Kelda tentatively steps into the home and takes a seat at the table. Her father, on the other hand, accepts your offering of wine and handshake. His hand practically dwarfs yours in size, and you get the feeling he could crush your hand if he squeezed any harder.
"Wine? Fair enough." The large man grins and points to the seat next to Kelda. "Kelvim! Give the man a seat!"
As the mousy-haired boy gets up and quietly pulls a chair out for you, the large man turns his head towards a wooden archway leading to a different room in the house.
"CORRIN!" He bellows into the room. A moment later, a black-haired young man dressed in reasonably comfortable-looking furs hustles into the room. "We have guests! Bring my daughter and her guest something to eat, and be QUICK about it!"
The servant swallows nervously. "Y-yes, sir! Right away!" He then rushes off.
"Now, introductions--" The head of the family gestures to his sons around the table. "Wulfric & Osric..."
The wolf's master and the man with braided hair give you a wave. The braided one offers a simple "Hello!"
"...Alvar & Kelvim..."
The man in the spiked armour gives you a curt look and the slightest of nods. The quiet boy bows a bit and offers you a "Greetings."
"...and Tornn."
The teenage boy raises a horn of some alcoholic beverage and grins. "Salutations!"
"This is my lovely wife, Claudia..." The somber woman with the greying hair offers a half-smile and a wave.
"...and I am Thane REINHART!" The thane puffs out his chest in pride.
"Well I figured that one would go without saying, I've heard you talk about the skalds and such up here in the past." As she said that, something occurred to Valeria.
"I just realised - you're probably gonna be really bored while we're going across the Crown. No new performances for you to watch, same audience day in and day out, same empty and desolate landscape... am I gonna be sleeping with a crazy person up there?" she asked with a teasing grin.
"Oh... maybe." Ameiko grins. "Of course, we might see some natural wonders or something to make up for it."
"Or get into more danger that we need to get out of. That's probably more likely."
"Shame I can't argue with the second one," she admitted, "but we've managed so far."
Ameiko shrugs, then she sits up in bed and stretches while yawning. "We will."
"Now... what time is it, anyway?"
It may have only been their second time in bed together, but Valeria's eyes still bugged out slightly at the sight of Ameiko stretching.
"Sorry, what?" she asked, "I-I got distracted."
Ameiko looks down at you and smirks, arching an eyebrow. "Yeah, I bet you did."
"How long have we been up here? That's what I'm wondering."
"Oh, um... dunno, haven't really been keeping track," Valeria admitted, trying to take her mind off how Ameiko looked right then. Instead, she looked towards the window to see if it was still light out.
The sky is turning pink. The sun appears to be setting.
"Damnit - long enough that we need to start getting ready to head for the ship soon."
"Sure if you don't mind...just a little taste." Kasha says smiling.
Friday swiftly moves to close the window before picking up the feather. "Has any of your things been damaged?" he asks Zaiobe.
Kelda tentatively steps into the home and takes a seat at the table. Her father, on the other hand, accepts your offering of wine and handshake. His hand practically dwarfs yours in size, and you get the feeling he could crush your hand if he squeezed any harder.
. . . . .. . . . .
"...and I am Thane REINHART!" The thane puffs out his chest in pride.
"it is my honor to meet you Thane Reinhart. I am Kavell Speranta, Paladin of Shelyn. I... uh... I am courting your daughter sir."
He said with a serious and straight face.
Lia breaks off a piece of her pumpkin pie with her fork and pops it into your mouth.
It tastes like cinnamon and pumpkin pie, melting together into a wonderful blend.
-------------------
Zaiobe goes over to her backpack and starts gathering up her novels. <...doesn't look like it. Why would someone break into our room?>
She looks over at the feather in your hand and tilts her head in confusion.
-------------------
Ameiko sighs. "Yeah, probably."
She starts pulling her clothes back on and smoothing them down.
