As Cel seemed to relax, Henri tightened as she was led into the next room. Her hands twitch and make very slight, uncontrollable movements - seeing so much brass in a single room makes her teeth ache, but she was trying to hide her own nervousness as best as possible. She sees Alaina there and gives her a small smile and a nod, but nothing more will come out in her state of uncomfortableness.
She quietly listens to the whole spiel, throwing her gaze over the room and the people within, mentally playing out an escape situation. She figured she couldn't even take one of these a~+%~~&s, much less all of them, and they'd probably play for keeps.
She mentally shakes her head, still trying not to show any of her inner conflict. I'm just 'another fighter' to them. Don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen. Her usual grin returned slowly as she listened to the wizard spout theories. Frost drake. Now that would be a fun fight. He'd probably eat me. And then I'd shoot his heart from the inside. As the wizard is talking, though, something hits her.
When he asks for questions, Henri addresses the wizard, her eyes flitting between him and the captain. "Yeah, I've got one. Not that I don't want the job or anything, but if you've got a locator thing on them why don't you just send your soldiers after it?" She glances at the captain's movements, and her mind tells her not to add the next part, but it tumbles out of her mouth before she can stop it - "Is your magic that bad that you don't want to waste sending your own guys out there?"
As she said it, Henri knew that was a mistake. But she was never one to take back a bad decision, and raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
Alaina nodded back at Henri as she entered, and stood by while Master Fairhurst explained what was going on. At the mention of the map, the Wolf's eyes narrowed slightly. Why not give that map to the party that was just leaving? A slight smirk crossed her lips as Henri voiced her exact thought.
She then braced herself as Cel's power started culminating into a powerful blast. After the blast, she readied herself just in case his rash actions provoked a......less than friendly response.
Dulae comes to attention once inside the room and keeps her expression stoic throughout the Captain's mild dressing down. It really didn't compare to what irate superiors had given out in the past. However when Silo begins speaking it takes effort to keep a hint of dislike off of her face.
Does he even care that people have died, and that even more are going to? He should know that systematic searches find the most with least risk. No wonder the captain wouldn't let him send their own teams out with the maps. She probably couldn't block his access to funds though...
"I have a question about your maps: What do you mean 'tuned' to the missing people? Are we talking something on them, or the people themselves? And does it work on their bodies, if the worst should have happened?" She pauses for a moment. "And why does this batch have the best chance? That seems a bit inconsistent for magic."
::: Scheduled GM-bot protocol sequence 002 :::
::: GM Mikkel bot-ing Xizoh (with pre-arranged consent) :::
With his mind on healing potential survivors, Xizoh says, "Excuse me, how many went missing? And do you expect that they may still be alive?"
Captain Vazquez looks amused at Henri’s question. She crosses her arms and says to Silo, ”Yes, Master Fairhurst, why is that?”
Silo puts a hand sheepishly behind his head. ”Well, you see, the maps are a bit experimental. We’re still working out the details. What was it that you told me about using troops, Captain? “Not on your life”? Or "I need all soldiers to be doing something useful"? Something like that. That’s where this program comes in.”
Captain Vazquez adds pointedly, ”We’ve been sending out teams of five to seven civilians with maps for the past three days. They have yet to find anything of interest.”
”Difficult circumstances often drive innovation, my dear Captain.” Silo smiles assuredly.
The captain looks skeptical.
At Dulae’s question Silo remarks, ”Ah! What an astute question. You’ve gotten right to the heart of the matter.”
He sifts through some of the papers on the desk. ”Where is that… confounded… just had it… Ah. Here we are.” He holds up the map of Mount Oranis with the single red dot and also a similar map of Mount Oranis with what looks like a cloud of green that is more and less dense in places.
He holds the green map forward. ”We have reason to expect all those missing to be carrying a certain type of rare metal. Our prior attempts to trace them have been worked through the location of this metal. It looked very promising, you can see the clustering of green here is sort of like a hot spot. Anyway, it hasn’t turned up much, so we switched tactics to hair.”
