Gamberino reads the room, and nods. "Sure, let's get what we need. I can back that." Subdued from the disagreement, he waits to be assigned to a team, either as a member or a leader. There's a thoughtfulness to his silence that saves it from being sullen.
**
Edmund says nothing; he sits during the meeting, with Fredrik standing at his right shoulder. The young el seems nervous, but holds himself straight as he listens with earnest interest to the talks.
**
Iris picks a few of the brightest and quickest for her own team, before extending an olive branch to Gamberino. "Alright Gamb, pick your team and head out. Prof, how much time do we have?"
**
Varied groups of medics, alchemists, acolytes, boys and girls, els and eles, all depart with a sense of purpose in their stride. The baseline buzzing of the lightning infestation is much louder outside the building, away from the mesh. A few of the younger elens hesitate, but a leader or a friend is there to encourage them forward. The world is suddenly much wider than basement labs and underground shrines.
**
"Four to six candles," Albert tells Iris and the rest. "Check in with each other once a candle with updates. And watch the Sky."
Well that seemed to go well overall. The world as classroom made for curious interactions, the sort that some scholar of social dynamics would likely want to write a treatise of.
Albert climbs his way to the top of the mesh to begin his work, hoping to see Zephyr and Anan coming back from their scouting.
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** spoiler omitted **
"You ... I am so amazed with you young man. Anan, you have done so well today, but I need you to rest. Let us fly back to our people and tell them what we know. We can scout a little further tomorrow."
Zephyr needed to hide this truth for now, this was something he & Albert & Edmund needed to discuss, maybe with that drink they had all promised to have ...
Bye is there too, clucking to himself. Yes. But also, Moon is his fault, and he's sorry.
..
What about the time?
The sweat of late morning pours down Albert's neck and back as he perches at the top of the building with a smattering of components. He clearly didn't need to be wearing a golem-like suit of armor to work himself to fatigue. He wipes a damp cloth across his forehead, his legs wrapped around an antenna and his abs fully engaged to keep him upright instead of tumbling backwards. A hot soldering iron hisses in his other hand as he looks up to see Zephyr and Anan returning. He waves, turning a switch on the iron off.
"What does the Sky say this morning, Zeph?"
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The sweat of late morning pours down Albert's neck and back as he perches at the top of the building with a smattering of components. He clearly didn't need to be wearing a golem-like suit of armor to work himself to fatigue. He wipes a damp cloth across his forehead, his legs wrapped around an antenna and his abs fully engaged to keep him upright instead of tumbling backwards. A hot soldering iron hisses in his other hand as he looks up to see Zephyr and Anan returning. He waves, turning a switch on the iron off.
"What does the Sky say this morning, Zeph?"
"You know your job young one, go to your peers, regale them of your lightning times ... then go to the others and let them know the Sky is with them."
Zephyr emir smiles a smile from the court days, the smile with layers like an onion stolen from Volcano's depths. It wasn't that he lied, it wasn't that he hid his feelings, or the truth. He veiled both, like layers of an onion made of clouds. Maybe if he wept he could blame an onion ...
"A great deal Albert: fly with me a moment." and as though he had simply been air all of this time, his very large form much like Fury's lifted the "scientist" into the air, soaring towards the highest roof top in their cage.
It wasn't that Zephyr didn't believe in science, it was simply that the gifts of Sky were easily veiled, to the unwise. Of course Albert could do things Zephyr could do, of course Albert used devices: Albert was a living prayer, how else would the Father answer him? Ridiculous. Father Sky had many faces, of course his son would alight in Albert's toys, of course their Mother would breathe celerity into his creations; the faces of Sky harkened to the same prayers, they just sounded back to their children differently. Same Father, different faces. Right now though, Zephyr needed those faces.
"We ... have a problem. Together we cannot advance as fast as Anan & I can fly, but soon enough we will be upon a barrier, and in all honesty, I needed to turn away from it quickly, lest Anan know that the resistance could truly impede us. You & I & even Edmund need to go out to examine it, possibly alone. It cannot be impassable."
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Oh!
Being lifted was a different sensation altogether than using fuel and wings to thrust into the air and stay aloft. It felt...well, nice, in its own way. When he flew, he could still feel tethered to the ground as if by an invisible thread, ready to fall if he stopped persisting. This was...
