The Legend of Renalta (IC)

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Nar'she
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Nar'she had to stop his conversation with the gnome once he felt the omen forming in the sky and Kiune had everyone to head towards the stable. Listening to the short conversation, it appeared that the Druid was planning to stay behind as a diversion and thus likely die. Which was to be expected as Typhon was coming. What was not were that she claimed she'd stop Typhon.

As the rest of the group scrambled finished their preparation to leave, Nar'she inclined his head towards Kiune, "I thank you for the clothes. Die Well, Druid." He had no chance to notice whether the Druid heard or replied however as the magic took hold and transported them into the mountain.

The run downhill was a new sensation for Nar'she and it felt strangely thrilling. He was tempted to shift into a form that would allow him to keep up with the much faster horses but he was not willing to damage or leave his clothes behind as making a new one were tiring. As such, he had to trail behind even with the minor adjustment to his legs to accommodate for the fast pace they were running. He, however, found himself far more exhausted than he had ever experienced. Trying to pace his breath, Nar'she listened to what the others were planning.
 
Grothnor​

Grothnor was only mildly surprised with the sudden urgency that befell the group. Their foes were gods after all, and it was only right that an archangel could appear anywhere to mete out divine wrath. Likewise, he greeted the Druid's magic ritual with equal stoicism. He did not know what the spell would do but he knew all too well that magic could to all kinds of great and strange and terrible things. He only began to show unease when his feet left the ground, groaning in surprise. He was quite unaccustomed to not being firmly planted on the ground; in his experience there are certain things that are simply not done, and lifting a 500 pound orc off the ground is one of them.

It took Grothnor a moment to gather his surroundings and wits once the spell faded, but the telepathic command he understood well enough. He moved to keep pace with the group and their horses, feeling quite proud of his ability to do so, though the feeling faded fast in place of exhaustion. It had been a long time since he had to exert himself for any kind of extended period like this, and he found his breath hard to catch. Their progress was (thankfully) interrupted by an immense explosion behind them and a bolt of apparent pain lancing through those Grothnor had surmised to be mages. He marveled at the destruction wrought behind them, in between gasps for air, and slowly started to realize that the foes they faced may very easily be out of even his ability to fight.
 
Dean​

There was barely any time between his leaving Kasienka and Kiune summoning them all to the stables. Given the urgency others seemed to move there with Dean had been convinced something had turned rather sour. His fears had been confirmed as Kouri shared the news of Typhon's approach. As their escape began once more, Dean was glad that he hadn't bothered unpacking. His meager belongings had remained with the horse he'd taken from the Rangers, and within minutes he had his saddle rigged and ready.

He set off with the rest of the group, falling near the back by his own will. Those who were forced to run could need someone fresh if trouble befell them, and it seemed not all those running should have been. However through whatever distraction Kiune managed it seemed they were going to break away free. As the group came to a stop in a small grass clearing Kouri stopped them to stare back where they had come from. Dean was in the process of dismounting as a sharp pain struck his chest. He tripped in the stirrup and was sent backwards onto the ground. Set scrambling for a second grasping for his sword, and trying to discern where the hit had come from he spotted similar expressions on Kouri, Amaia and Tahlia, though the reason was lost on him.

Looking at his chest relaxed him as the pain passed and he saw no damage. Making sure he had his sword at his side, and hunting bow and quiver strung around his back he grabbed the reigns of his horse and began moving closer to the front of the group noticing Rahim moving ahead of the group again. "If we're putting forward a scouting party again I'll head off with Rahim and anyone else up to it, but given the terrain I don't see much good in that. I say we make another strong push North. We can slow to a easier pace after we distance ourselves from whatever happened there." He said pointing to the mountain. "Anyone not feeling up to running that should switch with someone mounted. This one's available." He said offering up the horse to the group.
 
Alexander Reumann
Gettafuqouttahere
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After he had given himself a while to take it all in he got up again and walked over to the only person he figured could really help him with this. With a respectful bow of his head he approached the druid who had put him through this mind-boggling epiphany. As he did however all hell seemed to break loose. The tranquility that reigned supreme in the grove was thorn asunder when Kiune caled for them to leave. Alexander allowed her words an instant to settle in before he rushed off to his room. Because he'd just woken up from this dream and there'd been no reason to arm himself he was wearing his arming jack and sword. Nothing more.

He rushed off towards his room and found his belongings ready to be transported, safe for his armour. Donning it would take too much time so he struggled himself into the maill shirt that went under his plate armour, restrapped his sword in place and put his sallet on. He wrapped the rest of his armour plate in the oiled linen in which he kept it and ran for the stables as much as his heavy burden allowed him to. Once there he all but dropped his belongings near Zorn, his destrier and started mounting his saddle and bags to the destrier, his riding horse having been taken by one of the others before he arrived. "Ich habe keine Ahnung entweder, bleiben noch! (I don't know either, stay still!)" He said to the nervous horse. As he tied the armourbag to the saddle he removed the breast- and back and quickly strapped himself into it using a sturdy wooden beam for support as it wouldn't fit in the bag if he rode off in a hurry. He put on his gauntlets and mounted his poleaxe in the designed saddlebag and finally mounted Zorn as a dark magical presence filled the area. As he led Zorn out of the stables and joined the rest of the party leaves were suddenly whipped up and he felt his magical resistance flare up and-



He didn't know where they were but an educated guess told him they were in the outrunners of the mountainrange South of Rheinfeld. He looked behind him and saw the dirt road swirl up into the endless peaks, and he knew Kiune had brought them to their first destination. Despite his fear of the magics she had used, he felt a deep gratitude for the druid, having saved their lives. Maybe even twice. He looked around at the rest of the party when a massivethunderous sound reached his ears and made Zorn rear, nearly throwing him from the saddle. Looking behind him he saw an entire mountainface topple away. "Verdammt."

As the party's rout slowly came to an end Alexander found himself with his sword drawn atop a winded mount. Much like himself however Zorn was used to pushing through fatigue and given a short stop there was no problem. Now came the next problem. Continuing to travel.

"We need to travel quickly. We'd need scouts in all four direction to do so safely. To avoid obvious ambush I suggest that we take roles in travelling armed and at the ready in a vanguard so we will not find ourselves surprised like last time." Alexander said as a sense of confidence flowed back into his voice now the issues at hand were more familiar to the warrior. As the rest of the party assigned scouts and volunteered Alexander himself dismounted and beckoned Dean who standing closest by. "Dean, help me in my armour and I'll volunteer for the vanguard." He said, unloading the oil cloth and kneeling down to attach his greaves.
 
Baldrik Larsson​

Perfect, Baldrik thought. Now paradise was over, and reality was setting back in. He felt surprisingly good over the fact that the illusion of safety had shattered, because it allowed him some time to restore his own sanity. To get a grip on the voices attacking him. He had bolted indoors and taken his equipment within a heartbeat. Preparation created perfection, it's that simple. He had packed up his goods, and now he was ready to bolt out. Grabbing a horse from the stables, he dashed back out. This wasn't going to end well, and the gods had probably found their hideout. Kiune's voice commanded him one thing- Run. And that was a thing that Baldrik found to be a pretty simple task. Baldrik raised his right hand upwards completely flat, before pressing his thumb up against his forehead- saluting her. "Thank you for your services, Kiune." He added, before rushing down with the rest of the group. It reminded him of one time when he was a child, his mother jogging beside him... Out of breathe, she cracked her whip at his back like she usually would. He felt fear enter his back once more, a stinging sensation returning to his scarred back once more. But he kept running, just as if the devil was after him.

Atleast until they reached the bottom. He had just barely realized that he was holding onto a horse whilst running, and glared at his four-legged companion for a few moments before finally understanding what it was and why it was following him. It took Baldrik a few moments to catch his breathe once more from the excessive exercise. He was used to jogging, and running- but that had just come so suddenly that he wasn't prepared for it. Not one bit. Plus he was carrying extra-amounts of equipments than he usually would. Once Dean had made his statement however, Baldrik decided to speak up. "So is this one." Baldrik added when Dean made the announcement. He didn't feel like riding a horse, and he wanted to distance himself from Kouri. Two things solved in one instance from scouting. He let go of the leash that held the Horse to him, and approached Dean hesitantly. He didn't like being close to him, but he had to for the time being. Baldrik felt that Alexander's plan had some good merits to it, and began head to what he believed to the East flank, walking away slightly as he began to hollar back at the group.

"Alright, I'll cover the East flank. We should try to keep ourselves atleast thirty-meters away from the main group, so that they have a fair chance of preparation for combat in case something does strike up. Better to lose one person than the entire group. Main group should also keep the Horses, so they have the best movement out in case something happens."
 
Dean & Alexander​

Dean's attention is grabbed as Alexander beckons for him. He dismounted his horse, leaving the reins for anyone interested in riding and walked over to begin securing the man's armor. "We sent out a Vanguard last time, were nonetheless attacked and separated to add to the chaos. When we reach the cover of the forest ahead we can worry about ambushes but now I think getting away from the mountain is our prime concern."


Alexander grunted as straps were pulled to secure his leg armour, Dean strapping the plates thight while Alexander laced the suspension to his arming jack. "Little bit more to the right..." He muttered and secured the plate. "Ideally we'd have both scouts, a van- and rearguard, but I take your point. We'll still want scouts, and given how little we are it's best if everyone's ready to fight at a moment's notice." He said while picking up the arm defences and closing one over his wrist. "We need to move fast, but travelling blind would be a mistake."