Silo holds up the map with the single red dot. ”This is a prototype map - this dot is tracing my apprentice, Tuk, by his hair. See the nice crisp location? It follows him as he moves.“
He places both maps back down on the table. ”Last night I had Tuk collect hair from the brushes and clothes of some of the missing. We’ve spent most of the night and this morning working on these.” He gestures to the apprentices behind him, working diligently on their papers.
”I anticipate the first one to be ready in an hour or two. I fully expect it will lead you straight to them.” Silo says confidently, with obvious excitement about this new advancement.
At Xizoh’s question, Silo falters. ”I, well, that is... “ He turns to Captain Vazquez. ”Captain?”
The captain replies smoothly, ”Eighteen total missing. No reason to expect they have survived this long without shelter. As there are many known caves and ample firewood, we’re not ruling out survivors, but I wouldn’t say it’s likely.”
Silo looks somewhat sobered by her statement.
As Cel begins asking questions, Silo attempts to answer them. ”Those are teleportation orbs. They… Oh, ah, maybe you’d better not touch them. Let’s perhaps just… ” Silo reaches out his hands in a calming gesture.
After Cel’s demonstration, Silo looks astounded. ”Remarkable!”
The three apprentices look up with shocked expressions. The wind has blown the papers they’ve been laboring on around the room. One woman rises and curses loudly, ”Gods DAMN it! Three days worth of work. What in Norah’s ARSE did you let them do in here, Silo!?”
Lieutenant Buhari looks uneasy, shifting his weight and looking back and forth between Cel and the captain. Captain Vazquez watches Cel with an impassive expression.
”Damage report.” She says to the apprentices behind her, without turning around.
As her colleague rages, sifting through the nearest papers and cursing incoherently, another woman rises and says, ”Um, well, it looks like Hiyun has lost three days work. Koji and I maybe two days. It will probably take longer to sort through it than to do it over, I think. No structural damage to permanent assets.”
”The maps?” Silo asks anxiously, color draining from his face.
Koji replies tiredly, ”Who knows where the notes are, but I managed to grab the one I was working on. Looks like Quida did too.”
The wizard looks visibly relieved.
After a moment of quiet, Captain Vazquez rips up Cel’s note sheet, throws it in the bin, and says evenly, “Out.”
Lieutenant Buhari takes a crisp step forward to offer a defense for Cel. “Sir, he’s never had the opportunity to use his magic freely before.”
The captain shoots the lieutenant an incredulous look. “I don’t give a damn. What does this look like, a nursery? You should understand exactly how much three days of skilled mage labor is worth.” She looks around the room. ”Reckless. Wasteful.”
Silo quips half-heartedly to his apprentices, ”Well, she did ask for someone to explain what a wind mage is. Interesting, right?” Hiyun glares at him like she’d try to wring his neck if he were any closer.
”Recruit on your own time, Silo, and for gods’ sake get him some basic training first.” The captain snaps. ”I have a responsibility to make sure anyone on that mountain has a reasonable chance of returning. He is erratic. He has no self-control. I have enough missing people on my hands as it is.”
She looks Cel in the eyes and says, ”Young man, we are not going to pay you to be a liability. You just lost a spot on this team.” She turns to Lieutenant Buhari and orders, ”Lieutenant, see him out.”
Lieutenant Buhari walks over to Cel, gives him an apologetic smile, and says softly, ”Sorry, pal. Time to go.” He doesn't move to touch him, but makes a clear, polite gesture toward the door. Zahan opens it for them.
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Henri feels the room bend around her slightly as Cel begins to gather power, and her fingers began to twitch. Maybe it was her elven blood, maybe it was the myriad of fights she had been in, but something was telling her that this was a bad idea. She glanced around the room, and took a small step in the air mage's direction. "Rabbit, I don't think-" but her thought was cut off as a burst of air sprung forth from Cel's hands, sending her reeling back.
