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As you and many others are ushered into the grandhall of the orders building the day after your trials you a greeted with a hearty hello.
Congratulations, You have passed your trials into knighthood, Now, we will now Decide the squads you will be split into, for the sake of organization, efficiency, and protection.
he rattles off several squads, then you all hear your names.
Rockjaw, mikahli, therie, narunith, mearon! You will be squad 6. That concludes the grouping ceremony, you will all be given your first assignments in the morning, but tonight, we celebrate!
As he says these words the lighting suddenly brightens, showing off the bright marble with pure gold inlay. Food appears on the tables lining the walls, about anything you could want is here, from bread, to meat, from water, to mead.
After you begin helping yourself if you wish you notice that the headmaster seems weary, quite different from what he was moments ago. You each receive a quite bidding from a servant. The headmaster wishes to meet with you of team 6.
Making your way back you notice a secret stone door open and a butler usher you in.
Once you all enter Cedric heaves a heavy sigh.
I know I promised you a nights rest, and so you will have, however your group proved the most capable in the final test, and so I would like to give you the choice of missions deemed adequate for new members.
The first is an escort mission, you will simply escort a prisoner to a keep in the mountains north of here, its but a fee days travel one way. Once there you are to pick up the report.
The second option is to check into strange happenings in a nearby village, no harm has been done. Yet.but the mayor is in quite a bit of distress.
The last, there are rumours of strange noises and smells coming from the old orphanage In the poor district, you simply have to check into these rumours and report your findings.
He Sits back a moment for you to discuss.
Therie looks around at her fellow squad members, and begins scribbling away in her notebook. Good to see Narunith, means she didn't screw up the trials. No idea who these other people are. Elf looks like a House Redthurn elf? Perhaps one of them? what of the other two? human and dwarf. hmm... intriguing.
"I came into your presence by blowing up a dock, I'd prefer not to leave it by blowing up an orphange. Not saying I would, but you know what smells strange? Explosive gases smell strange." Therie states suddenly, looking up from her notes
"Nope I would vote for the village or the escort, though dealing with a distressed mayor sounds exhausting." Therie adds.
"but could be something interesting there... hmm...Maybe something to learn?" She mumbles to herself, and goes back to scribbling away in shorthand within her book. "Lot less to learn on the escort. but then, less people, and there are a couple of new creations I wanted to try out. Open road could be good proving ground." She continues to scribble away, not really making any progress on a decision between the two.
The paladin studies the elf, and decides that the hint of blowing up an orphanage was but light-hearted jabber. Surely she has grown beyond the youthful recklessness by now...
"I propose we look into the orphanage. Those serving the orphans may be ill-equipped to handle the possible problems, should the strangeness turn out to be signs of malice to come."
Narunith didn't like the militaristic attitude of this place much, but her choice to stop being an apprentice and start being a wizard who fights for she believes in, the perils that seemed to threaten their kingdom of all races, and last but not least the fact that her brother dealt with it every day, had driven her to accept it and stick with it.
She did not want to make a decision in haste. With an elegant motion she picked an apple from the table. However she liked the smell of the fried ducks at the table. She remembered how she liked it when men saw in her less of a lean noble maiden, but more of a lush young elven woman. So she decided to skip the noble demeanor for tonight and enjoy herself, she was already getting leaner again and some more meat to the bone would make her feel more comfortable. There must be a comfortable middle ground between excess and distant aloofness.
"I am somewhat concerned of the orphanage, actually" she said in common after she swallowed the first bite of the juicy duck. "I think we can make do without blowing it up. But, if there were explosive gases I'd like to know about it. The case with the village sounds mysterious, though... I'd like to find out about it."
She put another extra large chunk of the duck into her mouth. By Shelyn, after passed trials and with the prospect of fighting for the free world tomorrow, letting just a bit go felt liberating. She glanced to Maeron at her side though to get an impression how he felt when he saw behaving so... mundane.
After the ceremony Rockjaw makes his way to the buffet in a rather straight and ungraceful manner, bumping shoulders with those in his way or even outright shoving them aside. Then again, 400lbs of dwarf and stone has never been graceful...
His destination, the dwarven mead, which he pinches a few for himself.
When he is summoned and meets up with the group he offers a "Lo" as way of greeting and listens while drinking.