Easy.
The news, however was not.
"A barrier?" he questions uncertainly. "Oh what sort?" Shaking his head, he hesitates and waves his hand. "Never mind. You're right--let's see if Edmund is feeling up for a trip."
Edmund absently says, "Yes, I'll come with. Can Anan watch Bye and the boy?" He smiles, a glimmer of the old Edmund under the surface. "The boy. Gull is sneaking about here somewhere."
"Let us pit our minds against this latest obstacle." He packs his small silvered anvil, refusing any help at the task. He carries his pack on his right shoulder, while his left arm is in a sling to prevent his broken hand from jostling.
As you reach the far edge of town and follow the road away from the last buildings, you see a strange distortion in the air. Almost like the ripples from a hot city street, but expanded to unimaginable size. Now that you have noticed the distortion, it seems to be everywhere, an invisible wall stretching up, down, left, and right as far as your eyes can see. To Albert's eyes, it looks like a huge vertical caith net on the opposing team's side.
The way to Hearth is blocked.
As you reach the far edge of town and follow the road away from the last buildings, you see a strange distortion in the air. Almost like the ripples from a hot city street, but expanded to unimaginable size. Now that you have noticed the distortion, it seems to be everywhere, an invisible wall stretching up, down, left, and right as far as your eyes can see. To Albert's eyes, it looks like a huge vertical caith net on the opposing team's side.
The way to Hearth is blocked.
Albert had taken some time to get into his suit of armor, but without Zephyr warning against any particular dangers he had not activated any of the modules as of yet. He prayed this would be a day of chemical rest where his body could recover.
The wall, however, promises nothing. "I'll be," he says with a whistle, gazing at the ripples. "Any idea how far this stretches? Up, around?" He points to the ground. "Perhaps even below?"
The professor drinks a tipple from a bottle of tea he had brewed in the morning that tended to give him a moment of extra clarity when the sun got too hot.
He picks up a rock from the ground and feels the weight in his hand. "Have you tried to see what contact might do yet?"
He wants to throw, but doesn't just yet. That would be part of the study, but not the first step.
Albert had taken some time to get into his suit of armor, but without Zephyr warning against any particular dangers he had not activated any of the modules as of yet. He prayed this would be a day of chemical rest where his body could recover.
The wall, however, promises nothing. "I'll be," he says with a whistle, gazing at the ripples. "Any idea how far this stretches? Up, around?" He points to the ground. "Perhaps even below?"
The professor drinks a tipple from a bottle of tea he had brewed in the morning that tended to give him a moment of extra clarity when the sun got too hot.
[dice=Knowledge (planes), clarity]1d20+17+1
He picks up a rock from the ground and feels the weight in his hand. "Have you tried to see what contact might do yet?"
He wants to throw, but doesn't just yet. That would be part of the study, but not the first step.
"I did not try that, and I am happy to try it from up above also if you would like."
"Yes, flying up will be useful, Albert confirms. "We should assess this systematically. We have a few ranged options before we resort to subjecting any els to contact with it."
Albert tosses the stone up into the air and backs up to a distance of just over 30 feet from the invisible Caith net. "This would have been an easy shot back in the day," he says. He spins around once to build momentum as he charges forward and hurls the stone at a specific point up on the barrier, arcing it so that it would descend and--theoretically--land about 5 feet on the other side of the invisible wall. That would of course be if the rock made it through it at all and was not either bounced back or vaporized on contact.
Zephyr could fly up once they knew even more.
Later on, Albert could cultivate some tunnel creepers to see if the wall extended below as well. That would take an entire day, though. It would be worth it if it helped them through this problem.
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"Yes, flying up will be useful, Albert confirms. "We should assess this systematically. We have a few ranged options before we resort to subjecting any els to contact with it."
Albert tosses the stone up into the air and backs up to a distance of just over 30 feet from the invisible Caith net. "This would have been an easy shot back in the day," he says. He spins around once to build momentum as he charges forward and hurls the stone at a specific point up on the barrier, arcing it so that it would descend and--theoretically--land about 5 feet on the other side of the invisible wall. That would of course be if the rock made it through it at all and was not either bounced back or vaporized on contact.
Zephyr could fly up once they knew even more.
