Return of The Emblem Chapter One: The Artifact

[Phoenix]

In the year 4999 A.R., the nations Ursium and Neviskotia declared yet another war against each other marking another bloody chapter in Sardius’ long history. The nation of Kigen once again chose neutrality in favor of focusing their attentions on the ever increasing threat of the Fallen. Meanwhile in Southern Ursium, only a few weeks had passed since a young woman came across an artifact of unknown origin An artifact that would soon bring her to the attention of forces like no other.

“She was gone now. Taken by the enemy they had both fought against for so long, and he had to go. He knew deep down in his heart that this was the end. He had no hope of saving her from her awful fate. No way of overcoming their foes. No guiding light anywhere in sight. He would make one final stand. He would do the only thing he could do for her. He would fight. He would lash out at the enemy and only death itself would make him give up on the one he loved. This was all he could do for her; one last gesture of love before they would both be caught up in death’s cold embrace.” read the young woman from a book she was holding.

“Well that’s just macho and shortsighted” another older and deeper voice chirped up. “What do you mean it’s shortsighted? Haven’t you been listening? They had already pretty much lost. What else was he supposed to do?” she replied. “Raquel, life never and I mean never boils down to just one decision. Extreme inclination toward one decision? Definitely, but anyone dumb enough to believe they’ve only got one possible road in front of them is an idiot. Q.E.D.: your story book hero’s going to throw himself at the enemy and die just so he doesn’t have to go through the embarrassment of leaving his girlfriend to his captors. There’s no guarantee they were going to off the girl. Either way, the guy should have hired himself some mercenaries instead of getting all caught up in ‘woe is me’ and deciding to throw himself at the enemy. You want a gesture of love? Get help to save her instead of trying to go out like some kind of hero.”

“And I’ve officially lost count of how many novels you’ve ruined for me.” Raquel said with less disapproval in her voice than her words seemed to be implying. The older man shrugged. Mission accomplished, he thought. If the book wasn’t even remotely realistic, why bother dedicating so much energy to it? Honestly Jethro preferred the days where his daughter was studying to be a tactician, not ‘d’aw”ing’ at love stories who’s endings and situations were entirely too common, and handled too impractically. Frankly there were just better uses of the girl’s time.

Raquel quickly shut up the book and sat it down when she noticed that they were finally at Sergio Port. A seaside city on Ursium’s edge. Jethro had had his eyes closed the entire time trusting the horses to know not to run the wagon off the road. “Oh, we’re here.” “Ah good. Now we can see what our options are.” he replied focusing mostly on his business. It wasn’t doing too well as things were.

Suddenly a capuchin monkey clad in miniature clothing leaped onto Raquel’s shoulder and lightly grabbed her hair to help balance himself as the large wagon suddenly hit a bump in the road. With a slight shooing gesture from Raquel, the monkey let go of her hair and instead balanced by simply sitting down and using all four limbs. “I don’t see why I don’t get to have a pet while you do.” she quickly said while giving the monkey a dubious look. “I already told you, no pets. And Chip’s not a pet either. He eats people food, doesn’t crap just anywhere, and helps me out while I’m working. Far as I’m concerned, he’s family.” he explained as he more readily drove the wagon toward Sergio Port. She supposed with that kind of logic, that was the end of her pet argument.

From the very large merchant wagon, the view of the city was clear. Late in the afternoon, the city was wrapping up its daylight prominent activities, the orange hue of sunset already beginning to take place. In the city itself, people seemed to be everywhere. Out at the docks, there were many vessels, but only two that really caught the eye, a ship of the line dwarfing all the others donning the Ursium crest upon its largest and foremost sail floating out a short ways from the city seemingly guarding the port, and a frigate resting at dock, its crew hauling goods aboard. As they passed the welcoming sign into the city, Jethro began to slow the horses and the wagon for better handling.

“So where’s our first stop?” Raquel asked with a smile. Pausing to really think on it for a moment, Jethro gave a quick affirming nod to himself and then answered “... first to the markets. We’re not just here to buy, sell, and trade. We’ve also got to get some food in our stomachs.” He quickly grimaced though. For all intents and purposes they were on their last legs. Jethro would have to try yet another career if he couldn’t revitalize his business as a weapon merchant; and things were looking bleak. It occurred to him yet again that the small artifact that his daughter had found a few weeks prior would be worth getting appraised. If it was worth even half as much as he suspected, they would be financially secure for years to come if they sold it. Then his failing business wouldn’t be so much of an issue. Though he also wasn’t exactly sure what it was made out of. A mysterious and eerie thing he had a lot of mixed feelings about.

