FE on the Forums: Scarlet Crown [IC]

[rokubiraijuu]

"Took him captive...?"

 

She looks at Fallon quizzically for a few seconds before slowly continuing: "you mean... Greyson? He's been Scarleticia's steward his whole life. Grew up here. Lots of people joke he's older than the castle itself." She huffs with amusement. "If there was some blow-up before Milich decided to feed him to the spores this morning, I wouldn't know. But it's just as likely that he just decided he felt like killing him for no reason. Pretty erratic son of a bitch. Greyson was the laguz' overseer, but to tell the truth he's probably the only reason more of them weren't dead. Lots of us liked him, except Milich of course. He didn't like anyone who didn't think he made the sun rise. Which was just about everyone, but he had it out for Greyson in particular."

 

She shakes her head. "I'm afraid if you're looking for Scarleticia secrets, then you know you're out of luck with Greyson dead. As for magic."

 

Looking back over her shoulder, she calls out: "Caim! Can you come over here?"

 

Still slumped in the chair, the older man sluggishly looks up, irritated at being disturbed. But he reluctantly makes his way over, still watching Fallon like he might pull out a knife any moment. "What is it now?"

 

"What about magic did you want to know, Mr... you go by something other than 'scholar'?"

[Chevaleresse]

Rhian continued to try to breathe, to not take the emotions that swelled up out on the person in front of her. It had nothing to do with her, and the girl had certainly suffered enough already. Not to mention that Ceridwen was already having some kind of panic attack for some reason; could she really not get it together for one moment? What did she care, anyway, it's not like she had any reason to be any more concerned about this commander than anyone else. Unless. . .  A memory came to mind, of the conversation just before Johanna had introduced herself and the Guard's mission. "One of the Dragon Knights' greatest blacksmiths!" 

"What's your name?" she asked, somewhat abruptly. "It's getting weird just calling you 'bird girl' in my head." Focus on her first. Get her safe and secured (and in such a way that she wouldn't hurt anyone else,) then find the prisoner. If he was alive, then an extra five minutes wouldn't kill him. If he was dead, it wouldn't matter.

[rokubiraijuu]

"... You can call me Chin," she replies. "It's what the others called me."

 

She begins to head back through the dungeons with them, looking now with concern at Ceridwen. "Yes, I can try taking you to the room he used. I don't know what the General might have done, though."

 

As they walk, now and then Chin looks at the cells, and though she doesn't seem particularly surprised by any of their contents, she becomes notably morose each time they pass by an abandoned corpse. After a couple of minutes, she speaks up again.

 

"You talked about seeing the other laguz... are they— how were they?" Her eyes widen slightly. "If you killed the General, you didn't..."

[Chevaleresse]

"They're fine. Except for the one named Grayson, that bastard Oppenheimer decided he was sick of him, apparently. The rest left with Hati, far as I know." She frowned for a moment. Had they just left Chin behind? "Looked ragged to me, but alive. And annoying, in some cases." That scholar had been far too chippy for his own good; it was a miracle he was alive after being around someone like the General for that long.

[Powder Miner]

Despite the fact that she was so, so barely holding it together herself, Ceridwen tried to reassure Chin, though her voice was shaky, quiet, and halting.

"W-we didn't... kill any of them. We fought them, but..." Ceridwen let out a breath, and had to take a few moments to be able to gather her thoughts enough to finish her sentence. She was already falling apart, she realized, just from the thoughts of what could have happened. She was so scared... "We made a deal with, with Hati, that we wouldn't kill any of them and if we beat them and found Grayson, she'd let us through... but I found Grayson and... I'm- I'm sorry."

[krim]

"Fallon Vaer." he said, suddenly feeling a bit apprehensive. Nobody here should recognize it, but before he had joined the Guard he made a habit of staying low in places like this."I just assumed he was being held against his will because some of the laguz had been here for years, and clearly didn't want to be." He looked up in surprise when the older man was called over, but his expression returned to neutral almost instantly. "As for magic...my areas of study focus on the chaotic, including the creation of tomes and their effects on their wielders or victims. I believe we may be able to take it's usage further than what we're currently capable of, though outside of Foen information has been scarce." As he finished the explanation, he turned back to the woman. "I don't think I caught your name either."

[Swordstar]

A quick salute again, this one a bit more sloppy, and Kerr headed off towards the dungeons. Making his way down the stairs, he spotted the two women, accompanied by a third figure he didn't recognize but was clearly not the one they were looking for.