Later on, Albert could cultivate some tunnel creepers to see if the wall extended below as well. That would take an entire day, though. It would be worth it if it helped them through this problem.
"Underneath!!!!!!!! You with the science! Your el-lore! How do you think this way! I envy you ... me with my silly devotion, never never ever thinking there are other ways through a problem! Sky is my love, not my every solution; and it's no wonder he wants you. To show me I am a silly flight-bound fool. I love you Albert. You are a face of the Father I very rarely see. Thank you.
You do not know the how, but you know the what. This is a Breathless Valley, stolen from the northern lands, turned on its side, and deposited in the middle of the road. What lies before you is a dead, airless crater...that has been moved into the air and spread like honey across the scenery.
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Zephyr's effusive praise catches Albert off-guard, and he tries to pick up their sincerity. He thinks that his friend is being genuine, albeit a bit self-effacing, but he can't always tell. "Uh, thank you," he stumbles. As his stone soars towards the wall, the professor watches the ripples and gasps. "A Breathless Valley," he hisses. "It ought not be possible. It's like...Zephyr, have you heard of this phenomenon from up north? It's just...vacuum. It's unclear what sort of membrane exists between us, but if we were to go a bit further it would be..." Albert grimaces. He didn't need to go into the gritty detail.
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20
Zephyr's effusive praise catches Albert off-guard, and he tries to pick up their sincerity. He thinks that his friend is being genuine, albeit a bit self-effacing, but he can't always tell. "Uh, thank you," he stumbles. As his stone soars towards the wall, the professor watches the ripples and gasps. "A Breathless Valley," he hisses. "It ought not be possible. It's like...Zephyr, have you heard of this phenomenon from up north? It's just...vacuum. It's unclear what sort of membrane exists between us, but if we were to go a bit further it would be..." Albert grimaces. He didn't need to go into the gritty detail.
"I do actually understand this, we studied it in the temple. Although we suffer somewhat from the perceived absence of our god, the principle of the sky and that which he holds dominion over is still present; this concept of "no air" is a different thing though, and we theorized it could actually be MORE dangerous to sylphs."
He pauses ...
"So we go around it?"
"Yes, flying up will be useful, Albert confirms. "We should assess this systematically. We have a few ranged options before we resort to subjecting any els to contact with it."
Albert tosses the stone up into the air and backs up to a distance of just over 30 feet from the invisible Caith net. "This would have been an easy shot back in the day," he says. He spins around once to build momentum as he charges forward and hurls the stone at a specific point up on the barrier, arcing it so that it would descend and--theoretically--land about 5 feet on the other side of the invisible wall.
The rock sails through the air. When you see it hit the border, its speed drops dramatically, as if the barrier is liquid or gelantinous. It wavers in your vision like it is sinking into deep water. Then, abruptly, it vanishes entirely. Not disintegrated or crushed, simply popped like a bubble.
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Albert watches the demise of the rock carefully. He isn't sure exactly what he expected, but it wasn't that. "If we can go around, that would be safer than even trying--" he points to the now-vanished rock "--that."
The professor looks left, right, and up. "Let's scout in all three directions until we have a good sense of what sort of barrier we're dealing with. Our short-wave communication devices will not be particularly useful after we get out of sight, but I spent the morning working on a relay that should boost the signal and allow me to reach you if I find something. Let's meet back here in..." Albert considers the situation. Fifteen driblets out, fifteen driblets back. That should be enough, right? "Half a candle."
Unless Zephyr or Edmund have anything else to add, Albert takes the leftward path to see how far this wall went.
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Chezarina over the past few days had started to be lax in her firekeeping, if only for want of something to do. As such a trail of smoke curled into the sky from her camp, occasionally wisping past the barrier and being dispersed.
Lying on her back on her bedroll, weapons to the side, Chezarina chucked pebbles past the barrier one by one to watch them pop.
If Albert kept his path, he would find the small camp near the barrier that Chezarina had set up in the downwind of a knoll
Edmund takes the rightward path, contemplative and quiet.
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Edmund takes the rightward path, contemplative and quiet.
Zeph, clearly, was meant for the upward path ...