"Granted that's true, but ideally..." Dean replied as he fiddled with the armor as Alexander requested. "We'd have a company of soldiers with us and could spare enough to properly man those scouting parties, but we don't." His hands worked quickly along the various harnesses along Alexander's armored legs. Practiced movements from similar plates of Ryker's. "We barely have people fit to act as scouts, and while travelling without scouting the foothills isn't the best choice, we aren't any more blind than the enemy is given the terrain."


As they went through the proces of buckling his arm harness Alexander thought about this and replied. "Fair enough." He said. After the arm pieces the breastplate he'd undone moments earlier to get the rest of his armour on was quickly donned, and the bevor and helmet were in place shortly after, only leaving his gauntlets to hang on Zorn's saddlebow. "Very well. Thanks for the help. We'll see what the princess decides."
 
"Yeah, it really is a shame. If I had my way they'd all drop dead today, damned filthy creatures."
-Amaia, Page 7​

Regular Colour-Blind

  • ... Winter​

    Suggestions were flung about. A strategy was being devised. The Princess' eyes were still closed from earlier pain, and simply takes a deep breath. Sharp, cold air. Mountain air. The words are spoken from all around her, as she pats her horse gently on his neck. "Calm." She whispers, before opening her eyes slowly and looking around. She exhales, and opens her eyes.

    Hanus looks over at her from atop Krasnyy. The Princess looks back at him, and her horse whines nervously standing near the lizard, who merely licks his eyes with a certain, unsettling hunger. Kouri pats her horse on his neck and tries to keep him calm, as Hanus speaks. "What do you think?" The Princess frowns. "I'm not certain." He shrugs, and glances out toward the sky. "I didn't ask for certainty. I asked what you think." Her horse seems to finally calm, and so, she scratches him behind his ears. "... I do not think it wise for us to split up right now." Hanus raises an eyebrow. His tone doesn't seem to carry any curiosity to it, more it seemed a matter of course. "Why not?"

    She replies, uncertainty in her tone of voice. "The King's Rangers who guided Cennick to our side... They disappeared. We never saw them again. How did Typhon find us so quickly?" A grimace crosses her lips. "Spreading out just makes it easier to catch us... Like trying to hide a blanket without folding it. Once one of us is caught, he seems to have his methods to... To make them talk. There's enough blood on my mind, I don't need to run this risk. If we stick together, we can move quickly to the forest. The more speed we have, the better. Typhon's men must be looking for us, at least... Speed is as good as intelligence in times like this, isn't it?"

    Hanus' red eyes turn away from the princess as he nods with approval. "Good to have your own plans." She looks at him nervously. "Is it any good?" Once again, he shrugs. "The cover of woods are more useful than foothills, where we can be seen from the skies." The princess mumbles under her breath, and he chuckles as he shakes his head. He forces Krasnyy to take a few steps away, to give the horse some comfort that he still seemed to lack around the lizard.

    Quietly, the princess moves to the centre of the recovering group. She clears her throat, and speaks up. "We'll move together, quickly, into the forest." Marcus raises an eyebrow. "To move blind is unwise." Mikan nods with a thankful look in her eyes. "I agree with Kouri, let's just move quickly. We tried scouting in the mountains, it failed, didn't it?" James rolls his eyes. "Oh yes, sure, naturally... Blind..." He whispers to Beatrice, and she takes off into the skies. "We're not blind, Marcus. Relax... Beatrice can handle it." This only seemed to leave Marcus more unsettled as opposed to less, but he made no further comment about it.

    Mikan looks about the area, and squints. "I know a place we can go, from here... Uh, assuming the forest I am thinking of is north of here. It is a quiet little cabin, abandoned. We could use it to quickly regroup, and think of a strategy. Make a choice there." Marcus raises an eyebrow. "Assuming we get there, and assuming this thief can navigate her way through a forest... I can summon King's Rangers to our side. We have a couple outposts in Rheinfeld, I would imagine we were placed near one."

    "Then we have a plan, and little time." Hanus interjects. Patting the side of his lizard to get his attention, the vampire whispers in his native tongue. "Bystro! (Fast!)" As the lizard takes off and gets a small head start, Kouri snaps the reigns of her horse and follows, ensuring not to go too fast for those on foot to be unable to keep up.

    Abandoned Home​

    It took a couple hours to reach the forest, and another hour or so of Mikan looking a little confused, before they found a small clearing. It was overgrown with grass, but it was clear that the forest around it was quickly moving in to take back the space once taken from it, but a building still stood. It was rather eery, and showed no signs of habitation for what must have been at least a year or two. "Here we are." Mikan remarks, some of her childish humour remaining, but seemingly repressed somewhat by the sight of the place before her.

    As Kouri dismounts and offers her horse something to eat from one of his saddle bags, Marcus steps off ahead and walks toward the building. Mikan runs over to him. Though he rested his hand on the handle of his blade, she simply grimaced as he opened the door. There were a few bloodstains inside, and plentiful dust. Looking over to the thief, the King's Ranger narrows his look. He wanted answers, and though she looks away from him toward Rahim, she speaks—loud enough for the group to hear. Especially Alexander. "I knew it was abandoned because this place had been struck by Templar. They suspected the family living here of witchcraft. The family resisted. Maybe they were witches, maybe not, but, but... Only the Templar walked away. If you enter, you might find a few toys... I think this was a place that tried to smuggle away children with magical talents."

    Kouri's face softens, sympathy entering her eyes. Marcus, on the other hand, simply nods in thanks for the information, and steps inside to scout the building out.

    James notices Beatrice return. Beatrice lands on his shoulder, and starts to speak to him, in a hushed tone—unintelligible to everyone else. It seemed she had news of some sort.

    Mikan remains leaning against the wall of the cabin, arms crossed, silent. She looked neither sad or cheerful; merely distant.

    Hanus looks the group over, and slips off Krasnyy. "Now that we're some place a little safer, and have bought a little time, we can talk strategy. Our next plan of action. Where we will go next." He glances momentarily toward the building Marcus was searching, then back at Kouri. With Marcus out of ear shot, he seems to speak a little more bluntly. "We can't wait for King's Rangers to come to us. If we go out for them, we should go to them ourselves—not give any potential rats time to warn of our arrival. That, or we could skip them entirely... Might be too predictable a next move."

    Though she still held a bit of a sombre tone, Kouri replies softly. "And go where? I know not what this Rheinfeld is like, but, if they are truly this harsh to mages... As harsh as I have already heard... All of our mages, myself included, will have to render ourselves defenseless just to hide from their detection. The Gods did not find the first King's Rangers outpost near where I was, who is to say that any one King's Ranger knows where all the outposts are? They are some of our only allies, Hanus..."

    An amused look reaches James' face as he glances toward Kouri. He momentarily hesitates, then chooses his next words carefully—as though he was leaving something out. "Well, regardless of what we do, Beatrice apparently spotted that one woman... What was her name... Ah, yes. Jennifer. The Silver Shield that led us all into a trap she seemed surprised by... She's walking around wounded. Aimless, almost. Distraught. We could capitalize on this... Take out an opponent, or capture and interrogate her, though it would slow us down..."

    Mikan looks up sharply and glares at James. "Oh yeah, great plan to make new friends: Torturing people. Look I can tell you right now torture didn't make all my city friends squeal and reveal their friends—more often they told lies, that they thought were more appealing than the truth. Look, whatever we do, let us just... Leave this place sooner rather than later. It gives me the creeps."

  • ... Winter​

    Suggestions were flung about. A strategy was being devised. The Princess' eyes were still closed from earlier pain, and simply takes a deep breath. Sharp, cold air. Mountain air. The words are spoken from all around her, as she pats her horse gently on his neck. "Calm." She whispers, before opening her eyes slowly and looking around. She exhales, and opens her eyes.

    Hanus looks over at her from atop Krasnyy. The Princess looks back at him, and her horse whines nervously standing near the lizard, who merely licks his eyes with a certain, unsettling hunger. Kouri pats her horse on his neck and tries to keep him calm, as Hanus speaks. "What do you think?" The Princess frowns. "I'm not certain." He shrugs, and glances out toward the sky. "I didn't ask for certainty. I asked what you think." Her horse seems to finally calm, and so, she scratches him behind his ears. "... I do not think it wise for us to split up." Hanus raises an eyebrow. His tone doesn't seem to carry any curiosity to it, more it seemed a matter of course. "Why not?"

    She replies, uncertainty in her tone of voice. "The King's Rangers who guided Cennick to our side... They disappeared. We never saw them again. How did Typhon find us so quickly?" A grimace crosses her lips. "Spreading out just makes it easier to catch us... Like trying to hide a blanket without folding it. Once one of us is caught, he seems to have his methods to... To make them talk. There's enough blood on my mind, I don't need to run this risk. If we stick together, we can move quickly to the forest. The more speed we have, the better. Typhon's men must be looking for us, at least... Speed is as good as intelligence in times like this, isn't it?"

    Hanus' red eyes turn away from the princess as he nods with approval. "Good to have your own plans." She looks at him nervously. "Is it any good?" Once again, he shrugs. "The cover of woods are more useful than foothills, where we can be seen from the skies." The princess mumbles under her breath, and he chuckles as he shakes his head. He forces Krasnyy to take a few steps away, to give the horse some comfort that he still seemed to lack around the lizard.