 

"Yikes, not looking pretty down here. At least you managed to save one... Any other leads though? Commander told me to come help you all look."

[rokubiraijuu]

"Master Greyson is...?"

 

Chin pauses mid-stride for a moment in the middle of the corridor leading back to the stairs, looking stricken. Then her feathers flatten again, and she bites her lip before shaking her head. "It is a good thing the General is dead... a very good thing..."

 

She doesn't say anything more, seeming to be mulling over this sobering fact, at least until the approach of another person draws her attention back to the present. She instinctively shrinks back at first, but then looks between all of them upon realizing that the young man is with them.

 

"... This human you are looking for... was he somebody important to you?" she asks them. To devote so much energy, and for them to have such reactions to even just hearing about him, she can only assume such.

 

-----

 

"Marsilia Grandchampion," the woman replies, looking directly at Fallon. She states her name fearlessly, but in an edged tone that seems to say 'I dare you to say something about it.' 

 

Fortunately ( or maybe not ), what tension there might have been is broken by Caim's sudden outburst. "Chaos magic! Marsilia, he says chaos magic!" The exuberance is a complete inversion from his sullenness of moments earlier. "So you really are a scholar! Incredible. You know, there are so many posers who think they're impressive, slinging spells around, and they still call it dark and light magic. Hah! Finally, someone educated." He doesn't even notice Marsilia subtly rolling her eyes. "And you've been to Foen...!" He nods, deeply approving. "Come, I'd be happy to take you through our collection and show you anything you would like to see. Oh, you're going to need these, though."

 

He reaches into a drawer and produces a pouch, from which he pulls out a pair of light-weight gloves reinforced with magic to prevent any skin oils or substances of any kind from leaving residue on surfaces, and practically herds Fallon towards the stacks as Marsilia takes the chance to return to the others.

 

"I have to admit — and I mean no offense, really — but I had doubted how impressive the Allied Guard," he makes quote marks with his fingers in the air, "was going to be when they announced it. But with a Foen scholar who knows his terminology in their ranks, my faith is a little more restored. I have to say, for someone who studied in Foen, you seem..." He looks him over peckishly, "... rather normal! Not that there's anything wrong with Foen, but, you know."

[Powder Miner]

Ceridwen managed to nod at Chin's question (though the usage of "was" from the laguz caused her to visibly cringe) -- though she was still panicking, she was managing to wrestle enough of her mind into submission to at least respond less jaggedly to Chin... and, apparently, Kerr, as he moved up to meet them.

"From the description you gave... yes, it sounds like he could be... we were just sent here to rescue an officer, we didn't know exactly who, but..." Ceridwen stopped for a moment, her mouth suddenly dry once again, before she looked at Kerr; it would be likely fairly obvious to the man that she was a whirling disaster of emotions, panic and fear and sadness at what could be. "We-- we got a hint of who the Mid-Wing Commander is, and sh-she's showing us where he might be, and..."

[krim]

Fallon blinked awkwardly as he was lead into the stacks by the man that looked like he had wanted to stab him just moments ago. Putting on the gloves, he listened to Caim chatter until he finally stopped to breath. He raised an eyebrow at that last sentence. It was true that some in Foen had odd customs...but if Fallon was what he considered normal, he wondered just who he was talking about. "You've been there then?" he asked. "It's not often people visit and come back this far." Or at all, really, now that he thought about it.

[Chevaleresse]

"And you're a blubbering mess because some asshole Wing Commander might be hurt?" Rhian lashed out irritably. "Get it together," she said, as if she hadn't already begun to lose control of her own emotions. "We still have a mission to finish, you can cry afterwards." She stalked toward Kerr for a few steps before realizing she still had to wait for their guide. "Where is this room at? I want to get this over with already."

[Powder Miner]

Ceridwen couldn't find it in herself to make a response to that -- in fact, she could barely process the sudden snarling snap that came from her current investigative partner. She hadn't noticed Rhian's growing hostility a few minutes ago, being too wrapped up in her own panic to see it, and so the abrupt and powerful burst of hostility nearly physically rocked the red-headed dragon rider back on her heels. All that she could end up doing was silently gape at Rhian, her face still plenty wraught with emotion.

 

"Rrrrrrrr..." Yn Ddiddorol was less quiet, though. A soft, low growl emitted from the gray-and-green dragon's throat, and he affixed Rhian with what was undeniably a glare, his tail whipping slowly back and forth. He didn't lunge, and he didn't even advance, merely circling in front of Ceridwen and nuzzling her briefly, but Rhian would no doubt be able to tell that the dragon was sending her a message.