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Watching the wisps of smoke climb into the sky overhead, Luu Sânh purses her lips but says nothing. She's unsure if this is what her new companion was intending but fire, whether magical or otherwise, is far more in the ifrit's wheelhouse than her own. Besdies, she grudgingly admits to herself, Chezarina has shown herself to be more than capable in numerous ways over the past few days, not least with her bow. Perhaps it's the unusual circumstances - and the madness of it all really is being undersold by that description - but for an ifrit she actually seems quite reasonable and certainly less up her own backside than most of the firekin elens she's met.
Luu Sânh is used to waiting - it is the soldier's lot to deal with lengthy periods of inactivity between the heavy stuff of combat - and she watches her companion toss the pebbles one after the other in the kind of game she recognises as one designed to kill time. She reaches into her pack and retrieves a bottle. Taking a brief swig of kelpwine, she savours the salty tang in her throat, a taste of home, and silently offer the bottle to her companion.
After about ten driblets of walking, Edmund finds something very ugly trapped inside the barrier. He examines it from a very safe distance, shrugs to himself, then starts to head back toward Albert.
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Smoke? And as the adage goes, where there was smoke, there was usually fire. Given the controlled wisps, the fire was likely controlled as well. Were there others out here? And if so, were they friendly?
Albert taps at his ear-bound messenger and hopes that Edmund and Zephyr are close enough to hear without too much static. <"I believe I have found others outside the barrier. I'm moving in to investigate.">
Albert isn't even trying to be sneaky; his very presence announces itself easily from far out, the clank of metal plates and the hiss of rudimentary hydraulics allowing the creatures of the forest ample notice to move away if they are afraid. He even calls out in the common tongue. "Whoever has the fire, I'm coming towards you. Hopefully you will wait there."
The figure that emerges from the tree line looks from the neck down like a silver golem glimmering with a yellowish luster where the Sun's rays strike it, abjurative runes carved in the open space. Wires and hoses peak out from between and within the plates in exposed, unprotected casings. A large circular battery encircles the left wrist. From the neck up is the head of a sylph, pearlescent skin giving way to a thick tousle of hair in shades of amethyst, lilac, and lavender. Even from a distance, golden eyes complete the face of a man with light, early-onset wrinkles around the eyes and forehead. The figure waits there at the trees, holding his hands up in a show of not meaning any harm. "Do I have your permission to approach?"
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The sound of metal on metal has Luu Sânh bouncing to her feet, her scimiatar snapping into her hand in a quick sweeping movement. The clanking noise is swiftly followed by a call. She casts around to see if she can see anybody else - there's no attempt at stealth here, so if this is an ambush then the speaker is the decoy.
Looking towards the treeline she can see a heavily armoured figure, clad entirely in a silvery metal trapping, bar the head, which is sylphan and looks to Luu Sânh's eyes at least as rather incongruous with the rest of the man. He stops and she can see him looking at her in the same way she is trying to scrutinise him. What he sees is a fairly typical undine, turquoise-skinned with masses of green hair, and the ease of the grip on her blade and defensive stance she has adopted suggests a seasoned warrior. The fine white robe wrapped around her slim figure stands out as it appears pristine, contrasting somewhat with the dirt and wear that can be seen on both her skin and other equipment. She glances at Chezarina before taking the lead. "Halt where you are," she calls warily. "Identify yourself and your purpose."
Edmund sees the smoke. He wonders if it is an omen. He shrugs again, all ambivalence, and takes the path that Albert took.
Albert regards the undine and ifrit nods, greeting each of them briefly in turn in their native tongues. "Name's Albert Glazier. I'm working with a group of refugees from Light who we smuggled out from Moonfall. One of my friends noticed this--" he points to the shimmering wall, "--Breathless Valley in between us and Hearth. So we're investigating."
He relaxes a bit and nods his head once more, using his head to gesture since he's retaining his upraised hands to show himself as nonaggressive. "What about you elles?"
Nodding at the use of her own language - it's a nice touch and if it's a ploy to endear her to this Albert Glazier then it's a good one - Luu Sânh registers the information provided, trying to parse it for any false notes.
It seems like an all too plausible story and it would be considerably easier if Luu Sânh could just believe him. And yet... her survival instincts have kicked in and after everything she's seen in the past few days, trust is a precious commodity that she's not willing to just hand out. She looks to Chezarina and whispers "He seems sane enough and that more than anything seems to be the important bit."