    Quietly, the princess moves to the centre of the recovering group. She clears her throat, and speaks up. "We'll move together, quickly, into the forest." Marcus raises an eyebrow. "To move blind is unwise." Mikan nods with a thankful look in her eyes. "I agree, let's just move quickly. We tried scouting in the mountains, it failed, didn't it?" James rolls his eyes. "Oh yes, sure, naturally... Blind..." He whispers to Beatrice, and she takes off into the skies. "We're not blind, Marcus. Relax... Beatrice can handle it." This only seemed to leave Marcus more unsettled as opposed to less, but he made no further comment about it.

    Mikan looks about the area, and squints. "I know a place we can go, from here... Uh, assuming the forest I'm thinking of is north of here. It's a quiet little cabin, abandoned. We could use it to quickly regroup, and think of a strategy. Make a choice there." Marcus raises an eyebrow. "Assuming we get there, and assuming this thief can navigate her way through a forest... I can summon King's Rangers to our side. We have a couple outposts in Rheinfeld, I would imagine we were placed near one."

    "Then we have a plan." Hanus interjects. Patting the side of his lizard to get his attention, the vampire whispers in his native tongue. "Bystro! (Fast!)" As the lizard takes off and gets a small head start, Kouri snaps the reigns of her horse and follows, ensuring not to go too fast for those on foot to be unable to keep up.

    Abandoned Home​

    It took a couple hours to reach the forest, and another hour or so of Mikan looking a little confused, before they found a small clearing. It was overgrown with grass, but it was clear that the forest around it was quickly moving in to take back the space once taken from it, but a building still stood. It was rather eery, and showed no signs of habitation for what must have been at least a year or two. "Here we are." Mikan remarks, some of her childish humour remaining, but seemingly repressed somewhat by the sight of the place before her.

    As Kouri dismounts and offers her horse something to eat from one of his saddle bags, Marcus steps off ahead and walks toward the building. Mikan runs over to him. Though he rested his hand on the handle of his blade, she simply grimaced as he opened the door. There were a few bloodstains inside, and plentiful dust. Looking over to the thief, the King's Ranger narrows his look. He wanted answers, and though she looks away from him toward Rahim, she speaks—loud enough for the group to hear. Especially Alexander. "I knew it was abandoned because this place had been struck by Templar. They suspected the family living here of witchcraft. The family resisted. Maybe they were witches, maybe not, but, but... Only the Templar walked away. If you enter, you might find a few toys... I think this was a place that tried to smuggle away children with magical talents."

    Kouri's face softens, sympathy entering her eyes. Marcus, on the other hand, simply nods in thanks for the information, and steps inside to scout the building out.

    James notices Beatrice return. Beatrice lands on his shoulder, and starts to speak to him, in a hushed tone—unintelligible to everyone else. It seemed she had news of some sort.

    Mikan remains leaning against the wall of the cabin, arms crossed, silent. She looked neither sad or cheerful; merely distant.

    Hanus looks the group over, and slips off Krasnyy. "Now that we're some place a little safer, and have bought a little time, we can talk strategy. Our next plan of action." He glances momentarily toward the building Marcus was searching, then back at Kouri. With Marcus out of ear shot, he seems to speak a little more bluntly. "We can't wait for King's Rangers to come to us. If we go out for them, we should go to them ourselves—not give any potential rats time to warn of our arrival. That, or we could skip them entirely... Might be too predictable a next move."

    Though she still held a bit of a sombre tone, Kouri replies softly. "And go where? I know not what this Rheinfeld is like, but, if they are truly this harsh to mages... As harsh as I have already heard... All of our mages, myself included, will have to render ourselves defenseless. The Gods did not find the first King's Rangers outpost here, who is to say that any one King's Ranger knows where all the outposts are? They are some of our only allies, Hanus..."

    An amused look reaches James' face as he glances toward Kouri. He momentarily hesitates, then chooses his next words carefully—as though he was leaving something out. "Well, regardless of what we do, Beatrice apparently spotted that one woman... What was her name... Ah, yes. Jennifer. The Silver Shield that led us all into a trap she seemed surprised by... She's walking around wounded. Aimless, almost. Distraught. We could capitalize on this... Take out an opponent, or capture and interrogate her, though it would slow us down..."

    Mikan looks up sharply and glares at James. "Oh yeah, great plan to make new friends: Torturing people. Look I can tell you right now torture didn't make all my city friends squeal and reveal their friends—more often they told lies, that they thought were more appealing than the truth. Look, whatever we do, let us just... Leave this place sooner rather than later. It gives me the creeps."
 
Dean​

He couldn't help but feel a sensation of smugness as Kouri voiced her decision, but he realized now to be a bad time to feel it. Dean successfully restrained himself from glancing coyly at anyone who had reccomended splitting away. He had made the offer of his horse to the group instead making the run on foot as he said he would. The trip was taxing though he knew he'd been through worse. By the end he found his lungs burning and his heart beating hard, but it was worth it as they reached the relative safety of the cabin.

A recurring sentiment of fleeting security dawned on him as he went about a quick check of the property. He didn't want to be surprised here, and while the cabin itself held few secrets, the stories it freely told were chilling. The most obvious screamed at Dean as they entered the fire-damaged doorway to the cabin. A struggle if Dean had ever seen one. Common place in lands as close as these were to Rheinfeld. However it was the second floor that numbed Dean's limbs. He reached a smaller room that held a cradle and little else. A scattered, dusty toy lay on the carpet; notably a Kouri doll missing one of its eyes that eerily drew Dean back to the previous night, and his strange vision of a scarred Kouri. A lopsided bookshelf stood off to one side, but any knowledge it once held was as lost as the shelves were emptied and cracked. Finally he reached the cradle, and a sickness stirred in his gut. A large stain of blood rested in the middle of the babe's crib, but thankfully there were no remains to speak of.

Dean ventured back down stairs, most likely looking green under the gill. He took a seat on one of the steps leading to the second floor, leaving enough room should someone want to explore the upstairs themselves, and looked at those speaking. "We stayed less than a day with the Rangers near the pond and the enemy knew exactly where we had left from and where we were going. As much as we need allies, surfacing for their aid means exposing ourselves to that same situation. The second our allies know it won't be long before our enemies do as well."

"As for Jennifer? The woman is powerful, obviously, and even wounded I wouldn't be surprised if she were capable of immense damage. Typhon seemed fond of her in the Mountains... It's possible she knows a great many things about the bastard, and we might never get a chance like this again. I volunteer to go after her, but I won't allow torture on her."

He looked directly to Kouri as he spoke the next part. "So long as we don't draw attention to ourselves we shouldn't have too much issue travelling through Rheinfeld. It's morbid to say but plenty of non-magical innocents are killed on suspicion of witchcraft, so they likely don't have a perfect detection. Avoid the use of your magic, and repress your ability as much as you can until we can't avoid conflict anymore. Otherwise? We book passage North and continue with our mission."
 
Strategy
Chilum and Dean @Orion
​
When Chilum arrived at the house he shuddered and loosened his scarf, not having enjoyed the jog over here. He wasn't sick like he was before, but he was still uncomfortable with the activity. He piled into the house with most of the party, but didn't explore. Whatever was happening in this hellhole was beyond his interest. He would far rather do something to get the party to leave sooner rather than accidentally find a reason to stick around. The red headed elf and Dean already looked worse for wear after wandering around the house.

He slowly nodded along with the aforementioned man's plan, thinking it fair enough in the majority. The mention of going to try and take the woman, to get information from her, was laughable at best. The woman who had come onto him, Mikan, made the most sense in that regard. "Mikan is right. There is no point in attempting to capture this woman. Torture would sooner lead to her death than to our gain. If any of you think she would give us information on T-T-Typhon, then you are delusional. I cannot see such a powerful a-an-a- man allowing such loose threads. She would sooner be a t-t-t-tr-trap than any sort of help. If anything I say we should steer as clear of her as possible as we proceed. I have no qu-qu-qua..." he scowled, trying to force out the word before shaking his head and resorting to another, "problem going to Rheinfeld. I only worry that our party is so large we will attract undue attention. Should there be a way to go straight to the Fr-Fr-Free Holds, I think that would be best. I do not know this area, or what we would have to do to go there."​

​
Dean would frown as Chilum interjected with his own sentiments. The man was free to feel how he wanted of course, but describing the intention to seek Jennifer as 'delusional' struck Dean as a slight. He gave the man an opportunity to finish what he was saying and approached calmly. "I'm sorry, but you're carrying on as if you've met Typhon himself, when the truth is you haven't even met everyone we're travelling with." He gestured to those inside the cabin, counting along as he went. "Fact is: I see twenty some odd 'loose ends' here with us, so maybe Typhon hasn't gotten to this one yet either. Jennifer had allies with her when last we met, they are gone, and from Beatrice's view we would be able to see them if they were trying to set a trap."

"She's alone, she's injured, and she's wandering dangerous lands. If I have to go alone, I will, but I won't leave her to that fate."

Chilum was taken aback at being addressed directly, but scowled and shook his head. "I don't have to have had met the man to know his k-k-kind. I know well enough that J-J-J- sh-she is not a f-f-feasible plan. The eyes of a d-d-d- b-b-b-bird can't know everything. B-B-B-Beatr-tr-" he had to stop to collect himself, even though his voice was rising. Normally he prepared for moments like this, but a man of equal standing made him surprisingly nervous, "No matter how smart the bird is, I doubt she can know and see what one of our mages could d-d-d-d-discover. Leaving the woman alone may be a mercy for her considering what some of our p-party may be inclined to do."