Once they arrived at the markets by the docks, Jethro stopped the wagon and casually hopped down from it revealing that he had a sword sheathed on his left side. After giving the two horses powering it a quick bit of attention and routine praise, he made his way to the back of the wagon. Meanwhile Raquel set about getting down herself and as always didn’t like the distance she needed to cover. Bracing herself she hopped down. It was short but rough trip evidenced by her landing wince. Chip sat down in her seat and poked at the novel she had been reading while she went over to the horses.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elsewhere in Sergio Port, inside a dark room of a building, two lone figures looked out over the city watching. One was a man with eerie yellow eyes and silvery hair carrying a faint blue tint almost completely concealed behind an ebon cloak. The other was a young Kigen sword master clad in long red robes with red and silver hair. The dark robed man looked out the window while the red one simply thought to himself with his arms and legs crossed sitting on the edge of a storage crate. He soon revealed a bright golden glowing mass from his cloak.

Looking at it for a moment he said “Shining again, I see. They’ve finally arrived.” The sword master kept his eyes shut but still responded saying “We should have ambushed them on the road, Sardis. Waiting til they come to a big open public place like this is going to draw too much attention.” “Don’t fret. I’m less concerned with those that might involve themselves and more concerned about those whom we must overcome to take what we’re here for.”

That was when the swordsman opened his eyes. He was a bit surprised. “You think they’re that strong? Maybe the father. Probably ex-military, surely, but the girl? I’m not keen on overestimating a simple girl.” “That girl is not as ‘simple’ as she appears to be. Far too much dark energy ...” the cloaked one uttered in response. “So we we’re going to attack them here, in Sergio? We don’t have enough cannon fodder to deal with anyone who might try to help them out. There are a lot of soldiers nearby as it is.”

“Hmm. True. We may need a military diversion.” As soon as he had ended his statement he cracked a smile. Out in the water was the largest vessel afloat for miles and miles. “That should do nicely.” he said with a small chuckle which prompted his partner to rise and walk over to his side. Looking at the ship and then giving the robed one an inquisitive look, he asked “The ship? We’re going to use that ship?” “Indeed.”

The robed man quickly put away the shining object and put forth both hands quickly forming a sphere of radically shifting dark energy. The mass began to pull in any loose particles in the air as it began to grow. Soon it was beginning to compress and compress until it was the size of a pearl. All activity ceased and it became a faintly glowing solid shadow pearl resting in the palm of the man’s hand. Handing it to the sword master, he instructed him “Get one of your men to get this onto that ship as soon as possible. It will take care of the rest.” His partner nodded and accepted the surprisingly hot pearl before quickly exiting the building through the very window they had been peering though.

“Oh yes ... this is going to be an interesting evening indeed.”

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika's search for Pavel or the Fire Emblem had been rather fruitless the past few months. No one in Neviskotia had heard news of either, or they were not willing to tell. Eventually, Veronika decided that she had to expand her search to other nations, though the conflict between Ursium and Neviskotia hindered this. After weeks of waiting, she eventually found a small vessel traveling from Stubbsgrit Port to Sergio Port for trade.

The ship arrived in the port in the late afternoon. Veronika noticed the large Ursian vessel docked in the harbor. So I truly am in Ursium now. I should try to keep my identity a secret here, if the Ursium military finds out that I am a daughter of a Neviskotian miltary leader there could be serious complications. It also means that I have to be rather careful about who I ask, I cannot be as trusting here as I was in Neviskotia. This is enemy territory after all...

Veronika got off the ship, hand on her sword sheath. I suppose the best place to start would be the local tavern or watering hole or whatever they call it here she thought to herself, walking through the unfamiliar city, eying the many people she passed with great suspicion.

[NTNP]

In a haze... just off the beaten path...

It was cold, far colder than it had been in the ocean so many years ago. It was always in moments like this he ended up looking back on his life with a strange sense of nostalgia. He could still feel the waves pressing down on the side of the barrel, as he bobbed in the ocean as the storm cloud's furious roars helped deafen the screams as a friend became engulfed by the sea. Help me, please someone! Varen! Alicia! Edwin Your still there aren't you!? Hello! Anyone, are you still there?!? If Edwin would have yelled back, then he would have tried to use the barrel too. Both of them would have drowned. But looking back on those days after almost five years, he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he would have tried to save Glenn too? It didn't matter anymore. That life was over a long time ago.