Not for the first time, she wishes Angh were here. With her silver tongue and easy manner she'd have befriended the sylph while pumping him for information in a way he may not even have been aware of = and probably wouldn't have been upset about it, even if he was. Pushing thoughts of her closest friend away, Luu Sânh knows that she doesn't have that kind of diplomacy or storyweaving so decides to play it as she usually does: straight down the line.
In response to Albert's raised hands, she lowers her blade but maintains a firm grip on it, the skin on her knuckles showing a lighter shade of green. She takes a deep breath, before bowing slightly and replying in the sylph's own tongue, "Thuàng Nê Luu Sânh," she says, "we were investigating Light ourselves, at least until it became clear that the wiser course of action was to escape the madness." Keeping it short and to the point, she waits to give Chezarina the opportunity to speak for herself or for Albert to make the next move.
Nodding at the use of her own language - it's a nice touch and if it's a ploy to endear her to this Albert Glazier then it's a good one - Luu Sânh registers the information provided, trying to parse it for any false notes.
[dice=Sense motive]1d20+9
It seems like an all too plausible story and it would be considerably easier if Luu Sânh could just believe him. And yet... her survival instincts have kicked in and after everything she's seen in the past few days, trust is a precious commodity that she's not willing to just hand out. She looks to Chezarina and whispers "He seems sane enough and that more than anything seems to be the important bit."
Not for the first time, she wishes Angh were here. With her silver tongue and easy manner she'd have befriended the sylph while pumping him for information in a way he may not even have been aware of = and probably wouldn't have been upset about it, even if he was. Pushing thoughts of her closest friend away, Luu Sânh knows that she doesn't have that kind of diplomacy or storyweaving so decides to play it as she usually does: straight down the line.
In response to Albert's raised hands, she lowers her blade but maintains a firm grip on it, the skin on her knuckles showing a lighter shade of green. She takes a deep breath, before bowing slightly and replying in the sylph's own tongue, "Thuàng Nê Luu Sânh," she says, "we were investigating Light ourselves, at least until it became clear that the wiser course of action was to escape the madness." Keeping it short and to the point, she waits to give Chezarina the opportunity to speak for herself or for Albert to make the next move.
From above them, all assembled hear, "Might we descend to meet you all as well? I am a companion of Albert's and also a refugee from Light."
Zephyr hovers just about 50 feet above the small group, north of the new elles and their camp fire.
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Albert rolls his eyes at Zephyr's audacious drama. Well, they had a flair for it after all, so why not?
"It's good to meet you, Thuàng Nê Luu Sânh. Better you by far than Inquisitor Ky La, speaking of madness" He shivers at that memory, still barely days on. He points up. "Don't mind Zephyr; they're fast and probably wanted to catch up with me in case you wanted to do me harm." He smiles, uncertain whether that wasn't still the case, but hoping that they were reaching some understanding. "May I call you Thuàng, or have I chosen the wrong given name?"
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When Albert had first made himself known, Chezarina had been quick to set hands upon her bow and quiver, not raising them, but making sure they were at hand, as she kicked herself up to a standing position a moment later.
Standing, at first glance she could pass for a wilderness hunter, modest brown traveling clothes covered in the dust and earth of honest journeys. But her movement broke the illusion and showed them to be finery on the inside, golden and velvet highlights to accentuate her bronze skin and give some contrast to her relatively modest earthen toned hair for an Ifrit. Though she was not large, she carried herself with the bravado well known of her kin, a foot posed dramatically on a nearby rock to add a few inches of stature and dynamicism to her small frame.
"He looks tough enough to have survived the nonsense back at Light." Chezarina cricked her neck glancing around for other threats, but finding none, Zephyr not seeming as such to her biased eyes, she didn't raise arms yet.
"Indeed, Albert, we were just throwing a little party for two by the impassable wall, more and merrier with four around the fire." She waved for Zephyr to come down.
"Sorry. It's five." A sylph wearing worn holy garb walks toward you. Compared to the likes of metal Alberts and soaring Zephyrs, he is completely mundane. He walks with an air of disappointment, or indifference.
"I think it curves slightly. I don't think there's a way around." He indicates the Breathless Valley that translucently writhes before you.