Dean gripped the man's shoulder gently, showing concern at the trouble the man was having speaking. His eyes scanned Chilum's for some kind of distress, and he tried to show comfort on his face. "Beatrice is more than some bird. It may be worth it to put some faith in her, just as we've placed faith in you. I'll grant you may have an idea of who Typhon is, but I have to begrudgingly admit Jennifer didn't prove as heinous as I thought she might." He sighed lightly releasing Chilum's shoulder. "To describe leaving her for dead as a mercy strikes me as cruel. Whatever intentions some in the group have are irrelevant to me. Mikan didn't advocate not seeking out Jennifer, she said interrogation didn't work. Kindness still might."

The light haired man tried to step away from Dean when he was grabbed, but decided that it could turn into a shoving match if he pulled too hard. He avoided eye contact with the man as he spoke until he was released, then looked to match Dean's gaze. In the end he shook his head and shuffled his feet against the floor. He barely spoke above a whisper, clearly intending for only Dean to hear his words.

"I do not wish to p-p-p-put the burden of this on K-K-Ko... the princess. I would have rather w-w-wished for us to have not known this w-woman's fate. W-w-w-we are no better for her than the w-wild, given what Ty-Ty-Ty-Ty-Ty-Ty..." It was clear he couldn't get the angel's name out, so he just shrugged before standing a little taller and squaring his shoulders to offset his inability to speak.

Dean raised an eyebrow at Chilum as he seemed uncomfortable with the conversation. He kept his voice as low as Chilum's had been, but frustration was beginning to show on his face. "This burden is all of ours as much as it is the Princess' the sooner you get that the better off we'll all be. We unfortunately don't have the luxury of not knowing her fate, and I would argue that at least in going after her she gets a chance. A better chance than the wild would offer her. If nothing else we can give her that."

Chilum looked past Dean to glance at Kouri, then shrugged again and looked towards the wall, looking at a patch that had begun to be chipped away by rodents. "Then we go after her. I cannot stop you from doing what you think is right, but I have the unfortunate opinion that she will lead to d-d-d-death. If she comes to our party safely, I will help h-h-h-her r-recover, but I will not go to f-f-find her." He started to try and move away from Dean now, his voice having returned to its usual volume.

Dean shrugs and stands his ground. Laughing lightly to himself as Chilum moved away. "No one asked you to, no will be forced after her, and if she leads to death then it will hopefully be my loss and not one of yours."

Chilum scowled as Dean talked to his back, bunching his hands into fists, but continuing to walk away. He would not fight for the last word over this. Instead he moved towards the princess, wanting to introduce himself after such an outburst and series of stuttering.
​
Nightmares
Kasienka, James, and Mikan​

Kasienka hadn't even tried to voice her opinion, nodding when Kouri shot down the idea to split up. She didn't want to try and keep a touch on everyone as they spread out, and that was prevented. They soon moved out and she continued to ride along with Windy, exchanging quiet bars of songs that she remembered from other lives to give the small bard more material and attempt to alleviate the stress of the moment. If asked she would give small stories, or what she remembered of them.

Occasionally she would look back at the rest of the group, worried about those who were walking. She considered switching off with someone to give them a chance to rest, but knew that switching mounts may take more time than they had. Kasienka tried to keep her focus on the journey ahead, but found it perpetually tugged to either the halfling in front of her or any of her party members around her.

When they arrived at the house she could feel just how off it was. Mikan's description of it made Kasienka's stomach churn in a way she had forgotten for decades. Without thinking she slid off the horse, leaving Windy to her own devices as she wandered into the house and began to try and reach out, to try and find the hidden stories in this building. The entire lack of magic made her feel out of place as she aimlessly wandered about the first floor, then the second.

The flaky maroon was easy to identify when she saw the cradle and a low whining moan was squeezed out of her chest as she took a few steps closer to it and felt her heart tighten while reaching out one hand to touch a few inches away from the stains. She could hear Dean's voice rumbling below, talking about plans, but she couldn't leave the side of the cradle.

"James?" Her voice was hardly above a whisper, but she had trust he or the bird would still hear her.

A minute of silence passes, before the Illusionist reaches her side. He looks over the building and raises an eyebrow, then sighs. "Disgusting and ignorant. Hallmarks of Templar work." He whispers to Beatrice to send her back to the group, then looks at Kasienka. His tone is cold, calculating, and inquisitive. "Something I can do for you?"

Tears had slid down her cheeks as she waited for James, her magic still reaching out and hoping for a semblance of life. She felt something, there was something there. Maybe it was just a touch of magic, but any part of an answer would help her. God it was selfish, wanting something to make her feel better when there had clearly been murder. Infaticide.

"I feel something in this... Shack. It's magic. Something. Can you feel it? Do you know what it is?"

James glances over and raises an eyebrow seeing her tearing up and emotional. He, however, does not comment further--the confused look in his eyes was enough to demonstrate his lack of ability to understand why she was feeling the way she was. Closing his eyes, she could feel a little magic from him, reaching out in every direction. A sigh leaves his lips, as he slowly opens his eyes. "Spirits are here. Some who died, who can't get past it, likely. They are not my specialty. You would have to ask Tahlia." A small smile reaches his lips as he says her name. "I could capture them. We could use them as a source for more complex spells, but... I don't know where they are. Besides, I doubt you'd want to power your spells with the souls of dead children anyway. It doesn't seem to be in your tastes."

Kasienka bobbed her head as James gave her an answer and a possible solution, but found bile rise in her throat as he confirmed that the spirits were of children, and even that he would never allow them rest if he had his way. She steadied herself with the cradle reflexively, then yanked it back and grabbed at James's shoulder instead. This time she shook her head, confirming that she couldn't condone James's desire to amplify spells.

"I shall try talking with Tahlia I suppose. Thank you, James." Her fingers uncurled from his shoulder as she began to shuffle down the stairs and into the main room. She looked as if she had truly seen the ghosts which occupied this building. Mikan had said the most about the house, so she turned towards the woman.

"Mikan? Did you know anyone here?"

The girl seemed distant again, remaining just outside the front door, away from trouble. Away from the interior. Though she does respond to Kasienka, her voice seems to hold discontent and discomfort for where they were. "Not really. I just stay here one night... That was enough to tell me never to stay here another." She shuffles uncomfortably. "You saw the cradle, huh?"

Kasienka nodded then pulled Mikan in for a hug. The movement was more for Kasienka's comfort than for Mikan's at this point, and she continued to hold the girl for a few moments before slowly pulling away and glancing into the building. "I wish there was somewhere else we could be. Somewhere I could take you and some of the others. We wouldn't leave for long, just long enough to let the others talk."

"I am not a little girl." Mikan grumbles under her breath as she pulls out out a throwing knife, and starts toying with it with one hand. It seemed a form of stress relief. "I just do not like this place. I am not going to go run and hide... Not on just... Conversation. This is just a place nobody wants to go to, so it is a good place to bet that we would have momentary security. That is... That is all it is." She looks up at Kasienka and smiles a little, almost weakly. "I just do not like seeing childhood things so... Ruined. That is why we are here with Kouri though, is it not? Nichts mehr davon. (No more of that.)" She motions inside.

The elf reflexively took two quick steps back when she heard the knife, reaching for her own at that time. When she saw it was not malicious she relaxed and let the handle clink back against the sheath. She sighed as Mikan grumbled, it sounding more like a whinging complaint a teenager would give rather than something the woman she played to be.

Her following reasoning was sound, but it didn't take the bitter taste out of Kasienka's mouth, or take away the chill that danced along her spine. There was nothing she could say to refute Mikan's statements, but she also couldn't come up with anything that would make a difference any other way.

"No, I don't believe anyone does. You are right. I suppose I should go join the rest of the party now to try and decide on some sort of plan. Thank you for talking with me."

She turned away from Mikan to go talk with the rest of the group, to listen to what was being talked about. Given that Typhon had been able to find them in a realm squirreled away from the rest of the world, she couldn't see any one plan being better than another so far as avoiding detection was concerned.

"If anything Rheinfeld may be safer for us. We that use magic may be at a disadvantage, but perhaps so will those that wish to find us. It is a double edged sword in that case, as I'm sure the rest of you can discover." Her voice was softer than usual, and she appeared visibly fatigued. It would seem she would agree with most plans should they get the party out of this ghost house.

Mikan watches as Kasienka turns away, a little shame in her eyes as she then looks away. She mutters something incomprehensible in her mother tongue, and waits.
 
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Alexander Reumann


He'd been about to voice his complaints about travelling blind, knowing that Templar patrols often fought orc warbands in this area, when James sent Beatrice skywards. Unlike Marcus Alexander was content with this form of scouting. It was both effective and stealthy. And not a single Rheinfeld Templar would suspect that the raven was a magical creature or a scout.

While the day dragged on Alexander felt passing time and stress numb his senses. They moved at a forced pace and even though he was a veteran campaigner he felt the weariness settle in. While his body numbed on the pattern of riding and running besides his horse to give Zorn rest he reviewed cuts and throws in his mind in an attempt to distract himself. He was not entirely succesful. The thought of being back in his native country was strange, having been sent from here a couple of weeks ago. Granted, the trip took a lot longer than it seemed to last this time given that he'd had to cross the mountains in the ordinary fashion, but he suspected that this would change soon. He felt that their party, so richly blessed with magical users would encounter more trouble than the'd think in the land where the slightest suspicion of magic could lead to the burning stake.