Catching herself before she looked too ungraceful, Henri took a step back and looked at the room with worry. At worst this is a fight. At best... Her thoughts rapidly wrap through different functions as she tries to find a solution, watching with some fear at the captain's controlled outburst. Anger flowed through her as the lieutenant began to show Cel out, and her hands clenched into fists and began to let out small tremors. In a bar this would be settled in seconds. Desk into cap. Book into big wizard. Steal sword. Hit the magickers in the throat.
She shook away her thoughts. It wasn't worth it. She wan't about to risk her life for this kid she had only known for a few days. Why was she so mad about this? Her fists released and her stance loosened, imprints of her nails dug deep into her palms. Her body was filled with tension, but at least she no longer looked like she was about to engage the room at large. By Norah's decaying eyes, I can't wait to get out of this dump. Her grin had morphed into a snarl, but she stood by, giving Cel a touch on the shoulder. "This is ridiculous. He made a mistake, he's not one of your military toughs. The rabbit may be jumpy, but he's probably got the best eyes here from what I've seen, and we're gonna need that on this thing. If anything, he's just shown that he can really defend himself."
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Cel had never been scolded like this before. It was probably the first time in his life that he truly felt the gravity of a situation. He's certainly made mistakes in the past, but it's pretty clear he's never really been in a situation where life and death was involved. He's definitely never been around military personal let alone interacted with them on an official capacity.
His expression of adorable puppy face didn't last long. As the Captain began to yell, Cel began to truly understand the mistake he made. And then the fear set in. He started to back away from the Captain, tried to shrink further into his clothes. Whether by accident or pity, none of his antics ever really got him in trouble before, but this was real and it shook him to the core.
She looks Cel in the eyes and says, ”Young man, we are not going to pay you to be a liability. You just lost a spot on this team.” She turns to Lieutenant Buhari and orders, ”Lieutenant, see him out.”
As the Captain turns to look Cel in the eye, his eyes pop fully open as a reaction then dart to stare intensely at the floor. To each sentence she speaks he nods several times extremely quickly, but doesn't speak. He doesn't hear the Lieutenant say his condolences. As soon the Captain finishes her last sentence he bolts out the door wanting to be as far away from the wrath as possible, tears starting to form in his eyes.
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Alaina couldn't help herself. As soon as Cel left, the Wolf turned to the Captain, "That wasn't necessary, Captain. He's young, yes. A bit reckless, yes. But this is all new to him. He just needs a little guidance. If you let back in, I'll take personal responsibility and promise it won't happen again." It was her Father's stubbornness peeking through, and the fact she didn't like the little guy being pushed around. A Wolf always protects her pups. Choztu would say.
As the wind starts to build up in the room, Dulae's eyes go wide and her hand snaps to her morningstar. What in Altien's name is- her thoughts are cut off by the blast of air wrecking the room. She nearly draws her weapon, but stops at seeing Cel's apologetic expression.
"Ridiculous? Whats ridiculous is managing to potentially cost the lives of those lost soldiers before he even gets onto the mountain!"
"Look, I get that you know him already and he seems like a nice kid... I'm sure he'd be welcome at the university to learn his magic and get the hang of it. But at the moment, I can't say I trust my life in his hands. Do you? Because something on that mountain either killed or chased off an entire squad of soldiers, and I don't particularly want someone who can't control themselves getting its attention and me eaten."
Henri spins towards Dulae with malice in her eyes, opening her mouth to say something, but the words won't come. Instead of delivering a retort to this half-elf, she just let out a snarl and shook her head. It's. Not. Worth it. The words kept running through her head over and over as she sat back. She really needed the money, and as much as she'd like to help Cel, she couldn't risk jeopardizing that. She'd apologize to him later. Still, she couldn't stop a string of words from slipping out with a whisper, "I'd trust him more than those soldiers. Or you."