[rustytengo]

"For someone who says they don't talk you seem to know what they are going to say." Kris said as she sat down next to Argos. She really wasn't the best person for this kind of stuff. "I'm not going to lie and say I understand what your going through cause well I don't but as someone whose is really only good at running away from things i can tell you that you would suck at it. You're way to loud for it." she let out puff blowing the hair out of her eye for a moment well smiling. "So if you want to break the trust that your weapons have in you and whatever dream you have that they want to help you with you can leave them here and walk out that door." she stood up pointing to the door she came in. "But if rather not have me spread that you're a "whinny little kid who needed to run back home to his mommy after getting knocked down a few time" to every corner of the country and beyond pick your sword and show me what the so called "Invoker or mayhem" can do." Kris said as she crossed her arms. "Or do you think you can't fight someone dumb enough to believe that weapons can talk." Kris said with a smirk hoping Argos would take her bait. She may not be someone who can talk people out of a slump or depression but at least she can provide a distraction for a bit  she was actually good at those. 

[rokubiraijuu]

This time Chin softly gasps at Rhian's sudden outburst, watching as the armored woman rounds on her companion with vehemence. Her feathers plaster to her skinny frame as she watches, both as Rhian stalks off to the stairway and at Ceridwen's stunned expression. The bird doesn't know what to think. These people say that they had killed the General, and they seem to have truly meant it when they said they'd set her free... yet the mention of a man's description is enough to have caused such discord.

 

"... Okay. Follow me," she says quietly, proceeding up the steps.

 

Chin squints as the dirty low light of the dungeons blossoms into the well-lit interior of the castle's floor level, waiting a moment for her eyes to adjust. The difference in air quality is enormous; it no longer feels wet, sticky, and thick with the stench of decay. She takes a few steps, then looks down at herself, holding her arms out with a troubled expression. Apparently suddenly self-conscious about her wretched appearance, she hugs her arms around herself again a bit, as though the shredded feathers will help to conceal her.

 

It doesn't take long; it seems Chin's memory is good enough, though she does have to pause and think for a bit at some junctures. Eventually, they come to a hall of what seem to be guest rooms, and she counts a couple of doors before pausing beside one.

 

"I remember this is where he stayed. I didn't see or talk to him much myself, but..." She tries to door, only to find it locked, which seems to surprise her. "Oh..."

 

"Excuse me, you're... are you the Allied Guard?" a voice from behind them pipes up gently, and Chin again shrinks back just slightly against the wall, even though the one who addressed them looks only a little older than her, dressed in a servant's uniform. "Um... are you looking for someone?"

 

-----

 

"Me?" The man suddenly looks chagrined. "Oh, n-no, no... after the war, my family... well, it hasn't been the best of times, you know? Not the worst of times, no, others have it much worse, but, well, I never really was able to see that dream through. Is it true that the volcano's lava is blue colored over there? I've always wondered— er, well, that must seem like such a silly question to you. Okay!"

 

Caim claps his hands together as he comes to an area of the deeper stacks where the shelves open up to a small quiet area. Another smaller chandelier illuminates several desks, tables, and reclining sofas. In the center of the space is a small statue of Kranach Rugner, the founder and first Emperor of Caliss. Off to both sides are more shelves with books that look older than the ones they've passed so far. "So what kind of research are you doing? You said something about... being able to do more with magic than we do now?"

[Swordstar]

Kerr whistled quietly as Rhian snapped at Cerdiwen and then stalked on past him. Seemed like this commander they were looking for was relevant to her in some way too from what little he heard. Otherwise how would she know he was an asshole? Still, best to keep quiet for now. He didn't want her yelling at him too. Instead he went along with the group, quietly shaking his head at how much this single battle had exposed so many of the weak points of their group.

[Chevaleresse]

"Oppenheimer had a human prisoner kept in this room," Rhian responded curtly, ignoring the dragon's defensiveness. "Can you let us in, or am I kicking this door down?" Her glance back at the stranger let her see Chin's continuing discomfort. There wasn't much she was capable of doing about the emotional aspect of it, seething as she was, but there was something else that could be addressed. "Would also help if you could get this girl something to wear other than the rags that bastard gave her." She sounded somewhat calmer, at least for the moment, talking about helping her out. 

[krim]

Blue lava? He blinked in surprise. What an odd thing to ask about. He tried to think of an answer, though Caim had started talking again almost immediately. As they made their way into the guest room he glanced at the covers of the older books, though he was unsure of what exactly he was looking for. Then Caim asked about his research.