When they arrived near the forest cabin they all learned the footprint of Templars' work. Mikan's venomous words rung in his head as he approached the cabin himself and stumbled upon a scene he'd seen all too often, in most cases self-inflicted. Alexander turned bleak at the sight of maimed Kouri doll on the ground and picked it up to inspect it. Then he stumbled upon the bloodstained crib. A particularly gruesome memory came to mind of a mother screaming at his armoured figure in the doorway, holding a babe with a doll similar to this one. She'd - He spat physically to dispell the memory. He stared at the scene for a while, surpressing the need to vomit. Eventually he turned away.

"Traversing Rheinfeld won't be that easy. The rural commons are known to burn people alive in crazed withch hunts, but the Templars are far more efficient than they are. They have ways of figuring out magicians, whether you hide it or not." Alexander joined in on the conversation. "Rheinfeld's Templarate prides itself on its ability to sniff our mages that threaten society"​
 
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The Savage Suggestion
(Feat @Brovo as Mikan, James, and Kouri.)​

Once the nod had been given by the Princess to head through the forest, and to follow Mikan's lead to whatever safe-house she knew of, Rahim rode near the front of the group and kept mostly to himself. He kept his eyes open, and paid attention to every errant crack of twigs, or rustle of leaves. It was only when Mikan told everyone they had reached the 'safe'-house a couple hours later that he let his guard drop a little. He dismounted the horse, and offered it some feed from a saddle bag.

While he fed his horse, a few pieces of information caught his attention. He noticed the look that Mikan gave him as she told the story of the house. It seemed that the place was a trove of sick memories for the woman, and Rahim frowned for her, offering a nod when she glanced at him to tell her that he was there if she needed him. Hanus offered the King's Rangers as a possible next location, and James brought the Silver Shield woman, Jennifer to the group's attention. Rahim paused at the memory of the woman. She'd been agreeable enough; strong, spirited, in a position of command that she clearly suited. The fact that she worked for Typhon had been a devastating blemish, but the thought of her distraught, alone, and injured was…unsettling. Would Orcs not be drawn to the area, after the explosion? It would be a cruel death, and a slow one, for someone as capable as she had been.

Rahim looked over at James, still offering the feed to the horse in front of him. "Did the bird notice any of the other Silver Shields around? What were her injuries like? How far a ride is she from here?" He said, already toying with the idea of dealing with her in some way. "This is a chance to eliminate a threat; with words, or with blade if we need to. We should take it." He said, speaking louder this time; letting anyone who might be listening in to the conversation – which was hardly private – overhear what was the mere sapling of a plan.

James shrugs and glances lazily over at Rahim. "To answer your questions in short order: No, moderate--she was clinging her arm but she was still able to walk, and only about an hour at the most. Likely a little less." He takes off his hat and brushes it off, his black hair giving him an unkempt appearance without it. "We can't trust her not to talk after we capture her, so... Elimination would simply be logical, after we've gotten whatever information we can."

Rahim frowned as he listened to James' haste in writing the woman off, as well as Chilum's pace in leaving her to her fate. He was right to question her loyalty, but things were not adding up in his mind. Rahim turned to Mikan at that point, singling her out of the crowd as the most easily noticed person for his point. "Mikan, you saw her fighting in the valley. It would take much to injure her to any severe degree." He then looked to everyone else, taking a moment to focus on Chilum after his verbal dismissal of the woman. "And if anyone would know how to maneuver through Rheinfeld, it would be a member of their martial elite." He said, before turning to face the group having finished feeding the horse. "I do not suggest we go in, trusting her; but it would be poor form to not give her a chance. She attempted to help us, when she thought we were in need, did she not? It will not take long to deal with this woman. It took Typhon a good day to get to Kiune's abode. Surely, it will take him that long to get back from there. This might be the only chance we have to talk with this woman; to convince her to help us, or to end her and rid ourselves of a threat." He looked around the group, to Mikan, to James, to Hanus, and to the Princess. He knew that James would not agree with him; he would lobby for the woman's head and the most efficient, least comfortable form of information retrieval he could muster up.

"We need time to think of a plan, and it will not take us all to deal with Jennifer. I would go with...No more than two or three others and settle this. If any of you doubt my intentions, or my intent, then send Hanus along with me." He said, looking in the direction of the mountain. A frown crossed his face as he wondered why he was trying so hard for a stranger. It felt...wrong for him to abandon this woman to death. She was too good to die alone in the mountains, or worse.

"You're an idiot." James bluntly and viciously replies as he glares at him. "She's a Silver Shield, not a Templar. She doesn't know these lands better than any other, even if she was born here. She uses magic, I could feel that much... She wouldn't be welcome without official business, even if the superstitious fools here think of her as some holy woman." Mikan shoots at glare at James, as she jumps in to defend Rahim. "She did help us." James laughs, then responds. "Only because she seriously didn't recognize us for who we were! Give her a chance and she'll kill us like any other servants of the Gods would." She pats at her bag, where her prayer figures were. He rolls his eyes. "Oh please. You're not really loyal to your Gods. If you are, you're just waiting for your chance to kill the Princess, and none of us can trust you then." The sharp glare from Mikan's eyes was only abated as Kouri spoke, softly. "Let me think on it. Let me weigh our choices and hear from others." She bows her head politely to Rahim. "Thank you."

He scowls at James, calling him out as an idiot. The man offered his counter points, and Rahim could not rightly refute them. Jennifer was a Silver Shield, and if that meant she not only lacked power but actively drew suspicion, then that made her usefulness lesser than Rahim was lobbying. It was pleasant to see Mikan jump to his aid, and he offered the woman an appreciative nod. James fired back quickly enough, and Rahim was all but ready to speak up when the princess added her final thoughts on the matter. The Amazon paused, before nodding his head to the Princess. "The choice is yours. I have said my piece." He said, looking around the group with a stoic frown painted on his face; doing his best to hide the inner turmoil that made James' revelation such a difficult one for him.
 
Baldrik Larsson​

It was all so sudden, the change of scenery going from a lair of desperation, with the need of escape present, to a scene of utter destruction and sadness. Baldrik couldn't help but approach the crib, looking at it up and down. There was a life in here once, that much he could tell. And from what the others are saying, their souls still linger. Perhaps, it was what was awaiting Baldrik when he died? He realized that, what was it really that would bind him to someone else, and not to just one place? Perhaps there was another thing that made spirits actually watch over others. Baldrik reached into his backpack, and took out a small piece of dried up meat, placing it down next to the cradle whilst saying "I hope you'll one day be able to move on." After doing so, he suddenly felt... Peace, he would say. The voices had temporarily stopped gnagging at him, although they didn't necessarily speak to him like they did before. Perhaps the Sword was his way of manifesting their voices into actual voices. Now it felt just like seperate thoughts. That changed however when he well heard what they were suggesting on doing to Jennifer. He quickly faced them, staring at James. "Listen to yourself talk. Here you are, willing to go after a girl that by all means wanted to help us when she first saw us. Someone who was brought up on the belief that her gods were her form of saviors, just as I was brought up thinking Kouri would save my soul from damnation. And yet she didn't go out and attack us, or look at us with hatred when she realized who we were. And now you want to kill her- even torture her, when she's defenceless and wounded, even though she has done nothing to warrant it. I spit upon the very notion, that I do, and if you go very well and do that, I'm leaving. I will not stand for these treacherous acts against those who doesn't deserve it, even if it means throwing away nineteen years of my life."

Baldrik felt more than just that, he felt utter anger seep through him when he spoke about it. How could these bastards actually think about killing her, just for what she was standing with? He sighed to try and calm himself down from his moment of emotions swindling, before continuing. "We should either try to ignore her to our best extent, or try to reason with her, perhaps even help her. She's not wounded without a reason, I'd say. What's the worst she can do anyway? Scream at us, or flail a sword around when an arrow is nicked on a bow, or a lead ball's flying towards her? If she tries anything, then I would say killing her is more acceptable than outright murder. And to make my point a bit more clearer. When Typhon stood infront of us, and proclaimed that she was escorting the enemy, Jennifer said that she-" Baldrik looked over towards Kouri whilst pointing a finger towards her to emphasize his point before continuing. "Was hardly a danger to anyone."
 
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Tahlia Wether
@Holmishire.​
It did not take long for Tahlia to sense the presence of restless spirits haunting their temporary hideout, and it was their presence more so than the grim state of the shack that left her on edge. Though for most of her life she had been afforded the good graces that allowed her to live free of fear from the Templars, in recent times she had experienced the chase. And she had always known that other children had not been as lucky as she when they uncovered an aptitude for magic.

Faolan, seemingly unaffected by the location, distracted her from her thoughts. He was focused on the discussion at hand, and sought for Tahlia to speak on his behalf.

"Baldrik, you did not see her fight off the orcs in the valley, nor did you see her feats of magic. Wounded or no, she can still pose a great danger to us." She shifted nervously. "Still, I… Would not like to leave her to die. Bringing her along may not be wise, but I think there is much we can learn from her if we only helped her back to her feet." She then looks to Dean and Rahim, before glancing at Alexander. "I think the presence of a kinsman might smooth things along. I would be willing to go."[/hr]
 
Grothnor gasped for breath and collapsed near the side of the house. He hadn't exercised this much in years. He continued to breathe heavily as everyone else explored the building. After a few minutes he managed to pull himself up, sitting against the side of the building just outside a window. He half-listened to the conversations inside as he regained his wits.