She runs a hand through her hair, taking off and readjusting her hat, expression slowly turning from vicious anger to neutral. "Fine. Whatever."
Alaina wanted to retort, but her upbringing stepped in to stop her. Respectfully, the Wolf bowed to the Half-Elf, "As you wish, Miss.....?"
Xizoh stood quietly as Cel released his power. That's...a lot more than I would have expected. As more and more of the people argued, he finally snapped, his expression sour. "Your own Lieutenant pointed out where this comes from. Abbhen is not somewhere you just practice magic, trust me on that. He was told he was safe for once to actually use his talent. Yes, it could have hurt someone, but I've treated friendly fire cases from trained mages. All magic is dangerous."
He pauses for a moment, taking a breath to gather himself. Calmer, he says, "We are trusting prototype magic to find people after all. "
Dulae is taken aback by the elf's hostile reaction and eyes her for a moment. Does she realize I'm trying to save his life as well as ours? For him its some gold, for us its death! She decides its not worth saying anything.
She turns to the human with the shield instead and returns the bow. "Retired Sergeant Toema, at your service. Its good to meet you, but I didn't catch your name earlier?"
Lieutenant Buhari walks briskly after Cel, calling ”Wait up! I’ll walk you out.”
After the remaining four have a chance to respond, the captain says in a steady voice, “Peace.” She holds out her hands in a conciliatory gesture, looking between the arguing parties.
“I can see that you’re angry, Miss...” the captain says calmly, glancing down at Henri’s notes. “Marchand. And that does you credit. Loyalty is an admirable trait.”
The captain inspects the room, where the three apprentices and Silo are all busy carefully collecting papers from the ground.
She rubs her temple with her free hand and looks noticeably tired. “Despite his destructive actions, your friend is free, and your friend is still welcome to come to this place should he have a need. And you are free to choose your friends however you’d like.
"But this is not a training exercise. I am recruiting individuals who are already competent to complete a difficult and dangerous task. Safely. He has demonstrated a clear lack of control with… whatever it is he does.”
“Aerokenesis, I believe,” Silo chimes in from the floor, picking up papers. “Truly fascinating. I believe he would make an excellent addition to the military with some maturity.”
The captain does not hide a small smile at that, "This is the army, Silo, and we have a job to do. We can't be responsible for the emotional development of every kid in need who walks in here."
She frowns again. ”What you do with your time is your choice,” she says to Alaina. ”But I need someone who makes good decisions today. I won’t be responsible for the actions of someone reckless and untrained.”
She clears her throat, collects herself and says, "Come now, let's get back to business."
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As Cel bolts out the door, completely oblivous to the Lieutenant calling after him, he heads straight for the front door of the building going for the nearest alleyway where he can hide. The first one he finds he goes for and tries to hide behind any debris...
He sits down pulling his knees up making himself as much of a ball as he can sitting against the wall. I...I don't know why I did that? She was SO angry! Why did I have to do that? I've never seen anyone so angry with me before...and...and I've never been so afraid before. What if...what if people here aren't okay with the kind of magic I can do? What if that's why she was so angry. Everyone in the room looked so surprised, even the wizard looked like he hadn't seen something like that before. Am I so unusual? I've done this for a long time, but am I the only one who can? This time he starts to actually cry, feeling truly alone in the world.
After quite some time he tries to steal himself, wiping tears and mucus from his face. I have to be more careful. I don't have anywhere else to go...and those soldiers. What could have happened to them?! Maybe it was the mists? If they weren't familiar with the kind of things I do, maybe...maybe the soldiers were affected by someone like me? I can help! I need find out what happened, but I have to be more careful. Think Cel. Think before you do. Always think. But if they don't know anything about the things I can do, then they won't know how to counter it. I have to find those soldiers!