Abruptly inturrupting, Rockjaw voices his opinion.
I say we execute, uhh, escort tha prisoner. Travelings good fer tha soul an a little walk be good fer your bones.
Tho probably, asking fer more information would be tha In-tell-a-shent thing ta do. he nods knowingly.
Narunith is actually amused by Rockjaw but doesn't show. A drinking contest with him would definitely go too far. Apart from the fact that he'd probably win.
"Indeed." she says thoughtfully, aligns her cutlery accurately next to her plate and addresses Cedric: "Ser Cerdric, what further could you tell us about the prisoner? What makes him so dangerous to warrant a squad of trained adventurers?" She with a somewhat cold tone, trying to mimic militaristic precision at the cost of her usual warmth.
Maeron smiles at Narunith in appreciation of her support for his mission recommendation. However, his smile becomes rather rigid when he observes the lady of Silvertree go along with the ill-mannered dwarf and his competing choice.
The paladin coughs to regain his composure, and straightens to plead his case. "Ahem, I would rather agree that exercise keeps one fit for service, and that should never be discounted. However, may I suggest the orphanage is in town, and with expedient handling by such skilled members as our squad possess, we may yet return in time with a report and still be able to escort this, or other similar, prisoners." Maeron sighs as he continues. "I fear darkness dwells in all of us, and too many fall to its call these days."
Therie scribbles away at her notebook.
::Looks like warning was not well received by new squad members and orphanage quest still on table. They may not be as smart as initial assessment. Should monitor.
Reminder to self: Try to not blow up orphanage, or burn it to the ground either.
Perhaps non-incendiary flasks? Do I have any?
Could just use bow without any alchemical assistance. What fun in that though?::
A small chuckle escapes Therie's lips as she writes.
::Waiting on Mikahli's vote before making further assessments or suggestions::
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Cedric looks narunith,
ah, as graceful and tactful as any elf I've met. My dear this particular prisoner has proved quite a thorn in our sides, she has made more escapes than I dare count. She has done only small crimes, and I so not feel an evil aura from her, but in the end gnomes are.... Different. She is being taken there to hopefully learn from a gnome in out imploy how to channel that gnomish mischief into something... More productive. Also, the second part of this mission. This keep is also a library of sorts, it houses information which monks are pouring through as we speak, so your report you would return with would contain any new information they have found. Lastly, this keep also borders closely to the orc kingdom, and keeps tabs on it. You would guarding a small supply crate, mostly commodities that make our lives eaiser, to the guards and monks. And while there is peace between our kingdoms, orcish bandits sometimes stray ontk our roads... Should you encounter any we would prefer to take them alive, though I doubt you will. Any other questions?
Narunith nods to Cedric and think about it for moment. Then she looks around their little quintet.
"I am inclined to agree with you, Maeron. Given the circumstances and assessing the possible threats, orphan children which depend on ..." she interrupts herself, realizing that she's hiding behind her academic discipline again.
For a heartbeat she closes her eyes. Just try to be yourself she told herself these are good people and even though you may have little combat experience they will accept you for what you are. It helped a little to picture the Silvertree mansion, the home she was missing. She had been quite a homebody in the past, the hole point of leaving was to get out of her shell, not to replace it by another.
Considerably softer and more compassionate than before she says:
"I mean, we have to help these children. Maybe it is just a dead cat in a chimney, but I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to them and I could have prevented it. The gnome trickster sounds rather cute than dangerous to me; I know gnome prances can be annoying, but that's something entirely different. The village can wait until we dealt with the orphanage." She smiles into the round, but still feels a little uncomfortable exposing her feelings to relatively strange people like that.
Maeron nods at the direction of the conversation, and smiles at Narunith as the meeting winds down. The paladin approaches Narunith as the worker begins to escort them out the room.
"Thank you for agreeing to help the orphanage. Gwendir would be proud of you." He considers for a moment, before grinning and extending the conversation. "I have to admit, I am rather eager to return to the festivities. That duck looks rather tasty, and it would be a shame if someone managed to clean the platter of it before we are able to get another sampling of it."
Rockjaw takes another drought of ale before letting out a burp
Tha orphanage eh? So thas where we are goin? Alrightie, will get a good rest tonight as to get at er at tha crack o dawn. An better pinch another bottle o ale.. Rockjaw mumbles, looking into the now empty jug. With that he gets up and heads to the bar.