"Edmund." He sits slightly away from the campfire, not unfriendly, just awkward.
Looking up at the figure of Zephyr hovering in the air, Luu Sânh sighs inwardly at Chezarina's invitation for the pair to approach. Admittedly she was moving in that direction, albeit at her own slower pace - why did other elen make such hasty decisions?
Noting Albert's question about her name, she surmises that his knowledge of the undine language was probably from book learning rather than much direct interaction with River's children. "That is my family name," she replies. "You may call me Luu Sânh. And let's just keep it to the two of you for the moment." The mention of inquisitors has piqued her curiosity; it would appear this group have more knowledge of what exactly had gone down in Light and if nothing else she feels she will be able to learn a lot of useful information from them.
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Albert nods at Luu Sânh. "That's right--my mistake."
When Edmund announces himself right after Luu Sânh had expressed a reservation, Albert chuckles grimly. Well, that was that. He hadn't been sure whether the el with his arm in a sling would have gotten his message at the distance between them, but he had. Good enough.
"Nonsense it was," he confirms to Chezarina (though he doesn't know that name yet), approaching gingerly. "Creeping madness, taking people I've known for decades from curious and helpful to gleefully savage in a matter of flickers." He sits down and gazes into the fire. "I'm glad to know we weren't the only ones to make it out."
Luu Sânh waves a hand in a non-committal gesture at Albert, acknowledging his correction. Exasperated by the appearance of a third figure, she curses to herself, "Dry my lungs!"
"Fine. Welcome Edmund," she retorts curtly. Facing the newcomer she dips her her body into a smooth bow, tipping her head back as she returns to an upright position, as if surfacing from water. Although the form is correct, those intimately familiar with the undine may perceive a potential trace of sarcasm in the greeting.
Turning back to Albert, who she has taken for the spokesperson of the group, Luu Sânh asks, "Are we to take it that few did then? What sort of scale are we talking about? We were only on the fringes of things and that seemed rough enough. If you're here, let's pool our knowledge. Perhaps you could start by filling us in on exactly what's happened?" She pauses for a second before adding, "Please." Although Albert has taken a seat, Luu Sânh remains standing. She sheathes her weapon but her taut posture suggests she is still resolutely on guard.
"Are you coming to join us?" she calls up to Zephyr. "Or keeping watch?"
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Of all the elen, Albert was probably least familiar with undines. Ifrits and sylphs had been much more common in Light, and he had occasional oread students. But for whatever reason, undines were just...well, less familiar. And he had no colleagues with him to check anything. So what he saw was what he got.
Albert frowns at Luu Sânh's question. "Rough, yes. It was..." Metaphors didn't become him. His eyes droop down. "Five days ago I was working in my lab and then...my most senior student seemed to suddenly have a manic episode. I excused himself from his bench and encouraged him go to his office to try to calm down. After a couple of hours I went to check on him. I just heard mumbling from inside the office. When I got in there, he was..." Albert's hand claps to his mouth. "He was drawing on the walls of the office with his fingers. With...his blood. Formulae, schematics. Every surface was covered."
Albert's hand slides up to his forehead. "It had only been a few hours. Oliver had been prone to fits, but never...self-harm. I figured I'd try to offer him a sedative, clean his wounds, and do a full work-up. When I called his name, he turned around and had this...wide smile on his face. He started laughing. Then he grabbed his pen and stabbed me."
The professor closes his eyes. "I've been stabbed before. You don't get to be tenured faculty in the Order of Blood without getting stuck with a few needles, dealing with an unruly patient, that sort of thing. But...his face." His brow furrows. "I shut him in there and went to clean myself up, ask for a colleague to help. But everywhere I went...there was blood. And mirth."
Luu Sânh waves a hand in a non-committal gesture at Albert, acknowledging his correction. Exasperated by the appearance of a third figure, she curses to herself, "Dry my lungs!"
"Fine. Welcome Edmund," she retorts curtly. Facing the newcomer she dips her her body into a smooth bow, tipping her head back as she returns to an upright position, as if surfacing from water. Although the form is correct, those intimately familiar with the undine may perceive a potential trace of sarcasm in the greeting.