-------------------
Thane Reinhart pauses for a moment. All revelry around the table abruptly stops. The white wolf under the table perks its head up and its brown eyes look right at you. Osric covers his mouth and shrinks in his seat.
"...really." The large man's gaze turns quite focused and intense. He gets up from his seat.
"We don't often get those this far North."
"... probably because we weren't in it." he thought to Zaiobe as his brain went through all of the reasons someone would break into a room and not take anything. "Either they came in through the door and out the window... or in through the window and out through the door..." he continued to tell her and himself.
Twirling the feather between his fingers he thinks "I'm going to check on the others." With that he'll head over to Valeria and Ameiko's door and lightly knock.
There's a knocking at your door.
"Mmmnnnn......that is wonderful." Kasha says gleefully, closing her eyes for a moment to savor the mouthful. She grins as they continue to eat, utterly enjoying both the dessert and the company.
Lia turns back to her own piece of pie and finishes it off.
The sky seems to be turning pink outside.
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Thane Reinhart pauses for a moment. All revelry around the table abruptly stops. The white wolf under the table perks its head up and its brown eyes look right at you. Osric covers his mouth and shrinks in his seat.
"...really." The large man's gaze turns quite focused and intense. He gets up from his seat.
"We don't often get those this far North."
"Followers of Shelyn?"
He began sounding confused.
"I dont understand why not, There is much beauty in these lands, take your home, The ox head on the front of your home for instance, that was well carved. Is it the sigil of your Thanedom?"
He asked, if the large mans standing and the sudden cessation of merryment was to supposed to be frightening he missed it.
A small snicker goes through the air, coming from Osric.
It's promptly followed by hearty guffaws from everyone at the table--Thane Reinhart laughing the loudest (naturally).
He claps you hard on the back. "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up for long. Eh, no need to fear, boy--just consider it an old man's attempt at messing with your head!"
Wulfric jostles Osric and shakes his head with a wry smile on his face. Alvar scratches his head and goes back to his meal without saying a word.
The servant boy, Corrin, makes it back from the kitchen with two plates, both of them with well-cooked sides of pork, with a side of seasoned rice and an apple. "Sit down--you must be famished!"
The knock at the door caught Valeria by surprise, having only just gotten her smallclothes back on. "Just a sec," she called before reaching for a robe and throwing that on instead. She hadn't minded how much cleavage it could expose before, but that was just because the only one really seeing her wear it had been Ameiko, still there wasn't anything else she could pull on in a hurry. She still waited for Ameiko to be decent before opening the door.
"Friday? she asked, surprised to see the ranger, surprise that disappeared when she saw his expression. "What's going on?"
"They got into my and Zaiobe's room." he says while holding up the feather. "Has anything in your room been tampered with?"
"What?!" Valeria was shocked that they'd been so brazen. "N-no, the room was still locked up when we got up here and it's in the same state it was when we left this morning. Well, aside from my clothes being a little scattered."
"Okay then, keep an eye on Ameiko and stay on guard, I'm going to check on the others. Watch the windows." he quickly says as he goes to Koya's room and gently knocks again.
The Amatatsu Seal, on the other hand, is the ancestral seal of one of the five royal families of the Tian province of Minkai. It is the seal of the royal family, symbolic of their divine right to rule.
The Amatatsu Seal can invest its power in certain people and mark them as scions of the Amatatsu line, allowing them to make use of its magic. The Seal has five charges per day that it can spend on the following effects for Amatatsu scions:
--cure serious wounds
--remove curse
--remove disease
--restoration
Alternatively, in exchange for completely exhausting its daily charges, the Seal can cast heal on an Amatatsu scion.
Finally, and only at the Seal's discretion, the Seal can resurrect a dead scion once a month.
Take heed, however--the magic that radiates from this Seal can be tracked across continents. So long as its warding box is open, the Seal can be tracked. The enchantments placed on it also prevent it from being affected by teleportation effects or dimensional travel. Only special portals blessed by the gods will allow the Seal to pass through them, and characters who likewise carry the seal cannot cast or otherwise use teleportation effects.