::Orphanage wins. Again: No incendiaries if building is wooden. Should look into finding alternative explosive. Perhaps something that freezes? Could be valuable. Also clear note about not leaving tonight? Curious. Why would we feel the need to leave early?::
With that final note, Therie slips the little notebook into her belt, and heads back to the festivities.
Unsure of where to go within the throng of attendees Therie slips over to the bar, procuring a glass of wine. She spends a few moment inspecting its chemical properties before promptly chugging the wine down, and grabbing another to quickly follow suit.
hmm....3.9 to tipsy. 5.5 to drunk, 8.01 and you're passed out. With her calculations done, Therie reaches out, grabbing two more of the glasses, and walking away, a wine in each hand.
What is going on with the orphans? Dalrin shouts
Maeron excuses himself from Narunith for a moment as he falls back into step with Dalrin the Slow. "As best I understand it, there appears to be signs of unusual sounds and smells at the orphanage. We need to uncover what may be causing it, and set it right to the best of our abilities."
He nods at the dwarf and, having explained the situation as he understood it, hastens to catch up with Narunith and rejoin the party.
Mikhail was elated to finally be a full-fledged knight and was eager to join in the celebrations like many others. He had just taken a big chunk of bread and some cheese when the servant approached him. He followed, while quickly stuffing the bread and cheese in his pockets as he did not want to look like a fool in front of the headmaster.
When Sir Cedric gave the reason he wanted to speak with group 6 Mikhail was pleased that he was among those who were deemed the most capable of the new Knights, but he couldn't shake the feeling there was more going on. Why couldn't he have given us this choice in the morning?
A bit distracted by his thoughts, it was only near the end of the conversation that Mikhail had noticed the group had chosen for the orphanage mission.
"Many of my friends grew up in that orphanage. If something is going on I want to get to the bottom of it."
When Sir Cedric asked if there were any more questions, Mikhail stepped forward.
"I understand we are not to do our mission before we are officially assigned to it, but are we not to leave the premises this night for any reason whatsoever? And if that is the case, may I be so blunt to ask why?"
As Maeron rushes around to not stray from his side more than absolutely necessary Narunith can barely hide a grin behind a hand. She looks perfectly serious, even somewhat concerned when she removes the hand again, though.
When there is suddenly talk about leave right now she looks a little concerned.
"I need to sleep... and study my books... I..." she sighs. "Well you do have a point there, even though I would prefer to prepare different spells for the task I can make do with what I have." Very unlikely she will need a contingency like Feather Fall in an orphanage as long as there aren't any bottomless pits beneath it or she tries to scale the roof. Neither does she require to trick anyone regarding her identity, which renders the Alter Self useless. But whatever there was, she wanted to be prepared for a fight.
"It may be a bit tricky to find someone to let us in and show us around at this time of day, while the kids are sleeping. We would have to be extremely discrete." She hasn't done that intentionally, but at the word discrete she fixates neither of the two dwarves, but Therie. She shakes her head and continues. She head to throw the distracting thoughts of and continues: "If the kids notice we're there they might become anxious. Or worse: curious and nosey. If we come by day our presence will be much less unusual and we'll draw much less attention. Sooo..." She pauses and takes a look at Maeron to catch his thoughts. "I would advice against it. But that not to say I wasn't eager to get going..."
Maeron cannot help but shake his head at the eagerness displayed by some members of the team. He nods in agreement at Lady Silvertree's words, and confirms this agreement with his own suggestions. "A night visit may bring undue anxiety to the children and the workers, as Narunith wisely noted. I, too, recommend we rest and prepare, and begin our investigations at first light."
"As enjoyable as the festivities have been, it would be best if I take my own advice and retire for the night." He bids good night to the rest of the members, and offers a parting smile to Narunith before returning to his room.
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@ mikhail no, you may leave the compound, but I'd rather you not stir up a fuss by trying to find and investigate this thing tonight.no need to stir rumours of trouble in our beautiful city. you notice it as you are pushed out the door, catching a glimpse of it from the corner of your eye. You can reenter the room if you wish but are out of it before you fully comphrened what you saw.
@ maeron The rooms are shared, each room contains two beds, a table, and two chests at the foot of each bed. The room is lit with two oil braziers on the wall. You also notice a shield and a blade, resting upon the base of the left bed.