Cels face forms into one of stubborn determination. He gets up from his curled ball, but doesn't leave his hiding place. I'll just have to follow close by. They don't need to know I'm nearby! He checks his supplies in his backpack finding that he has enough rations for 5 days. That should be enough, right? It'll have to be.
He finds a place in the alley where he can watch for the others to leave, ready to follow them. I've done this before, I know how to sneak. With confidence renewed, to a point, he prepares for what he knows he will need to do to find out what happened to these soldiers. To help any way he can.
EDITED
Lieutenant Buhari walks briskly after Cel, calling ”Wait up! I’ll walk you out.”
The lieutenant follows Cel through the waiting room.
As Cel is crying and strengthening his resolve, he hears footsteps approaching the alley and the voice of the lieutenant says softly, "Hey pal. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
Sorry Cel, I missed your earlier post. Please check this revised version.
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As Cel is getting up to peak around the corner, he looks right at the Lieutenant. He jumps and just before his instinct to blow the danger away kicks in, he remember what he just told himself. Think, then do. Think first. Always think. "I'm fine" he says with a mildly defiant tone that is completely belied by the swollen tear ducts puffing up his eyelids and the dilated blood vessels turning his sclera red. "Thank you" his manners remind him to say.
Xizoh stand rigid, before following the captain's lead. "Should we expect to fight some sort of ice aligned beast creating the fog then? What about actually getting up the mountain?"
What I wouldn't give to have Anathema beside me right now. Produs knows there is too much bureaucracy for my taste, and a half orc sized snake might just fix that.
Her seething temper cools to a light simmer as Henri nods, feeling tired after forcing down that emotional outburst. She could feel a combination of goosebumps and sweat running down her arms, and starts to realize how hot it really is in here. She rolls up her sleeves, and starts chewing on her thumbnail. No tobacco, no fighting, no violin. Nothing to do with her hands to get rid of this nervous energy.
She had to get over it, if she had to travel with this... Retired Sergeant? Ugh. She would have to get over this. She looks over Dulae carefully. Henri had a chance to get to know something about everyone else, but this woman was an enigma to her. Well, she was probably some kind of fighter, judging from her armor and morningstar. Still, Henri thought that she could probably take her. If it came down to it. Still, hopefully it wouldn't. Maybe I should just give in. I'm being too stubborn about this. They didn't reject me. Her voice comes out in a mumble, but is loud enough to be heard by the people in the room. "'m sorry. Was mad." She takes her nail out of her mouth and nods at the captain. "I'll deal with it." Slowly but surely, the anger is wilting from her gaze and body. At Xizoh's comment, she idly fingers one of the dragon's breath shells in her belt, painted a deep red with a small flame sigil on the side. Looks like they'll come in handy after all.
The Wolf extended her hand to Dulae, "Steele. Alaina Steele." When the Sergeant took hold of her hand, the Ring Fighter implemented a rather firm grip. However, Miss Toema had a far stronger grip. A slight grin crossed Alaina's face, "Good grip you have there. Never was much for a weak hand shake."
After that, Alaina moved over and clasped Henri's shoulder, the woman's eyes practically saying, Don't worry. In her mind, they weren't leaving the Kid behind. I don't care what Miss Iron Grip over there says, I'm not letting that Kid stay back here because of one mistake.
Turning back to the Captain, "Yes, back to business."
The lieutenant reaches to put a comforting hand on Cel, then seeing him jump, thinks the better of it and lowers his arm.
”Listen… I just wanted to make sure you know that wasn’t about your magic.” He gives Cel an awkward smile that’s probably meant to be comforting. ”However you had wrecked the place, she would have been equally cross.”
He grimaces and says ”Bah, that was the wrong thing to say.” He shuffles his feet as though he’s searching for words. ”What I mean to say is, your magic is really special. And I hope that today doesn’t keep you from trying, and improving."