The conversation swirled around one of their foes and what they should do with her. Grothnor had his opinions, to be sure, but felt it was not his place to voice them unless asked, and not just because he was new to these people. He was mystified by the fact that all the other members of the group held no such reservations, speaking and debating freely.

Though what distressed him most was Baldrick's words. Hearing that there were different beliefs about Kouri concerned him. If Baldrick was raised to believe Kouri was a savior of some kind only to apparently be wrong, he wondered if the tales he was raised on were true at all. If they weren't, then he likely offered grave insult to her when they met. Grothnor resolved to get to the truth of the matter, sooner or later, and what better place to do so than from her companions? Until then, he recovered and listened.
 
Kasienka Ellarion & Tahlia Wether
A collab between @Seba and @Holmishire.​
Kasienka would find Tahlia on the main floor, preparing Faolan for travel. It appeared that for the moment, she intended to join Dean and Rahim on their mission to retrieve Jennifer. Still, the priestess's movements were hesitant, her hands shaky, as she fixed Faolan riding gear upon his shoulders. Though she attempted to hide it, it was clear that something about the shack brought Tahlia great discomfort—whether that discomfort was fear, driving her away, or regret, begging her to stay, was unclear.

Faolan had no such discomfort, and seemed to be trying to hurry her up, as if he wanted to get her out of the shack as quickly as possible.

She had been so shaky wasn't even sure if she could approach Tahlia and not make the woman as worried as she was. Watching her from a few feet off she took a deep breath then started to move closer to the couple, physically motioning to aid the far smaller woman in getting Faolan ready.

"Before you leave, may I ask a favor of you? I see you're almost ready to ride out, but this would mean terribly much to me, and perhaps to you as well." Her voice was softer than usual, and almost wavered when she made her plea.

Tahlia ceased her work when Kasienka spoke, and her body slumped in defeat. "You're going to ask me to help the spirits, aren't you." Her words were spoken just as softly, but where the elf's voice wavered, hers held steady. Rising from her knees, she turned to face Kasienka, her expression conflicted. "It will take time—time I'm not sure we can afford, if we also wish to help Jennifer."

Kasienka paused as Tahlia brought up Jennifer. It was impossible to ignore sounds of going to retrieve the woman. She had already prepared a potential response, "I understand, which is why I would happily volunteer to take your spot in the party to go aid her. I do not think I would be much help in settling the children this time. I am unsure as to what to do with children I cannot hold." Her voice was quiet and she stepped closer to Tahlia.

"If I could do that which you can, I would, but I cannot. I would like to think they would need a healer if Jennifer is in... Questionable health."

Tahlia paused, then nodded. "Alright, I'll stay. I guess in this case there is no reason that we should not help both." She smiled, and sheepishly turned her gaze away from Kasienka's. "Just… Try not to baby her too much."

Kasienka gave a shy chuckle as Tahlia mentioned not attempting to baby Jennifer. It was probably something she did constantly without meaning to. Everyone seemed so young to her... save perhaps one or two depending on the day.

"I shall try my best, d-... Tahlia. Thank you for this." She bowed her head in respect to the woman then moved out of the house and swung onto her mount to ride out with the rest.[/hr]
 
Nar'she remained quiet as he listened to the rest of the group after they reached the abandoned clearing. He has no context to their debate and his knowledge were still full of holes and thus he had nothing to offer. He, however, noted the opinions that they threw around. Of the things he could remember, mercy was not something he had ever saw.
 
Amaia and Mikan
A collab with @Brovo​

Amaia kept up with the pace of travel to the cabin easily enough, and more comfortably than she would have done on a horse. She listened to the chatter about plans to pass through Rheinfeld for a little while, eyeing the building with great discomfort after hearing Mikan explain what it was, but eventually she built up the courage to take a quick look around the interior. It was all rather morbid, but she managed to keep herself distant from it all, just observing pieces of unfortunate history that had no impact on her.. until she reached the room with the crib. The thought of a young child in there, wailing in confusion at the screams that must have filled the place, until a Templar came and murdered the poor thing... Amaia turned on heel and walked quickly away, back downstairs and out the front door, holding down the bile only long enough to get a few steps around the corner of the house before throwing up, mostly just stomach acid since she hadn't eaten anything that day.

After a couple minutes spent gathering her composure and cleaning herself up as best she could, Amaia walked back around to the front of the house, looping wide around the doorway to lean back against the wall near Mikan. "So this," she waved a hand vaguely toward the building and its gruesome contents, "is a normal thing here in Rheinfeld, huh? Makes Liveria seem almost like a nice place."

"Normal? Not really, just... Necessary, some say." Mikan replies as she looks away from the house with a scowl on her face. "Most Templar do not murder children. This was all darker than it had to be."

"That's one way to put it, I guess. At least only some of them kill kids." Amaia cleared her throat and spit on the ground in front of her feet, trying to clear the foul taste from her mouth. "People say it's necessary, huh? Sounds like how the witch hunters thought about what they do. Has to be done to protect the people from the evil influence of magic." She sighed and shook her head. "The Templars also say they do it for the gods, don't they? I dunno how anyone could follow a god that they think wants children murdered sometimes. Sounds like an evil cunt, not someone to worship, y'know?"

"They don't know the Gods like I know the Gods." She replies simply, and curtly. It seemed that after having this discussion with others, she was becoming defensive over it. "The Father and The Mother would never condone senseless slaughter! The Templar just... All they care about is control, their authority. The good ones do nothing and the bad ones burn everything down, over and over again. That's just the way things are."

Amaia was a little surprised at the irate reaction, but the explanation given was one that she could understand. "So it's not the gods saying 'go kill those dirty sinners,' just a bunch of assholes finding an excuse to be assholes? Huh. Well, I dunno much about the gods, but I know plenty about people being terrible. Using a good thing to excuse bad things sounds like something people would do." She spat on the ground again, then kicked some dirt over the two small wet patches. "But, uh, since we're talking about it..." Amaia looked to Mikan, brows knitted in confusion. "How come you're still here helping Kouri if you don't think the gods are bad? I know we're all pretty much stuck now, but you could've left as soon as you heard what her goal was. You didn't though. Why not?"

"Because I have faith that the right thing will happen in the end. I don't know what that it is, I simply have faith." Mikan shrugs and glances at her feet. "Who is to say that banishment is permanent? Or that I will never see the Gods when I... When it comes my time? I know there are bad Gods, and I know what the Princess is doing is ultimately right. Beyond that I can't and won't explain my reasons. I'm sorry, Sonnenschein."

"Faith. Hmm." Amaia shrugged and kicked at the dirt again. "I never did have faith like that. Sounds kinda nice though. Comforting. Maybe if I had-" She cut herself off with a clearly forced cough and glanced away with a slight grimace. "Anyway, I'm not gonna try to force you to explain whatever other reasons you have if you don't feel like sharing. You answered me question, and I'm not feeling nosy enough to go digging for more."

Amaia looked back to Mikan with an amused smile. "You used that word again though. Sonne-something. I really need to ask someone else what that means so I can figure out what you're calling me.. but the mystery is kinda fun." She pushed away from the wall and turned to face Mikan fully, narrowing her eyes in what is obviously a fake show of suspicion since she wasn't able to keep her face straight as she did so. "It better be something cute though. I'm gonna be mad if that's not a cute nickname like I think it is."

Mikan steps in as Amaia pushes herself away from the wall, and in one dexterous movement, pecks her on the lips. "Sonnenschein. Son-nen-schein. It's what I see whenever you smile." There is a flicker of real joy in her eyes before she leans back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. It seemed Amaia had helped with Mikan's agitation for being where they were.

A grin quickly replaced the faux suspicion on Amaia's face. "Definitely something cute then. Good." She was feeling quite a bit better after this chat with Mikan, and the foul taste was already gone from her mouth. There had been some chatter going on nearby about pursuing the Silver Shield lady who was spotted nearby, and that sounded like a good way to keep her mood high. She gestured over to the people talking about going to deal with Jennifer. "Sounds like they're getting ready to take off, and I dunno about you, but I don't feel like waiting around by this creepy house any longer than I have to. I'm gonna go with them. If you decide to come along too, maybe I'll give you more than smiles for keeping me company." Amaia winked and turned on heel to head over to the party gathering for the outing, leaving Mikan to do as she pleased with the playful invitation.


Ignas and James
A collab with @Brovo​

Ignas had to take a breather once the group stopped at the cabin, but he wasn't as exhausted as he'd expected to be. The fearful sprint down into the foothills had been far more strenuous than the less speedy, less terrified travel that followed. It seemed fear was more draining than physical exertion to a certain degree, which was probably a revelation he'd had before. He couldn't recall the last time he fled like that, but it had probably happened a few times in his long life. It was hard tell, what with his own lacking memory and the spotty nature of his written history.

The abandoned building was not a source of fear for Ignas, nor were the contents. He strode through the rooms with his hands clasped loosely behind his back. The patches of dried blood evoked faint memories of blood and death, like distant echoes of those visions that had haunted his dreams for many decades. It set his hands to trembling, but not so badly that he couldn't hold them still by clasping them together more firmly. Fresh corpses could still draw the nightmares forth into Ignas' waking hours, but it seemed that old remnants did not have the power to do more than slightly unsettle him.