You recognize the symbol of the rose family you know it is not the headmasters gear though.
Therie laughs as Narunith mentions being discrete and fixes her glare on her. "Narunith probably has a point." Therie concedes.
"I have had at least 1 too many of these fine beverages to be discrete. Calculations for drinking were done expecting bed rest tonight." Therie adds, swaying back and forth slightly. "Best to do this mission in the morning."
Maeron smiles as he recognizes what is likely Daniel Rose's gear, and takes a moment to study the symbol. With a sigh, he settles into his own bed and pulls out his red trimmed silver token bearing the emblem of the Redthurn House. He rubs it in his hands as his thoughts flit from from Daniel, to Gwendir, to Narunith, which elicits another sigh from the weary paladin.
Keep your head on task. There is much to do, tomorrow and beyond. Maeron sets the token atop his packed gear, beneath the chain shirt, and settles in for a night's rest.
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As you each meet your roommate for the following months or years you settle down into your beds after a long night, however, not long after you just got comfortable there is a loud knock on your door. It knocks several times over.As you lean up, you see a small note slid under the door.
hastily written on the note is-
Hey, teammate! I have some news about the mission you selected! Now look, this note can only be brief, so you need to meet me in the main meeting room of the team. oh, also, it would be better of for you to destroy this letter ater reading it. Well see you in a bit! Your captain and friend- Dart.
Narunith +Therie
Rockjaw+Mikail
Maeron+Daniel
Roryx+Darlin
Rockjaw looks agast at Therie
Ya have ta do math ta figure out how much till ya drunk??? Are ya daft? If'n you have ta think tha much, well then you aint had enough! Here. Drink. Now.
Rockjaw forces a bottle of dwarven ale into her hands, rather forcefully too. Intent ro not let her go till she has had at least some.
Later, in his room with Mikail, Rockjaw spies a note slid under tha door and snatches it up.
Seems our friend Dart wants ta meet up. Some extra infomashun or some such nonesense. Ya comin too?
He asks Mikail as he opens the door and sets to march down the hall (defently not quietly...)
Narunith glances only briefly after Maeron when he depart. She had the hope that she could discretely invite him to her room while she kept Therie otherwise busy... but the way he behaves towards her feels almost like he is trying to court her, in which case he might get it the wrong way. So, no friendly good-night intimacy at the eve of battle. Well, their first assignment, anyway.
She has long learned that the difference between a graceful elf and a contemptible one was not what they did, but how they did it. There is a reason that Calistria was an elf and that almost all elves, even those who primarily revered a different deity, like Narunith did, revered Calistria on some level. Elven society had complex rules, not all of which were to be mentioned. The one most fundamental rule which was implied in everything, but no elf would ever speak out loud in that context was: "Don't get caught." Well, that's a simplification, anyway. Actually it was more like: "An event which does not affect the presence cannot have occurred in the past." As complex and multifarious, often contradictory, as the rules of elven society were, they were more like a game which elves played than a strict code.
She excuses herself shortly after Maeron left goes straight to the room which she shares with Therie and opens the window shutter to let the air of Therie's experiments out. Hopefully the lovely lass would be drunk enough, but not too drunk when she got back, so she would be able to realize that more experiments tonight would be a bad idea. Narunith slips into her nightdress, folds her attire, puts her spell book on top of the stack and puts everything in a relatively stout coffer which would not catch fire all that easily. Then she goes to sleep.
Maeron sits up at the loud knock, and wonders what could be urgent enough to warrant a visit in the night. Then, he remembers how several of his teammates had handled their alcohol at the festivities. Hastily he dons a more presentable outfit to answer the door, when he realizes the knock has stopped, and finds a slip of paper just inside the door.
He studies the note, and takes a moment to let the candle flame burn it thoroughly before heading to the meeting room. So he is to be our captain...
Mikhail turnde around and went back into Sir Cedric's room.
"Extra information is always handy. Count me in."
Mikhail followed Rockjaw out the door.
Narunith is a bit annoyed by the disturbance as someone hammers against the door and struggles to become fully awake, cast the fragments of dreams from her mind and sort out what is real. "One moment!" she calls out in common. She casts a light spell on her ring and grabs her travelling cloak hastily. With a glance to Therie she mumbles in elven: "Thisbettternotbeyourdoing..." but fails to hide the fact that she actually considers the thought that Therie might have a not-so-subtle admirer charming and is rather amused than upset.
