quite a bit more to say, but decided that now wasn't the time as she followed the others. She didn't seem enormously upset at the news - the best that could be said was that she was weighing the factors and thinking about her options. She'd always been the type who preferred to gather information before acting, even at times when haste was important. Andrianna could interpret the Shaman's words in any way she chose - perhaps any of the interpretations would be correct.
Thalion raises his mark, and looks from the mark to Adrianna and back, as he contemplates her and her presence here. Suddenly, he flashes her a smile. "You know, you found us, and now you're guiding us. I think that makes you pretty important." The smile turns crooked as he continues. "Or deluded."
Flare, on the other hand, seemed pretty significantly upset. "That's just stupid. We have a way to know when we're in danger, and the people entrusted to protect us don't even tell us it exists, or to use it? To the point where -people we care about die-?" She shakes her head. "Convenient, indeed. The first time it ever glowed was when you showed up." She watched Andrianna for reactions.
Out of spells and not one for direct combat Riven had little choice but to follow the group and hope they could survive.
"I know you think I could be making this all up, or lying...I don't really have any proof to offer you...If only Lucien were here..."
"Will we meet your Lucien? I have to admit I don't know much about you, or how much of all this I believe or even understand. But, I think my masters trusts this Lucien, and that is enough for me to trust you."
As they continue moving under the guidance of the newcomer, Thalion fidgets, bothered by the heavy atmosphere that seems to have weighed down the group. He fights the urge to roar out in rage against this mood. "So, what was adventuring life with Lucien like, and what made it feel like it's too much for you?"
"Hard to say...Even when he was training me Lucien would often disappear for weeks at a time without telling me were he was going or when he would return. One day he came to find me and told me that the rune-bearers were being targeted and that we had to warn them. He sent me here to find you and to warn your masters of the danger. I had no instruction beyond that. Lucien said he needed to go find the others and would come find me when he was done."
You are getting near the docks an Andrianna walk towards a large merchant vessel docked there.
"How irresponsible." Cynthia observed mildly... of course, she was rather obsessed with knowledge and information, so perhaps it was only expected that she'd be vexed at anyone who hid important things. "Oh, lovely, a merchant vessel! So many boxes and barrels for assassins to hide in as we set sail." she said cheerfully.
Flare fixed Cynthia with her bad-mood glare, continuing to be both quiet and grumpy simultaneously.
Thalion looks at Cynthia worriedly. "Do you think there are assassins on board?" As he asks, he cringes reflectively when he catches a glimpse of Flare's glare at Cynthia's direction.
The poor cleric sighs as he continues on with the group. Absently, he pulls out the pewter figurine and studies it. Suddenly, he exclaims, "Hey, is my hair really that unkempt?" He reaches up, and tries to smooth his stubborn hair.
Riven kept her head down, kept quiet, and followed her friends as she tried to deal with everything that was happening, she hated feeling so useless but with only her weakest spells she barely even fight.
Flare's glare became a slight frown, as she noticed Thalion's reaction. She was in terrible spirits, but being mean to her friends was something she did her best to avoid. If they were able to maintain some semblance of 'okay' then who was she to be angry at them for it. She nodded half-heartedly to him, "Yeah... it is.."
Pulled out of her sullen stupor, she finally speaks on what she's been thinking. "None of this makes any sense... they attack during the test, sure. No other way to separate us. But they send the world's worst assassin to kill us during the test. They send better assassins to keep our mentors busy, and even kill one of them. We're being attacked in one of the safest places in the world; we have a gold Dragon guarding the whole place, for goodness' sake... And we respond by running away from our mentors, our guards, our homes, and our reward for passing the test, to go on some random ship, sail overseas, to a place we've never been, where no one is gonna protect us, unless we happen to run into her mentor..." Flare shook her head, letting it trail off, for the others to add their own rhetorical closing statements.