As he wandered the upper floor he overheard the tail end of a conversation between Kasienka and James; he neither tried to hide his presence nor listen in, but due to simple proximity he could not help but eavesdrop. Ignas did not emerge from the room he'd been examining until after one set of footsteps left the area, and he was unsurprised to find that James was the one remaining. He walked over to the doorway near where the man still stood and looked at the crib within, nodding slowly to himself. The Templars were thorough and ruthless, and that was a lesson they would all be wise to learn before moving further into Rheinfeld. He spoke to James without turning toward him, still looking into the room with dispassionate eyes.

"Greetings, James. I am Ignas Durant, and I am certain you can tell that I am a lifelong practicioner of the magical arts. I cannot recall ever meeting anyone who had such a strangely powerful feeling of magic about their person as you do. It's as if you exude magic on a fundamental level of your being, or perhaps like you are are made of magic rather than the normal stuff one would find in a human. Very peculiar." Ignas' voice was practically dripping with curiosity, and the tone remained the same as he turned his head to look at James as he posed a question. I overheard you speaking to Kasienka. Would you truly use the spirits of deceased children as a power source if you had the means to locate them?" There was no malice or disgust in his words, nor any hint of anything but curiosity on his face.

"Why let something go to waste?" James replies quizzically. There was genuine confusion reflected in his purple eyes, as he crosses his arms and leans against the door frame. He shakes his head, and continues speaking with the same tone. "I don't understand. They're dead. They will either be bound to this world and slowly go insane, or they'll move onto another world and find their peace. I cannot harm them, they're indestructible. However, if I use them to further my own means, to stop others from dying with my power, or to find a way to help them find new lives, is that so evil? Is that so wrong? What makes using one soul evil, and another good?" He shrugs and sighs. "The only thing that matters is death. Everything else before and after is trivial." He intentionally seems to drown the conversation in rhetoric, to avoid answering some of Ignas' other curiosities.

The deflection was extremely obvious, and it brought a hint of a smile to his face, but he was willing to let the man hold his secrets as he wished. The topic at hand was interesting enough to keep his mind occupied, as it so happened. "Ah, you are possessed of an unconventional outlook on morality. Most value life and the leavings thereof as sacred and precious, such that to alter or harm them is considered a form of sacrilege. Your pragmatism is unusual, though I myself share it in this regard. Even if you could in fact harm these spirits, using them to save those still among the living would be the right thing to do."

Ignas looks back to the bloodied crib, outwardly unperturbed by the sight. "Your focus on death is strange to me. How can life be trivial if death matters? Death matters precisely because it is the cessation of life, and life is given greater meaning through the knowledge of inevitable death. They are states in balance and opposition, neither more important than the other. Why would you seek to save lives or revive the dead if not to give them further life? Do you find the state of death so abhorrent that, were it in your power, you would resort to holding living beings in unconscious and unfeeling stasis for all eternity purely for the sake of avoiding death? Would you yourself accept such an existence, devoid of life in all but the most rigid sense of the word?"

"That's two elves now that consider themselves philosophers." James rolls his eyes, but there is perceivable amusement in his tone of voice. He seemed to entertain the conversation, for now. "Death makes everything one does pointless. Gain all the power you want, or all the knowledge you wish--it is pointless in the end. You die, and someone else follows in your footsteps, repeating the same mistakes as you did, until they die. Repeat, repeat, repeat." He makes a circular motion with his hand, a dull and uninspired look in his eyes. "The ones that break this cycle are the most interesting. The most powerful, the most important. If I break this concept, for everyone, then everyone will have all the time they need to achieve the utmost capacity that they can. In essence: I wish to stop the extreme setbacks and losses death causes society, among other reasons."

"When you live long enough, philosophical musing becomes an unavoidable habit. One must keep one's mind spry somehow, after all." Ignas tapped one slender index finger on the point of his chin for a few moments before continuing. "I don't know that I can agree that death invalidates the deeds of life. Society has indeed progressed thanks to those who came before us. The teachings and writings of those now dead have saved us all from having to start from scratch with each generation. Language itself is a fine example: parents teach their children how to speak, and those children teach their own, on and on until the teachers that are long dead end up with hundreds or thousands of successive generations that know that language thanks to it initially being passed along by them. Other learned things, such as the use of magic or the skills of the blacksmith, also live on as living legacies of those who went through the painstaking processes of developing those skills in the first place. Death has not made such achievements pointless."

Ignas held up a finger, the same that had been used for thoughtful chin tapping. "However, I cannot argue against the fact that death impedes progress. Many tales of the origins of certain skills claim that there was a single prodigy of a progenitor. One can only imagine what such a person might have accomplished given double or triple their lifespans, to say nothing of hypothetical eternity. Even the average person could become a master of their chosen profession given enough time." He nodded slowly and smiled at James. "I may not agree with the logic you used to reach this conclusion, but eradicating death itself would doubtlessly be a wondrous improvement for the mortal races of the world. I have long sought ways to improve the world as I might, but I have never even thought of immortality as an answer, given the flaws I have seen in extreme longevity as it exists currently. You are a rather intriguing man, James. I don't know if you have a plan in mind for how this might be achieved, but I would be delighted to hear it and to assist you if possible."

"Oh, wouldn't you?" James' tone remains amused, though his playful smile falters. "Another time. We have much yet to do, no?"

"Ah, yes, of course. Other business is more pressing and should not be kept waiting for talk of the distant future. Another time then, when we are less, ah, on the run for our lives." Ignas gaves James a shallow bow, a gesture of respect among equals rather than one of subservience, and turned to head for the stairs. As he walked away he made one parting comment, not bothering to look back for a reaction. "Your interesting ideas did not make me forget those peculiarities I mentioned, but perhaps we shall speak of those another time as well."

Beatrice swoops past Ignas and lands on James' shoulder. The two look at Ignas, neither smiling nor frowning--though there is a hint of something deeper still, an emotion or thought that the old elf could not guess at as James smiles in an empty manner, and bows his head respectfully.
 
Alexander Reumann​


Alexander walked out of the house, still cursing his previous peers and shaking his head to banish what he'd just seen. He overheard Mikan talk to Amaia and looked away in shame and disgust, feeling as if they were talking about him or blaming him for it. Common sense told him he was imagining those things, but his blood ran hot through his veins with helpless frustration for it. He walked away from their conversation and stumbled into the discussion of what should be done about the Silver Shield Jennifer, who'd lead them right into Typhon's trap, and XXX's subsequent rescue.

Alexander did not remember Jennifer's reaction to the avenging angel appearing yet wished he hadn't been nigh-paralysed. It might've been indicative of Jennifer's loyalties. Was she a merely a tool or an ally of their deific foe? Regardless, so long this was not a trap this was an opportunity. They could take out a hostile asset, learn more of their plans and methods. More importantly, it provided an opportunity for both Jennifer and Alexander. If she was an abandoned and betrayed pawn, she might wish to join them.

It might validate his own reasons to fight for Kouri.

"I agree. We should find Jennifer and see for ourselves what her ties with Typhon are. With our numbers and talents we can easily overpower her if necessary. We won't lose anything by finishing her or recruiting her. We might learn things either way." He said.
 
Kalemn Weller, Cennick Greenborough, and A Letter (Brovo)​

As they arrived at the building, Kalemn gratefully dismounted from her horse and tied the reins to a nearby tree. Inexperienced as she was, the riding was beginning to take a serious toll on the sanctity of her thighs. Grimacing, she took a few steps to work out the worst of the raw stiffness, and went to adjust her thick belt to a more comfortable position when a crinkling noise made her pause.

Confused, she pulled out a piece of paper that had been tucked away, at which she puzzled over for a moment before memory kicked in. "Fuck," she swore, quietly but emphatically. The note she had pilfered off the corpse of the orc shaman yesterday. She was just as illiterate as she had been then, but by her luck the indecipherable symbols would tell of an angel patrolling the mountain pass skies or something else equally as important-yet-past-it's-prime.

Still, better to be safe and find someone to read it nevertheless. Another pair of memories briefly surfaced; one of Cennick giving a half-hearted search of the other orc corpses, and one of his bitter recounting of his childhood education. Finding the man, she tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and held out the note. "This in a language you know?"

Cennick was busy looking over his bags, making sure he hadn't left anything important behind in the chaos. So engrossed was he in this task he didn't notice Kalemn approach and only looked up when she spoke, the folded letter in her hand hanging inches from his face. "I don't know, I'll have to see it first." He snarked, roughly plucking the letter from Kalemn's hand and reading it over.

Glancing over the paper, Cennick would note that it was written in a crude common tongue. The dialect seemed a little off for what he was used to, but he could more or less make it the gist of what it was saying.

"Deal made with tall old woman. Call herself 'Garret' but doubt man name for woman. Simple plan. You wait where I say. You do not attack others, wait until woman with blue hair shows up. Long hair, pretty. Take her, and the other women, and kill the rest. Bring them here. We sell her, we keep the rest, you get first place for their use. Do not fail."

Further down are lists of other ambushes, and the loot obtained from them. There is little of note aside from slaves and wealth.

Cennick mumbled the letter out loud as he read it, his tone and expression growing more dour as he progressed, "How long have you had this?"