A minute passes before Koya comes to the door. "What, what?"
"Is everything okay, Miss Koya? Where is Spivey?" Friday asks.
"I'm here, I'm here." Spivey slowly flies over, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "I was communing with my Lady. Something wrong?"
Friday bows to the two ladies. "My apologies for disturbing your communions, but one of the people we were dealing with was in mine and Zaiobe's room. Have you heard any odd noises recently?"
A small snicker goes through the air, coming from Osric.
It's promptly followed by hearty guffaws from everyone at the table--Thane Reinhart laughing the loudest (naturally).
He claps you hard on the back. "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up for long. Eh, no need to fear, boy--just consider it an old man's attempt at messing with your head!"
Wulfric jostles Osric and shakes his head with a wry smile on his face. Alvar scratches his head and goes back to his meal without saying a word.
The servant boy, Corrin, makes it back from the kitchen with two plates, both of them with well-cooked sides of pork, with a side of seasoned rice and an apple. "Sit down--you must be famished!"
His eyes widened and then he found himself chuckling as well. He hadnt entirely misread the situation he thought, but he was glad there was some acceptance. He was also not sure if he should be taking the lead some more.
"I thank you for your hospitality. With all the traveling we have done and recent troubles it is most welcome."
He began wanting to slap his hand over his mouth when he realized he may have said more than was necessary.
Kasha smiles across at Lia. "Feel better now?"
Lia nods. "Much."
She gets up from her table and walks over to hug you.
-------------------
Koya's expression turns grim and Spivey's eyes dart around the room. "Nope. Haven't heard anything strange."
-------------------
"Think nothing of it." Wulfric leans back in his seat.
Kelda starts eating her meal while giving you a rather impatient look.
Friday nods. "It might be best if you all stay together now, I will go to Ishgha and Sandru's room and alert them."
He then does just that.
Smiling, Kasha returns the huge wholeheartedly with a warm embrace of her own.
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Lia seems rather reluctant to let go after a bit of time passes, but she does so nonetheless. A shame, really--she's quite warm.
"So, upstairs then? It looks like it's getting late..."
-----------------
You find Ishgha's & Sandru's room easily enough. A quick knock at the door causes the hobgoblin to come to the door first.
"Yes?" The hob only opens it a crack.
"Is everything okay? Is Sandru with you?" he asks the Hobgoblin.
"He is." Ishgha looks over his shoulder. "Just sleeping."
"Yeah, you've had a long day, and we have to rescue someone after sundown." Kasha replies, leading Lia upstairs.
"Okay, well the people we're dealing with were in mine and Zaiobe's room, so it might be best for everyone not going out tonight to group up into a single room." he says.
Valeria was looking pensive, processing what Friday had told them, even muttering quietly to herself.
"Could they have checked the caravan for it as well?"
As you and Lia climb the stairs, you see Friday and Zaiobe going from door to door, speaking with who you assume are your caravan mates.
-----------------
Ameiko finishes pulling her pants on and turns to you. "What was that?"
Friday, is everything alright?" Kasha asks, her eyes immediately shifting to her room, for any sign of distress from Koya.
"The people we are dealing with were in mine and Zaiobe's room-Miss Koya is okay, they didn't bother her or anyone else." he said, quickly adding that second part so as to not worry the shamaness.
"They target us on the road, steal your grandfather's sword, kidnap one of the few people who could lead us across the Crown, tail us back here by scenting Friday's cloak and then ransack his room... we both know that there's only one thing any of us have that would be worth that sort of attention."
-------------------
"Think nothing of it." Wulfric leans back in his seat.
Kelda starts eating her meal while giving you a rather impatient look.
He wasnt sure what the look was, but he figured he was either doing something wrong or needed to change the subject. He had yet to ...well interpret those subtle clues from his lover.