Cynthia's smile widened. "Indeed. It's an absolutely crazy plan, isn't it?" she asked, tilting her head as she looked at Flare. "But seeing the flaws in your actions isn't worth much unless you can take the next step. Do you think we should continue forward, and if not, what do you think would be a better plan?" she inquired.
"Don't really think there is one... she mumbled as a response. We either trust her... because the elders did.. Or we don't, and just sit around hoping. But just hoping... she shakes her head again.
Thalion gives up his fight with the hair, and grins at Flare. "Well, I suppose the styling does gives me more character."
As he pockets the statue, Thalion ponders their words. "You know, if I had my way, I would be running toward our masters at this very moment." He looks over to Cynthia and Flare. "So, they send a bad assassin, make an attempt destined to fail, which alerts us, causing us to go running to our masters, where the real assassins ambush and kill us."
He slaps his forehead. "Oh no! Now I sound just like Cynthia!" He runs over to Riven, and grasps her by the shoulders. "Save me! Feed me and turn me back to myself!" His stomach growls, accentuating Thalion's plight.
"You know", Victor said thoughtfully, "Someone must hate us really bad if they are going to employ the Mantis to such a large degree...and its not merely pure hatred, they must have some serious power to afford the fee."
Riven gently shrugs Thalion off of her shoulders. "Not now Thalion."
With the gentle reproach, Thalion's crudely woven jovial facade breaks apart completely. "Why..." the poor boy utters quietly, tears running unabated down his face.
Andrianna speaks to the captain who motions for you to get aboard.
"The captain has agreed to take us to Riddleport. Hardly a safe place, it is a haven for thieves and pirates! I don't understand why one of the chosen would take his charge there. And your right staying on the island would be much safer for you than going there even with the red mantis looking for you. I'm just doing what Master Zack told me. He said I needed to find you and take you to find Sloanne and Malcom in Riddleport. Another chosen and his apprentice who may also be in danger and unaware of the threat."
Flare sighed. "Right. Heroes and a calling. Like in the stories. We can either stay here where it's safe... or we can go and face our destiny. Stupid marks..." she shakes her head looking at the symbol.
She rubs her temples once more and moves to comfort Thalion. She doesn't look any less annoyed, but at least there aren't any death glares, as she gives Thalion a shoulder to cry on.
Riven was in no condition to comfort Thalion as she was struggling to keep herself up so she was thankful for Flare's step in.
Cynthia rubbed her eyes for a few moments. "Destiny is what you make of it." she mused. "Did they say anything else, Miss Andrianna?" Cynthia's habits as a scholar had lead her to question nearly everything that happened around her - and the odder something was, the more questions she tended to ask. The masters were quite familiar with that by now, and the mere notion that any so-called chosen would have been sequestered in a place like Riddleport - which had a very real possibility of said chosen getting stabbed in the street - was patently absurd. That wasn't how you properly protected someone, and the shaman was finding herself increasingly doubtful about this situation.
"I vote we just trust her. It hasn't steered us wrong, yet..." she said, dryly... but she did seem to mean it. "Destiny awaits, after all."
"I am near useless now, I have little choice since I'll likely die if we get attacked again but if any of you want to try and save the mentors I'll join you and take the risk."
Rivens voice was shaky as she spoke but her face assured them she was serious.
Thalion smiles weakly at Flare, clearly appreciating her attempt to settle and comfort him. He looks to Flare in silent thanks, before moving on and making his way up the boat.
As he stands near the edge of the deck, and look back toward his homeland, his body tightens in anger. "I thought passing the test meant we get to stay..." Thalion forced out the words through clenched teeth as he tries to etch the view before him into his memory.
The words of his friends flow in and out of his awareness as he stared on. Riven's words jolt him back to the concerns at hand. Thalion tries to consider the options, and shivers. "I don't know, Riven, I just don't know. Leaving, and I abandon them to their deaths. Return to them, and I see them dying to shield me, while I fall helplessly to these people. All I see is death..." The thoughts grip Thalion tightly, and his body begins to shake uncontrollably in response. Thalion looks despairingly from Riven to Cynthia and Victor, hoping they would lend their thoughts to Riven's words.