To her amazement she finds no one on the other side of the door as she opens it, but she does find a note on the floor as she steps on it. She picks it up and reads it aloud, translating it to elven on the fly. Afterwards she hands it to Therie without comment other than a half-smile. Destroying things is Therie's privilege and Narunith would not dare to contest it.
She gets dressed and ready to follow the invitation, along with Therie should she wish to do the same.
Therie looks at the dwarven ale thrust into her hand. "Well, one should never pass on new alchemical discoveries." She states, sipping the dwarven ale.
"Wow..." is all she mutters, the heavy ale tipping her carefully calculated balance. "This is quite the drink." She adds, procuring a vial from within a pocket of her shirt. "Should keep some for later experimentation!" She adds with a giggle.
Therie hears the knock at the door, Narunith's light spell hurting her eyes as she feels the effects of the night beginning to impact her. She listens with ringing ears as Narunith reads the note aloud in elven. "Pretty impressive for them to write it in eleven." Therie adds, not quite upto full mental capacity.
"Well lets go find out what this is about." She mumbles, pulling her portable alchemy set out from under the bed.
"Bloody dwarves." She adds, ensuring she has the necessary ingredients to make an alchemist's kindness.
Satisfied that she has everything needed, she tears up the note, placing the tiny pieces in one of the catalyst vials she keeps on her bandolier. "Just in case I need to kill whomever is waking me up right now."
Ya isnt supposed ta expherah-mint with it, ya is supposed ta drink! Drink.
The obstinant dwarf insists, then takes a swig from his own bottle as a way of encouragement.
Bloody elves...
"Could it be that someone univited was listening to what has been discussed here a few moments before? I saw something near the window on my way out and I don't remember it being open during the conversation."
As you all make your way, stumbling or not, to the meeting room you a greeted by a handsome fellow with a rapier on his waist next to him stands another new knight, you beleive his name was Roryx, then next to him in mithril plate armor stands a blonde man with his hand covering his brow in almost a facepalming expression.
ah good good, everyone is here! That means everyone agrees I should be the captain of this team and that you can all follow orders! good, good. he pauses to look around the room.
I see some of you still believe to sleep soon? Well, I know the old man told us not to check into this thing before tomorrow but I want to finish it up tonight. See, in the morning we will have to go through all kinds of formalities, then actually search the grounds with everyone running around and it would just be a huge hassle and would likely draw more attention than us just looking around tonight. Besides, if we finish this thing tonight, we can spend tomorrow having fun and not working. So, comon then, put your game faces on, we have a rumor to investigate, and who doesn't like to be a little bad?
he looks towards therie and narunith and gives an obvious wink.
on the other hand, if the ladies wish to have the fun tonight doing all the formalities tomorrow doesn't sound so bad.
the only thing the other man says, his brow still in his hand, is this
Dart, the leader of our team has not been selected yet and its up to my father to decide, not us.... sigh, I still \ don't think this is a good idea yet here I am...and still I do not know how you manage to talk me into these things.
he looks towards therie and narunith in an almost apologetic manner at Darts last remark.
Narunith stands in the gathering room and listens to Dartaniel and Daniel with her left arm crossed over her chest, supporting the right elbow. Her right hand alternatingly rubs her temples and hides a yawn while she forces herself to listen and watch out of eyes she can barely keep open. Since the ring at right hand's ring finger is one of the few light sources around, the light flickers and the shadows move with every motion of it.
For a moment she considers to charm Dartaniel using a spell, seduce him to follow her to the next best bed, knock him out and let him sleep his crazy ideas off. But since she is firstly too tired to actually pull this off and secondly she wouldn't want any of the other elves, be it Daniel, Maeron or Therie, to believe that she actually did what she would be implying.