Not sure what else to do he started to speak about their journey from Sandpoint... he avoided the reason why of course, merely mentioning helping his friend Sandru with his Caravan and guiding Koya on one last grand adventure. He got to the castle then he frowned not sure how to continue really.
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Ameiko throws her shirt on and starts gathering up her things. "...oh, no."
"So... what do we do now? Can we really risk a trip back to where we parked our caravan just to see if it's still there? What if we lead them right to it?"
------------------
After a bit of prompting, Kelda takes you by the arm and sits you down next to her as you recount your journey from Sandpoint to the castle of Brinewall. Kelda's family listens to you intently, except for Kelda--she focuses entirely on her meal and tries to hide the look of embarrassment on her face.
"A fine story, young man!" Thane Reinhart holds up a horn of mead and grins.
------------------
Ishgha's eyes narrow and he closes the door without a word. There's a rustling sound coming from inside the room, and soon a half-asleep Sandru arrives at the door, his clothes & hair a rumpled mess. "Uh... yeah, which room are we going to again?"
From behind him, you can hear Ishgha grousing about Sandru's disheveled state.
------------------
Lia's face pales. "...oh..."
Her hand shakes in yours.
Despite her seriousness, Kasha momentarily smiles at Sandru and the muttering Ishga, when she feels Lia's hand shaking in her own.
"It's okay I promise. This is my brother, Sandru and this is Ishga. They're going to stand guard and keep everyone safe." she says putting her arm around Lia.
"I think Lia should stay with Mama and Spivey, and Ameiko with Zaiobe so you only have to watch over the two rooms until we get back." she tells her brother.
"Even if they find where we hid it, it’s not like they’ll be able to get at it quietly," Valeria said, pulling her armour on and starting to buckle it, "Leo and I made sure of that." The very night after Valeria had realised how far the seal could be sensed from, she’d put it back in the box and tied it closed with some tough rope (while resisting the urge to just nail the box shut) then found the one container in the whole caravan that they had the least reason to reach and that was almost impossible to get at without unloading that entire wagon. Locking the box inside that chest, she’d then directed Leo to re-stack the wagon to make it as difficult as possible to get at without causing a hell of a ruckus, or at least a big enough one that the caravan guards would notice.
"They’ll be watching for us to check the caravan, but do you think they’re watching all of the caravan members equally, or just focusing on you and the ones more directly helping you? The more they focus on you, Sandru, Friday, Kavel, Haru and myself, the less they’ll be watching everyone else." An idea started to form in the tiefling’s mind.
"Have you noticed any girls working here paying any notable attention to my brother?" Valeria knew - at least on an academic level, due to both the fact he was her brother and her overall lack of interest in men - that Maxim would be considered attractive. There were a few girls his age (and a few guys) back in Sandpoint who'd taken to staking out his usual training route through the city to catch a sight of him without a shirt and she wouldn't be surprised if something similar had started to happen here in Kalsgard (although she figured a few of those spectators would be more interested in the sight of someone running around the city shirtless in the freezing cold).
He then skips over their adventures at the castle, instead moving on to well the traveling up the road... and the assualts by random men attacking them. He knew whom they belonged to now, but didnt mention it, after all he wasnt aware of the politics of the town or city and how thanes interacted with one another. He did however describe his awe at the thunder and fury of Kelda's defense of the caravan when it was attacked, How he came to check on the defenders of the caravan to find her covered in the blood of her enemies with next to no hurt herself. Then he proceeded to talk of well their boring travels to here and the chance to meet her family.
Ameiko shakes her head. "No idea, whether we're all being watched or if Max's been attracting more attention lately. Haven't really seen much of him since we got here--I just figured he was off training some more."
--------------------
Your recounting of the battle at the bridge causes the room to quiet as they listen.
"My, Longthews was a foolish one." The matron of the family, Claudia, finally speaks up in a soft voice. "Small wonder he was never respected like Thane Stone-Eye was."
"Indeed!" Osric chuckles before the room devolves back into feasting and laughter.