"You’d do great at the university, I think!" The lieutenant smiles genuinely. "You should talk to Silo about it, if you want. He’s really interested in you.“
Cel face looks a little pained and he sighs, "I know what I did was wrong. I was in complete control, it wasn't accidental. I just" tears try to well up, "I just didn't think it through, and that was my mistake. I'm sorry."
He steels himself again, "Thank you, maybe I would do great in university." That statement from the Lieutenant did pique his curiosity momentarily. The man could probably see Cel processing the information and a little spark of life flicker in his eyes. I wonder what that would be like? I'm sure I wouldn't have to worry about people capturing me for the things I can do if I were there. Maybe I could meet other people who can do what I can! Then, Cel snuffs out that spark. No. Later. I need to find out what happened to those soldiers first. Then maybe the university.
"I appreciate the information."
"You know what? Maybe I will go check the university out." He gives the man the most congenial smile he can muster.
"That's great!" Lieutenant Buhari grins, looking very pleased. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves, don't you want to wait for your friends?"
He takes stock of Cel in the alley, sighs lightly, and says, "She doesn't hate you, you know. The captain." He bites his lip as if he's not sure he should be saying this. "Or Silo - they are actually kind of friends and he drives her crazy. I hope you know you can come to her if you're in trouble. She would help you. And you can come back to the building, if you want. You don't need to wait in an alley." He gives Cel a lighthearted smile.
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"Pleasure, Ms. Steele." Dulae extricated her hand and gave it a surreptitious flex to restore feeling. "I can tell you won't be dropping that shield of yours, either."
She turns back to the captain. "Right, business. You mentioned that there were caves that could be used as shelter; I don't suppose those are marked on the maps should we need them?"
“Good questions,” the captain glances down at Xizoh’s notes. “Mr. Shadelock.”
She thinks for a moment, then replies, “It may not be a beast.” She crosses her arms and faces Xizoh. “Since the mist sightings began, we have found animals mutilated with wounds consistent with wolf or bear attacks, but not consumed. We have also found a traveler dead in the pass in the early morning with no wounds.” She pauses. “That doesn’t sound like any beast I’ve seen.”
“Whatever it is, your job is not to engage it. Understand?” She looks at them seriously. “We lost a search and rescue team of twelve, including two clerics and a sorcerer. During the day. It is likely beyond any of you.” She meets each of their eyes. “Tread softly, look for any sign of the missing, and if you observe anything akin to a hostile beast you are to retreat and report back here immediately.”
She reaches down on the desk as though to grab a map, but finding them all blown away, she sighs. “As for getting up the mountain, you will follow the main road until you get to the pass, then take a path that leads up the mountain. You will likely need to leave that path to reach the location shown on your tracking map. I’ll show you where the road and path are on your map when it is done.”
“Should only be an hour or so.” Silo says cheerfully, still picking up papers from the floor.
The captain raises her eyebrows at Dulae’s question. “Not a bad idea, sergeant. I’m not sure.” She drums her fingers thoughtfully on the desk. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll have your map notated with caves and other features that might be useful as shelter if you have need.”
“Lastly, and I will repeat this again, be sure to be back at least a half hour before sunset.” Captain Vazquez says emphatically.
“Any other questions before you receive your orders?”
Henri lowered her eyes and gave the floor a smirk. 'Don't engage it.' I'll bring you this thing's bloody carcass. Drape it all over your desk. She sighs and sits back as the captain continues to brief them, only paying half attention to the words coming out of her mouth, giving sideways glances to her party members.
I'm sure it's not that bad. Those other people were probably just civilians. Stupid to try and go out there without any experience. Luckily I have that. She fiddled with the cartridges on her belt. In spades. She was snapped back to the present at the captain's request for more questions, but nothing came to mind. She shrugged, and replied, "None for me."
"I, um, I don't really know them very well. Henri is the only one I've spent any time with to be honest, and even that's not very long. Only a couple of days. I was just here for the notice on the soldiers. It's okay, I'll find my way. Um..." he stops to think for a second, "to the University!" he lies again.