First she turns to Daniel and addresses him in elven. "The light may shine on your path, friend." she welcomes him formally, but warmly and introduces the group, indicating the respective team member with her eyes: "Therie, Maeron, Rockjaw, Dalrin, Mikhail and I am Narunith"
To Dartaniel she continues in common: "We're all knights of the order now, Dartaniel." she answers to him instead. "I appreciate your daring and bold attitude, I really do." Even though I wish you would shove it right up your back end right now. she adds mentally, but continues without a pause. "But the next time you come up with something like this, you skip the cloak and dagger approach and tell us straight what you want. Every one of us has the sense to to respond to an urgent plea for help, though it seems that all but one of us have the sense to not use one unless it is urgent." She isn't really angry at him. She even enjoys his somewhat romantic "cloak and dagger attitude", but this is hardly the time for it and there is no way she would support his leadership.
"Now that we are all up and ready to go we might as well do it, anyway. What do you think?" she turns to Maeron. As paladin he is a lot better suited to lead the team as far as she is concerned. She knows that she doesn't make for a good leader herself and wouldn't want to suggest Therie. She can't really judge the dwarves, but they seem like practical types who just do things instead of coordinating a greater whole. Not that she would be above following their lead if they proved themselves.
dart makes a sour face when you refer to him by his full name.
don't call me that, I'm no noble! Just dart hunney. he gives a wink. (Except that he is..)
but don't you see! It IS urgent, a whole day of boredom is at stake here! Besides, it worked didn't it?! Got all of ya here and listening. And seems I have now charmed two onto tagging along. Besides, you don't want to letnl down your... Future captain do you?
What do the rest of you say?
He looks towards daniel as he speaks the word future, emphasizing it.
He cocks his head to the said and looks at narunith and speaks in elven.
though I do have a thing for the rebellious type..
Daniel let's out a small chuckle when dart is referred to by his noble name. Then sighs and shakes his head. Almost mimicking narunith.
you never learn, do you dart?... he looks like he is about to say more, but just sighs again. Then turns to narunith.
yes, I have heard much about you from my father, he believes you show promise, much like my friend here, though he notable mentioned you in particular needed less refinement than him. he jabs his thumb towards dart, who seems appalled at the idea of becoming a "fancy pants stick in the mud nobleman"
Daniel continues.
he also mentioned that we would all be working together for a while. So, I um, guess introductions are indeed required.. Um. I'm daniel, daniel rose, this is dart, I believe you may have met him during your last trial. Um. Its well, a p-pleasure to meet you all.hehhe
He awkardly scratches the back of his head and turns his face away from naruniths and therie's direction. And the more daniel talks, and the more attention he gets, the more he seems to stumble on his words, quite the opposite of the fair elven diplomat.
Mikhail had propped himself up against one of the walls. He listened intently to the conversation, slowly getting mildly annoyed with Dart's self-importance. Man that Dart fella is quite full of himself. Doesn't even see that if we were to sneak around tonight we wouldn't get far with those 2 loud dwarves with us. Maybe should take him down a peg ...
"And it a pleasure to meet you as well Daniel", Mikhail said while stepping forward. He then looked towards Dart. "I did wish you had introduced yourself when you were eavesdropping on us earlier. Would've saved us the trouble of meeting like this right now."
Mikhail said lightheartedly, but as he continued his tone became more serious.
"I like fun and games, don't get me wrong, but I did actually join the order to do my job. Not to rush things and half-ass my assignments just so I can spend my time doing whatever I feel like."
"We could go into the city and hear the rumors for ourselves, but by no means do I want to go to the orphanage in the middle of the night. What would you hope to gain from doing something like that anyway?"
"So unless you want to gather information ...and only that... I say we rest up, wait till dawn and go to the orphanage then."
Mikhail waited to see what Dart's and Daniel's reactions would be, keeping in mind what Sir Cedric had said to him.
Aie. I be Rockjaw Runefinger. An you? Capt'n? Bah. Id rather follow Dairin tha proud dwarf, grumble grumble...
Tha Sir Rose said we go inna tha morn, so we should go inna tha morn. Simple as that.
An sneaking about tha middle o tha night, peekin into orphanages an such? Aint for thea likes o a paladin.
He does NOT mention that it would be practically impossible for him, nor his usual style and demeanor. He would take to it like a rock to water, a sinking sucess...
He felt lost among all the talk of captains, leading, and teams - never had been a part of one, had no idea what it meant, and wasn't even sure he wanted to.
Yet here he was - many times Roryx had heard that fulfilling a vengeance sometimes left a void, but he would never have guessed it could be such a gaping hole of... Nothingness.