Flare rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing as useless. At least you're no less useful than we are. Everyone has a purpose. If the Mantis are holding back our mentors... they're on a whole other level from us. And our mentors would have to fight to protect us, and risk themselves in the process. If we're going to give them a fighting chance... we can't go back. Forward is the only way to be proactive." She said, agreeing with Thalion.
"But... as for the test... Maybe we haven't finished it, yet. This is the place we'll return some day, having earned our place here. Or... we won't. We've been trained as heroes. Heroes don't sit on an island while the world falls apart around them.
"It will take a few days to reach Riddleport...I will try to have a message send back to find out what happened to your mentors. Hopefully the others made it out ok."
Thalion smiles at Flare's words. "Heroes, you say. Strange how that is the one thing I am so not seeing about myself right now." The cleric straightens himself as he lets out a sigh. "It seems our course is set, and we've a few days to stew over it all before reaching Riddleport. I suggest we find some food to help inspire our thinking." He looks over to Adrianna and moves to join her. "Do you know where I can find some grub on board here?"
"The modern bard never talks about when the hero cries. For some odd reason, that's considered to be a sign of weakness, as opposed to a sign of strength; It's human to feel... perhaps they wish heroes to be larger than life." Flare shrugs slightly. "Don't worry, though. If I ever write a story about you, I'll be sure to have you cry." Flare says, as she hops onto a nearby crate that very probably needs to be moved at some point, still clearly stressed over the whole ordeal... but trying to make light of it.
Riven would spend most of her time aboard the ship alone, if they had separate rooms she would spend her time there if not she would roam topside.
For her part, Cynthia calmly wandered around the ship... discreetly checking for magical sources and auras while she was at it. She was also working to memorize the layout of the ship in case she had to move quickly, and using the examination to get a much better sense of what the ship's captain and crew were like. After all, why do just one thing when you could do two or three at the same time?
"You wouldn't!" Thalion responds in mock anger, before making a face at her and moving on with Adrianna. Only his clenched fists by his side give a hint of the tension that refused to let him go.
...
Thalion roams the ship, constantly on the lookout for his companions and frustrated they prove so difficult to find. Fortunately, there appears to be no shortage of food, and the folks who break and dine spare at least a moment or two to exchange words before returning to work.
Flare, lacking in art supplies for the first time in years, would turn towards more martial training, when she couldn't be of use in some other way. Though she would also take some time to familiarize herself with her pilfered books that she never had a chance to return. She was very rarely not in an easily visible location when she did either... though occasionally, one would simply find her staring at the distant sea.
You get some rest and the trip is uneventful.
As the ship is about to dock Andrianna calls you all together.
"We are about to dock...The captain is nervous and would like to leave as soon as possible...I have enough coin to pay him to remain for a time but I'm not sure if I should. I should also mention that it will be dangerous for me to travel here. None of the outfits I have would not draw attention here I am afraid. I should stay on the ship or at an Inn while we stay in Riddleport. I will do what I can to help you with you find this Sloane and his student however."
"I'm not sure I'd ask him to stay, unless you think we'd be unable to secure a way out without him. And putting him at risk just means he may well leave as soon as he gets the notion. Seems like a poor idea. Besides, this is where your master said Sloane and friends were, right?"
"Alright I will tell the captain to drops us off and leave. I will go find an in to reside in hopefully we can find someplace reputable" says Andrianna.
You disembark from the boat and Andrianna bring a case of luggage and wears a red cloak to partially hide her outfit.
"Were going to need some supplies...Take this and find us a place to stay and then go get some supplies. I will follow your lead and try not to draw attention to myself." she holds out a bag of coins. (500 gold)