Well she sure as hell doesn't like me! Can I blame her, though? Why do I always have to be so extreme?! Think Cel, never forget to think. Cel winces at the thought of the Captain, but starts to ponder what the Lieutenant mentioned. Friends? That has to be the most unusual friendship I've ever heard of. "Um, thank you for the offer. I'm sure they would be helpful. I know I messed things up, but I'm sure they just want what is best for everyone. You're very kind."
It dawns on Cel that this man is really trying to cheer him up, and his nature starts to kick back in again, "Why did you join the military? Have you been in for a long time? What is," and his mouth clamps shut mid-question. Damnit! We just talked about this, SHUT UP! His brow furrowing into a look of frustration.
"Just out of curiosity, what happens if we don't return until after sunset?" Alaina asked.
Xizoh answers Alaina, "I came here though the pass at night, and I seem alright. Given, I was a ways from the fog."
Turning to Mr. Shadelock, "I'm not so worried about what's out there so much as I wish to know if they'll let us back in town."
They were probably just rookies or got caught by surprise or something. Whatever's out there, I'm sure we can handle it. And if not, well, at least I know how to run away from a fight, too.
"A shrewd question, Miss Steele," says the captain. "This is purely for your own safety. I would not withhold the protection of the town from anyone who sought it. And if you do the job for the day, I will pay you. But if you return late, I might question your judgment and think twice about hiring you to do it again."
She turns to Xizoh and says, "I am glad to see you alive and well, Mr. Shadelock. Last night the mist moved very slowly. We don't understand why yet, but there are some nights and cloudy days when it moves very quickly. Half an hour before sunset is the rule."
Silo pops up from behind a desk toward the back of the room. "I haven't had the chance to finish the calculations for this, but I think it may be correlated with some combination of temperature and light. Wind, moon, sun, heat. Some complex function. Difficult to pin down." He stares at the ceiling thoughtfully and starts counting on his fingers, "Cold, sun, clouds, wind..."
The captain gives a small smile, raises and skeptical eyebrow, and says, "Yes, thank you Silo."
She turns to face the group and says, ”Your orders.” She meets each of their eyes as she speaks and does not need to consult her notes.
“You are to report back to this room in one hour’s time to collect your map. I will instruct you on the best way to reach whichever point is shown. You will report back to this same room when you have either discovered something or the day has ended.
“You are to look for signs of missing people. The person in question you will be tracking is male, thirty-five years of age, last seen wearing a fur coat of fox pelt, a large leather backpack, and brown boots. It snowed yesterday, so there may be fresh prints within the last twenty-four hours, but not before.
“You are responsible for your rations and water. This is a hike that may take the entirety of the rest of the day. Be prepared. I suggest good boots for ice - we’ve already had someone take a nasty fall and break their leg.
“You are to watch the weather at all times. If you see any chance that clouds will obscure the sun, you are to return. If you encounter anything hostile, you are to return. If it will be half an hour before sunset by the time you'd make it back to town, you are to return.
“Are we clear?”
Adjusting the shield over her shoulder. "Quite clear."
Henri nods and looks down at herself, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone in the room, and replies. "Yeah, I got it."
"Understood, sir."
Dulae sends a glance at the other in the room. Somehow I don't think this group is going to just turn and run. Excellent.
"Crystal clear."
Xizoh turns to the rest of party. "Looks like I'll be needing that room after all. Want to find our windy friend, and discuss plans in the tavern?"
Henri nods and turns away from the captain to look at the party. Her eyes trail over most of them, but quickly jump over Dulae. "Let's go then. Discussing a strategy is a good idea, if this is as dangerous as the Captain says it is." She shuffles her things back in order, and starts to move towards the door.
"I completely agree. Lead the way.". Dulae says, perhaps a bit pointedly. She makes her way over to the door, pausing to give Zahan a mock glower before leaving the room.
"Very well then. I expect to see you back here in one hour." The captain nods in a neutral acknowledgment and dismissal.