Edwin glanced up towards the sky, wondering when it had started raining. He felt another drop slide down his face, as he stared at the clear blue sky and the slowly moving clouds. The horse beneath him neighed ever so lightly, as the two of them slowly trotted further down the path. The nomad had lost feeling in his lower arms hours ago, and could barely breathe anymore. His entire chest felt heavy. The man held loosely to the horse's neck, barely holding on for what felt like days now. It happened at night, Edwin remembered that much. The group that the beautiful female knight had assembled, they were on the way to a small fort out in the distance that had been abandoned a few decades back. They were after... they were after someone. It felt like his mind was finally starting to give out, just like his body had a while ago. Three arrows stuck out of the nomad's back, and a circular burn mark was right below his right shoulder. His green cloak was stained dark red and his breaths were shallow at best. It wouldn't be long now. In a sick way, Edwin almost welcomed it. A final release, after so many years of running away… it felt fitting somehow that he had abandoned his comrades only to die alone.

Edwin could still see it clear as day. That woman with the long red hair, Felicia was taking lead. It was first light and Edwin saw it first. A young woman, standing next to an over turned wagon yelling that her husband had been hurt. She said 'it's a knight's duty to help people.' She probably never even saw the lightning bolt as it arched across the sky and struck her in the head. Desperately Edwin hoped the last thing that she had seen was that little monster smiling as her 'husband' picked up his axe... if not... Edwin shuttered at the thought, no one deserves to have the last thing they see be a blade ripping into your head. The two around him, the swordsman and the mage... he didn't even see what happened to them. They are probably dead by now. Just like you will be soon rushed through the injured man's mind. As soon as the girl died, Edwin considered his contract up and went for the hills. Of course, the two archers they had in wait didn't exactly make that easy. They could have at least gone after the ones that weren't fleeing first. Oh well, that little arrogant brat and the hot head probably got at least one of them before they bit the dust.

In the distance, the man could swear he saw someone. Just behind them, something that looked like a city. Very funny, I take it this is my just deserts? The horse began walking closer to the beaten path, as the nomad's eyes finally shut. Only sound of his heart beating ever quieter filled Edwin's head now…

Edited January 6, 2011 by NTNP

[EchoingPewter]

Sailing along the eastern border of Kigen and coming in from Fairgale Town was another, smaller ship that was a couple of hours behind the present ship about to be docking in Sergio. The ship was a transport ship of sorts, carrying a merchant, a couple of other folks here and there about the deck, and a portion of the Grandzenschtraum Mercenaries.

Wolfgang was pacing about the front of the ship, urgently waiting for his best friend to return with news from the sky. For some reason he didn't feel quite right. He didn't know whether it was the salty taste in the air, or his intuition. Maybe it was his stomach, he hadn't eaten since the moment he woke up. He didn't know, but he was taking a precaution he felt necessary. He looked up when the huge light in the sky becamed shadowed by something. A wyvern, and a big one at that.

"Wallace!" Wolfgang shouted up, "Did you see anything at the port!?"

The wyvern descended to be parallel with the ship, its features more distinct now. It was as black as the moonlight all over its body, except for its underbelly which was a softer shade of gray. It was heavily plated with teal armor over its torso, head, neck, everywhere crucial to the wyvern's body. It's tail was spiked and as long as half the ship, and it's full size could cause it to be confused as a younger dragon. Its rider, another man in the same years as Wolfgang, had a much more gruff appearance.

Wallace (age 34) stood at a hulking six feet nine inches, his physique was massive and thus he was able to wear his light armored plates with little impedding of his movements. He had an eye patch over one eye, and the other was a pale green. His hair was shoulder length and a bright brown in color. He gave a hearty grin as he looked across to the ship at his boss and best childhood friend.

"Nothing right now, Wolfgang!" He shouted over, "Neither Gromit or myself could see anything! I'll head over there again in a moment to keep a report for you, I'm sure that's what you want!"

"You're damn straight I do! I can't stand having my guard lowered when my mind's like this!" Wolfgang returned his friend's gesture, before closing his eyes as he turned to the sky and sighed. "Can't say this weather isn't beautiful though."