 

He took in a deep breath. This would be his first time officially presenting it. Even back in Foen, it was mostly theory, and he had only let a select few people see his notes. Exhaling again, he decided to just jump right into it. No need for formalities here. "Indeed. As I'm sure you know, there is a subset of chaos magic that we call 'Druidic'. It's most often used to target specific things and destroy them."  he said, holding up his flux tome and making a ripping motion in the air next to it. "However, it's not as targeted as it could be. There are many subsets of items it can affect, and it doesn't often account for those differences. I believe that finding a way to do this will make the magic inherently stronger." Closing his eye for a moment, he tried to think of how to continue without losing his audience. Most scholars weren't as concerned with warfare as he was. "Of course, this wouldn't be used for only destruction, or at least I would hope not. Having very specific, targetted magic could be a huge boon for creating utility items." he tapped the gloves he was wearing together as he said this. "And it could be a gateway to working with and reinforcing other magic types in ways we haven't yet seen."

[Aurorix]

"Tch, I never said you were dumb..." The muttered before taking in a big sniff. Hearing her threaten to slander his name across the land only brought visions of Fless into his mind. If the guy hears that Argos ran away, Argos would betray the trust and the blade he gave to him. He can't let that happen! He must honor his promises! He rubbed both of his eyes with his right arm before grabbing his wooden blade again.

 

"However, as a warrior I cannot refuse a challenge from any opponent." He tone shifted from a depressed one to a more stalwart one. He slowly rose to his feet before taking a few paces back and assuming a fighting stance,

 

"Alright then, you make the first move!"

[Powder Miner]

Just barely, Ceridwen once again found voice, in order to respond to the servant. She was quiet, and still looking down, her voice occasionally becoming thick with a mixture of emotions, but she did respond.

"Y... yes, we were looking for a Dragon Knight prisoner. Is... is he here?" There was a longer pause, this one lasting some time, before Ceridwen found the courage to ask her next question: "How-- How is he?"

[rustytengo]

"Okay," Kris said as she gave Argos a disarming smile and walked towards him with no weapon drawn. When she was almost near him she quickly shot towards him barely giving him any time to react as she aimed a stab of knife (which almost seemed to just appear in her hand) towards his eye.

[Aurorix]

The lad was confused, why was she approaching him like that? However, he kept his guard up. His father always warned him to never loose focus on one's opponent. If only he could've taught him some sword techniques. When Kris' sudden attack came for him he had to rely on instinct in order to keep his eye. He didn't even have time to make any surprised gasps. Luckily for the swordsman fighting on instinct was his specialty. He moved his head away from the incoming blade however, the knife did make a tiny slice on the edge of his ear. Enough to make it bleed but not enough to scar. He follows up by swinging his blade horizontally towards the rogue while taking a step back. It was quite the rugged swing with no apparent form to it, but what it lacked in finesse it made up for with its power and speed as it made a whoosh through the air.

[rustytengo]

Kris smiled a bit as Argos dodged, he had good instinct she had to admit but she did have much time to admire the reaction as Argos was already swinging with his counter attack. Kris not wanting to even try to take a hit like that quickly moved in step with Argos so the swing wouldn't hit her before she pivoted on the ball of her foot spinning herself around Argos to his back along with an attempted strike with the butt of her knife to the side of his head.

[Aurorix]

Heh, she's a slippery one for sure but that knife of her's isn't gonna do much unless she gets close. This was exactly what Argos was expecting. Noting the direction of her movements he did not attempt to try and stop his blade, rather he spun with it going with the momentum. Bringing his blade back and pointing it up towards the sky, he crouched low to the ground. The lad felt a rush of air above his head, which was probably another one of Kris' attacks, before extending his right leg trying to sweep the lady off her feet. He had to release one hand from his sword, however, to keep himself up and not fall back.

[rustytengo]

Kris was a bit impressed by Argos' attempt to trip her up but unfortunately for the boy it didn't work.  Kris continued her spin placing her open hand on Argos' shoulder and using her momentum to vault over him and his sweep bringing her back to the front of him. She quickly continued her assault by delivering a kick straight at his head.

[Aurorix]

Argos was surprised that his maneuver didn't work, he was sure that it would be surefire! He surprise was met with a nice knock onto his noggin which just turned his shock to rage. Maybe the lad had a thick skull because he didn't seem discombobulated from the blow at all. Pushing through the throbbing in his head he turned towards Kris gritting his teeth, before jumping in the air and trying to stab her with his blade held upside down the tip pointing to the ground.