As the group is leaving, they hear the captain ask, "Silo, where are your daily procedure completion reports for the past three days?"
"My dear captain, we don't need to trouble ourselves over such trivial matters." Silo waves dismissively, dropping some of the papers he has collected. "Charging orbs is a small trifle. I could do it in my sleep."
"Please see that you do, then." The captain observes the wizard and apprentices struggling to manage the mess, sighs, and starts to help pick up papers.
Zahan gives Dulae a wide grin, opens the door for the group, and returns to his post. Two soldiers in green uniforms are waiting on the other side. The woman in front salutes Zahan and says, "Reporting to the captain regarding the general store robbery."
Lieutenant Buhari gives Cel a searching look for a moment after he claims to be headed to the university, but says nothing in reply.
After Cel’s questions, the lieutenant smiles. “Well, you probably wouldn’t know this being from Abbhen, but this silver uniform usually means junior paladin in our military.”
He thinks for a moment, as if he’s remembering a fond memory. “All across Altiendel we have a ceremony on Midsummer’s day where followers of Altien in their eighteenth year wait to be judged worthy to be one of Altien’s chosen. It’s a really big festival in the cities, especially Teresct, and we do what we can in the smaller towns and villages. I’m from a little place called Ferndale way up in the north. I was the first one in my village to be chosen,” he says proudly.
"Of course I'm not a full paladin yet, but I'm learning a lot under Captain Vazquez."
He glances behind him. “I should be getting back.” He looks back at Cel and says “Best of luck to you. I hope to see you again before you leave. Come and find me if you need anything, yeah?”
Alaina's ear's perked up at the word 'robbery'. So that's what the soldiers were doing there this morning, investigating. The Wolf made a mental note and followed the others back to the Tavern, all the while keeping an eye out for Cel.
"I will! Cel surprises himself that he actually meant what he said. I like this guy, he's nice. Maybe I can find a way to repay him some time. After I've found out what's going on with those soldiers. I have to know.
Cel tucks back a little deeper in the alley since the Lieutenant had such an easy time finding him and continues watching for the others.
Henri moves forward, hearing the mention of the store being robbed, but all that made it into her head was that the store was open again. Oh, geez, I hope they didn't get the tobacco. "I'm gonna make a quick stop on the way - I'll meet you there."
Lieutenant Buhari gives him a smile and hurries back toward the military headquarters building.
While Cel waits, a few people bustle by on errands and he starts to feel the cold settle in.
As the group walks into the waiting room they see a tall man in a dark cloak exit and walk past the stairs to the other side of the building.
As they descend the stairs to the door they see Lieutenant Buhari enter. He gives them a friendly wave and says to Henri, “In case you’re looking for him, your friend is in an alley just past the first building on the left.”
Dulae figures the tall cloaked civilian man is walking to where the officers’ quarters and the vault should be, but she notices an officer in a silver uniform observes the man doing this without alarm or comment.
Dulae stops suddenly and fights rolling her eyes. Someone out of uniform, concealed in a cloak, going into the officers quarters while the senior officers are upstairs dealing with emergencies. Week six training exercise, if I remember correctly. Much too obvious to actually be a plot, but too strange to not check. "I may have an errand as well."
She first takes in the observing officer's posture and demeanor, trying to see if he is under a spell.
Then, before the cloaked man gets out of range, she puts a hand to her neck to pull out her holy symbol and casts Detect Evil. "Let Altien's fire expose the shadows." She says in a calm voice, letting the warm power flow out in front of her.
EDIT - It makes more sense to post this here:
There's a big pile of firewood about five feet away from the main road that would offer full cover from most views from the street with some bodily contortion. There is also a bent sheet of tin lying on the ground that would offer partial cover (about 2' x 1.5', bent roughly in half). The rest of the alley is clean, and Cel can see that he and the lieutenant have made fresh tracks in the snow.