Turning back to Albert, who she has taken for the spokesperson of the group, Luu Sânh asks, "Are we to take it that few did then? What sort of scale are we talking about? We were only on the fringes of things and that seemed rough enough. If you're here, let's pool our knowledge. Perhaps you could start by filling us in on exactly what's happened?" She pauses for a second before adding, "Please." Although Albert has taken a seat, Luu Sânh remains standing. She sheathes her weapon but her taut posture suggests she is still resolutely on guard.
"Are you coming to join us?" she calls up to Zephyr. "Or keeping watch?"
"My companion Fury will keep watch, and yes, I will join you. I am interested to hear what roughness you experienced this far out. That is of great concern."
A short tsk escapes from Chezarina's lips at Albert's story. "It seems you fared worse than I. I was only on the outskirts." Chezarina takes a few paces back and forth to think before answering Zephyr. "No trouble out here yet, but well, I wouldn't have thought it out of place with how things were at Light."
Luu Sânh salutes Zephyr as they prepare to descend to the campfire.
"That's horrible, I'm sorry," she says to Albert, real empathy in her voice for the first time. "I had a similar encounter too, though was at least spared the horror of it being someone I knew." She glances at Chezarina too - she hadn't shared this with the ifrit but it had definitely gone a long way towards her decision to band together in mutual defence.
"I was approached by a large el before I had fully understood what happened." And I fully understand nothing about this. "I was not as on guard as I should have been because I simply wasn't expecting him to randomly attack me, which he did, pulling a sword out from his own side and attempting to decapitate me." Luu Sânh shudders at the memory, pausing as she feels self-conscious with the realisation that she has everyone's full attention.
"I'm no physician and have no idea how such a thing was even possible," she looks at Albert as she says this. "The amount of blood that exited with the blade was, well it was a lot. In truth he wasn't much of a swordsman but the laughter as he pulled the blade and the complete lack of rationality in his eyes lives on in my mind." She isn't being boastful, her martial skills were far superior to her opponent but the surprise of the attack paired with the physical size imbalance in close quarters and the erratic behaviour of someone with no regard for their own safety had made it a tougher fight than it might otherwise have been.
She look around at the others, eyeing each in turn. "So yes, I understand some of what you've been through."
Albert breathes in deep and sighs. "I don't think I've properly had time to process it yet. It's just been survival mode. I've had more fitful sleep, and less of it than I would have liked, with unpleasant dreams. That's balanced out to a certain extent by the camaraderie of our fellows, colleagues, acolytes, and students. I am--and many of us are--likely still in the acute phase for developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Puzzles might help to diminish the occurrence and persistence of my symptoms."
It had been a pilot study on elen returning from the Front. But as he realized the prevalence of intrusive thoughts working through his mind, he recognized that this was a reasonable time to consider turning the pilot into action. What better place than the field?
Chezarina's brow furrows in confusion. Puzzles? "Well, there's two I'd love solved, if you're in the puzzling mood. How do we get out," she waved at the wall, "and who's behind the madness in Light."
Edmund says, "The madness came from Moon, the Smiler." He laughs once, a bitter sound. "If you're looking for a good reason for any of it, there isn't one."
Albert points his thumb approvingly in Edmund's direction. "That's about the size of it," he says with a shrug. "Least not a good reason we know of. Why does a god do anything?"
And getting out? Well, that was why they were here, wasn't it?
"Mmm, if it is Moon alone, then naught can be done, I suppose we shall all mourn our ill fate. But if there is an emissary, a herald, an elen weak point? Well, that is a problem that I am quite adept at solving."
"I like the cut of your gib, miss...?" Albert says, letting his tone rise a bit at the end to hopefully prompt the ifrit woman to name herself.
"I go by the name Chezarina. While I'm no expert at mystical matters, I have practical experience in ending a few unsavory plots." Chezarina answers with pride. No true ifrit would every say no to flattery.
Albert nods, the subtlest curl of his lip betraying the return of an ounce of hope. "Signorina Chezarina," he repeats. An unusual fritan name, but still in keeping with some of their traditions. Maybe she was from one of the outlying regions. "Although my friends would disagree with me, I am also not much one for mysticism. For me, even the strangest things can be explained by the natural laws of the world." He takes a breath and utters what he's sure Zephyr and Edmund would consider blasphemy. "Even the gods."