"Yesterday," said Kalemn, tone relaxed. "An old woman with a name as fake as her teeth likely are knows about us; that's knowledge that's still useful. As useful as it would've been yesterday afternoon, at least."

Cennick had it in his mind to get angry, go on a short rant on how Kalemn should be taking letters to whomever could read as soon as she could, or possibly just learn to read herself. The emotional energy just wasn't there though and he resigned to the simple route, "I would prefer if you took mysterious letters to someone literate when you got them, but in this case it seems there was no harm. As for this 'Garret', well, I've not a clue in the hells who that could be. Maybe someone else would know." He stirred a few candidates in his mind, "If anyone it would probably be Hanus. Sounds like his type."

"Tall older women do look to be his dinner of choice," Kalemn smirked, "something you and him don't see eye to eye on, clearly. Anyway, as thanks for reading that, I'll generously let you keep it."

Cennick let out a low chuckle, "Well, I seem to have trouble seeing eye-to-eye with tall women, in all senses, the short ones are always more agreeable." He winked and pocketed the letter before returning to his task at hand, "Anything on your mind?"

Kalemn blinked. "No?" She gestured at Cennick's pocket. "I just handed you what I had on my mind. Though..." Kalemn scratched at her face idly. "There's the business with Jennifer. Not sure if I prefer leaving her out on her own or dragging her here to try and get some knowledge on Typhon out of her. Not that it matters; I reckon I'm not in the best position to be trying to sway the group to my way of thinking right now."

Cennick shrugged, returning to his bags, "I would rather just leave her wandering around, taking her in would just attract more attention to us I figure. Attention we could really do without. Some people though..." He pointed a thumb in the vague direction of the other follows, "... They seem keen on taking her at this point and I'm sure my position isn't much better than yours for the most part... Oh, there it is." The duelist pulled out a palm sized package from his bag, wrapped in wax paper and sweetly smelling of flowers. A bar of soap.

"Here you go," Cennick casually tossed the package to Kalemn, "Maybe some of that would help your clout a bit, eh?"

"You- You carry this around?" Kalemn laughed, "Off to kill the gods and you bring soap." Shaking her head to herself, Kalemn walked off, still laughing, tossing the soap to herself.
 
"Is that how you greet everyone, by assuming their motivations and crying doom like an infirm street crier? I assure you that I've considered the possible consequences of this task and do not take it lightly."
--Cennick Greenburough, Page 5.​

Colour Colour-Blind

  • The Hunt​

    Dean, Rahim, Kasienka, Amaia, Alexander, and Hanus head off to find Jennifer. Though James stays behind, Beatrice leads them, flying to the area where she had last seen Jennifer. The bird caws as the group, after about an hour of travel, reaches the area where Jennifer had been last seen. Hanus looks around, then kneels as he spots some blood on the ground. He touches it, then feels it between his fingers, and smells it, growling quietly. "Fresh. Human, I think." He stands up and looks around at the area. This was a sparse part of the woods, but there was enough of them, and they were large enough, to provide cover if necessary.

    "Split up and search the area." Hanus states. He then hesitates, and looks around at everyone. "Stay within eyesight of each other. She is injured if Beatrice is to be believed, but not defenseless." The bird caws at him, almost seeming to laugh at him, before flying higher into the skies, likely to get an overhead view so as to be able to see if anyone tries to run from the area. "Try not to kill her. We're here to take her alive."

    As the group splits up and starts searching the sparse forest, Alexander would find himself near a tree. As he steps past it to check around it, he hears the branches above himself break, leaves falling around him. He looks up just in time to feel someone impact him from above...

    Speaker of the Dead​

    Mikan shudders as she enters the house again, looking around at the various cobwebs. Just outside, Marcus, James, and Kouri continued to discuss the situation among themselves.

    As Tahlia manages to banish most of the spirits in the area over a period of several minutes, she feels something starting to try and crawl into her mind. At the last moment, she rejects it, pushing it out and banishing it away as well—but she felt it: Three spirits who were not the children had been hiding among them. Waiting for an opportunity to be awakened... And she just gave it to them.

    Quietly, but surely, Mikan kneels down beside one of the two Kouri Plushies lying around. It was missing an eye, and a few stitches were loose. Nonetheless, she hugs it, and smiles a little. "Two plushies... I wonder if Kasienka would think it greedy." A giggle leaves her lips as she puts it away in her bag. Slowly standing up, she turns and sees Sisera, staring at her. "Well now... Burn victims aren't really my thing, hate to disappoint you." He starts to approach her, and she blinks in confusion. "Uh, Sis--" Sisera unsheathes his sword and swings it at her in one sudden motion. She stumbles aside in surprise, though yelps in pain as the blade manages to cut her, right above her right eye. Blood floods from the open wound and half-blinds her.

    Kouri and Marcus both hear it, and just as they're about to move, Kouri turns and looks at James. The Illusionist was possessed as well, and that became quickly apparent as he swung one of his fists at Marcus, slamming it into his chest plate, then pulling it back and shaking it out while whimpering in pain. Marcus grabs him and slams his fist into James' face, causing him to stumble backward and fall unconscious. The king's ranger grins as he looks at the Princess. "Can't say I regret that." Kouri shakes her head, then looks over at Baldrik, raising a wall of ice in a single motion. His gun fires, the bullet being stopped by the ice. Marcus takes a step toward him, but Kouri shakes her head and points at the building. "Go inside! Take Ignas with you! I'll take care of Baldrik. He is no real threat to me. Chilum, help me with this. These are spirits—they are not themselves! We can use our magic to try and cause the spirits harm! Try not to hurt them!"

    As Marcus charges through the doorway, knocking it off its hinges, he looks and sees Mikan pinned against a wall. Her legs are wrapped around Sisera's waist, her hands holding his hands back as he slowly brings his blade closer and closer to her throat. Blood was openly running down her cheek now, though her wound looked worse than it was. "What is WRONG with you?!?" Mikan yells at him. She could easily reach for her daggers, but doesn't.

  • The Hunt​

    Dean, Rahim, Kasienka, Amaia, Alexander, and Hanus head off to find Jennifer. Though James stays behind, Beatrice leads them, flying to the area where she had last seen Jennifer. The bird caws as the group, after about an hour of travel, reaches the area where Jennifer had been last seen. Hanus looks around, then kneels as he spots some blood on the ground. He touches it, then feels it between his fingers, and smells it, growling quietly. "Fresh. Human, I think." He stands up and looks around at the area. This was a sparse part of the woods, but there was enough of them, and they were large enough, to provide cover if necessary.

    "Split up and search the area." Hanus states. He then hesitates, and looks around at everyone. "Stay within eyesight of each other. She is injured if Beatrice is to be believed, but not defenseless." The bird caws at him, almost seeming to laugh at him, before flying higher into the skies, likely to get an overhead view so as to be able to see if anyone tries to run from the area. "Try not to kill her. We're here to take her alive."

    As the group splits up and starts searching the sparse forest, Alexander would find himself near a tree. As he steps past it to check around it, he hears the branches above himself break, leaves falling around him. He looks up just in time to feel someone impact him from above...

    Speaker of the Dead​

    Mikan shudders as she enters the house again, looking around at the various cobwebs. Just outside, Marcus, James, and Kouri continued to discuss the situation among themselves.

    As Tahlia manages to banish most of the spirits in the area over a period of several minutes, she feels something starting to try and crawl into her mind. At the last moment, she rejects it, pushing it out and banishing it away as well—but she felt it: Three spirits who were not the children had been hiding among them. Waiting for an opportunity to be awakened... And she just gave it to them.

    Quietly, but surely, Mikan kneels down beside one of the two Kouri Plushies lying around. It was missing an eye, and a few stitches were loose. Nonetheless, she hugs it, and smiles a little. "Two plushies... I wonder if Kasienka would think it greedy." A giggle leaves her lips as she puts it away in her bag. Slowly standing up, she turns and sees Sisera, staring at her. "Well now... Burn victims aren't really my thing, hate to disappoint you." He starts to approach her, and she blinks in confusion. "Uh, Sis--" Sisera unsheathes his sword and swings it at her in one sudden motion. She stumbles aside in surprise, though yelps in pain as the blade manages to cut her, right above her right eye. Blood floods from the open wound and half-blinds her.

    Kouri and Marcus both hear it, and just as they're about to move, Kouri turns and looks at James. The Illusionist was possessed as well, and that became quickly apparent as he swung one of his fists at Marcus, slamming it into his chest plate, then pulling it back and shaking it out while whimpering in pain. Marcus grabs him and slams his fist into James' face, causing him to stumble backward and fall unconscious. The king's ranger grins as he looks at the Princess. "Can't say I regret that." Kouri shakes her head, then looks over at Baldrik, raising a wall of ice in a single motion. His gun fires, the bullet being stopped by the ice. Marcus takes a step toward him, but Kouri shakes her head and points at the building. "Go inside! Take Ignas with you! I'll take care of Baldrik. He is no real threat to me. Chilum, help me with this. These are spirits—they are not themselves! We can use our magic to try and cause the spirits harm! Try not to hurt them!"

    As Marcus charges through the doorway, knocking it off its hinges, he looks and sees Mikan pinned against a wall. Her legs are wrapped around Sisera's waist, her hands holding his hands back as he slowly brings his blade closer and closer to her throat. Blood was openly running down her cheek now, though her wound looked worse than it was. "What is WRONG with you?!?" Mikan yells at him. She could easily reach for her daggers, but doesn't.
 
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