Doesn't matter - he thought, moving forward - "Good evening, I am Roryx" - the man spoke, his eyes sparkled a light brown, as he scanned all those present in the small gathering - "Apologies for meeting you all only now, I was delayed" - the words he offered, followed by a short nod, were worded apologetically, but did not sound like it, and even less when spoken by one carrying such an arsenal of war at his back.
As he stands before you, you all can spot the glint of armor below his garments, unmistakable solid plates, apparently not very well kept, as betrayed by their dull glint. In fact, and though not dirty or smelly, the large man seems to have been travelling hard for the last couple of weeks - the strong jaw is covered by an ill shaven beard, clothes simple, dusty and wrinkled (even showing a tear here and there), while both his boots and the rim of his cloak are covered in caked mud.
Crossed at his back, two large weapons are immediately evident - a polearm and a 'larger than life' hammer you recognize as an earthbreaker, while his waist is dotted by a longsword, a mace, and a dagger. Along with the longbow slung around his shoulder, all seem to have seen good use, and do not come across as particularly well kept. The man moves slowly, but lightly, as the multiple straps, strings and attachments, seem to keep everything in place, much like the bandolier across his chest.
The color of his hair, although clearly unkempt, matches the brown in his eyes, framing a tanned skin, and cracked, dry lips - "I remember the instructions from Sir Cedric were quite simple and adamant on requesting us to wait for the morrow - why should we do any different?" - he asks.
"Good evening and well met, Roryx. As for your question: We should not." Sir Cedric hasn't actually been "adamant" about the time when they commence the mission, only that they take some additional team members along the way. But it is indeed somewhat pointless to do it now and Narunith is getting sick of the debate. The hole point of staying here has been to support and establish Maeron as a leader as far as she is concerned.
Which leaves her with another problem: She wants to go to bed again, but can't possibly leave Therie, a juvenile who isn't perfectly in control of her emotions and drives yet, in a room with men like these. Narunith knows very well how she was herself at this age, and leaving her with men like these would have been damn bad idea.
"I wish everyone a good night - whatever remains of it." she says and turns to the door. And then as though she remembers how dark and lonely the fortress is at this hour, she turns to Therie: "Therie, would... would you kindly join me?" she says with an insecure smile and offers her somewhat unsteady hand, but gives the lass a wink. Narunith hopes she gets the message even though she's drunk: Women talk. A lovely brat like Therie would never allow anyone to patronize her, but maybe, just maybe, Narunith could simply earn her trust.
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"What fun would you be implying dart? perhaps maybe we could do some alchemy! Alchemy is fun, and I got a new concoction to make that I'm sure will clear any hangover." Therie states, pulling out a couple of vials.
Therie otherwise tunes out the rest of the conversation, lost in her own thoughts, but knowing that she really doesn't have the flasks on her to deal with a mission at this time.
She raises her head with a quirked look when Narunith asks her to join her. "I suppose so. You're probably the best to help with this anyways. Not sure any of these men have the necessary skills." Therie states, figuring Narunith is likely the most knowledgable of the group.
"Good evening and well met, Roryx. As for your question: We should not."
Roryx nodded at the words clearly spoken by the elven woman - he did not know yet how long the others had been in conversation, or what decisions they had come upon regarding the mission at hand, but that was enough for him - "Very well then"
He stuck around, bot took a few steps back towards the table he had been sitting at, retrieving his drink and waiting for further input from the rest of the group.
She raises her head with a quirked look when Narunith asks her to join her. "I suppose so. You're probably the best to help with this anyways. Not sure any of these men have the necessary skills." Therie states, figuring Narunith is likely the most knowledgable of the group.
"Of course they don't!" Narunith replied. Alchemy was quite a picture in the given context. "... and if we mortar some bull's genitals it may even have an energizing effect." That was technically speaking even true, though the message was for the boys, of course. However, Narunith did know her share of alchemy and while she was of the opinion that hangovers (meaning the type of hangover you got from too much alcohol, not whatever else the image might have meant to the listener) were meant to be suffered she could easily patch up a proper antidote herself, if need be, though Therie was certainly the better alchemist.
She made as quick an exit as she could, carefully trying to prod Therie what she thought about the men on the way back and offered some secrets of her own in turn which she would usually not tell anyone bet her twin sister.