"You two keep yelling at each other to talk and you're going to wear your voice out." Wolfgang heard a gentle and firm voice behind him. He turned his head and opened an eye to look back at his wife, Karene (age 28). The beautiful woman stood around five feet nine inches and a very gracious figure. She was toned with enough muscle to notice, but not so much it ruined her complextion. Her measurements were 35C, 19, and 33. Her armor consisted of light leather over her torso and shoulder plating accompanied by leather gauntlets that were similar to Wolfgang's. Her lower body wore pants that clung tightly to her figure and leather boots. She had long blond hair that fell all the way to her waist, tamed in a ponytail at the top of her head, and deep sapphire eyes.

"Karene, glad to see you decided to join us on deck." Wolfgang said playfully.

"Well, I found an adorable little cat roaming around and I tried to approach her, but she was too wary to let me." Karene said, sighing as she walked over to Wolfgang and smiling at him. Karene's appearance nearly calmed Wolfgang, but not enough to have him keep his guard up around this strange situation.

"Sorry things didn't work out." Wolfgang replied.

"It's okay, don't worry too much about it, Boss." Karene said.

"I love it when you call me that." Wolfgang teased her.

"Sorry to interupt your gooooo-shy little moment, but what'd you find out, chief?" Wolfgang knew who that was just by what he called him.

"Nothing right now, Hans. Wallace is going back out in a moment to do another sweep." The leader replied.

"Sounds like a tune I can play to." Hans said, running in front of all of them and jumping onto the bow of the ship. Hans (age 22) wore civilian clothing for the most part aside from the leather chestplate he wore. His hair was a bit messy and strawberry blond in color, and his eyes were hazel.

"Where's Ariost at?" Wolfgang asked, noticing he was the only member traveling with him that wasn't up here now.

"He was sleeping when I check on him last." Hans stated.

"Why didn't you wake him?" Wolfgang grinned, knowing what he'd hear.

"You kidding? You go wake him up, get your buns blasted with the fowl arts!" Hans said with a startled voice. The four laughed at Hans' response, including himself.

"I'm going." Wallace said, ascending into the air as Gromit flew off towards Sergio once again.

Edited January 6, 2011 by EchoingPewter

[Acacia Sgt]

Meanwhile, in a different path to the port.

Two figures were making their way aross the path. One was a human, in his late teens, and the other his mount. Except, it wasn't a horse, rather, a wyvern. The two were making their way on foot towards the port.

As they walked, the wyvern left a small growl.

''Don't worry, we're almost there.'' John said to the beast. ''I know you're tired of having to walk all the time, but as long as we're in Ursium it's for the best.''

Gil just grunted as they kept walking. ''Don't worry, once we reach the port we'll soon be out of the place. You'll be able to stretch your wings again. Besides, it was about time you got to exersize your legs anyway.'' He laughed.

Gil quickly got infront of him and gave him a louder growl.

''Alright, alright.'' His voice now taking a stern tone. ''Let's just keep moving to get out of this place as soon as possible.''

With that, John and Gil kept walking towards Sergio Port.

[RPG]

Wandering aimlessly through the town, Jeanne was incredibly frustrated. Nothing new here. Pegasi were dignified creatures in Ursium, but as she was not a member of the official knights, many looked at her as a thief. This made her work much harder, as she typically got jobs from either outcasts, criminals, or those that are simply oblivious. The tasks that she end up with tended to either be utterly pointless with poor pay or unfairly difficult with poor pay. Her most recent job (using her pegasus to rescue a cat from a tree) was the former. Mercenary work did not seem to be anything like the heroic tales that she was told as a young girl.

Under her cheap traveler's cloak, Jeanne absentmindedly rubbed one of the few coins that she had received from her work. It would be best if she skipped buying dinner tonight, again, purely for monetary reasons. She couldn't sell her armor, weapon, or Megaera, they were the only thing that could attract enough attention for a job. Circling throughout the town for a good ten minutes did nothing to ease her frustration, so she returned to her pegasus, tied to a post in a lonely alley near a tavern with her lance awkwardly strapped to its saddle. Megaera seemed truly out of place in the alley, her folded wings just about touching the walls to either side of her. The steed didn't seem to care, however.

Jeanne approached Megaera and rubbed her mane gently. The pegasus was too distracted by a large insect crawling on the wall to react, until Jeanne held out a roll of bread, which Megaera promptly swallowed in one bite. "Sorry girl, I just need to let this out," Jeanne said to her unresponsive mount. She leaned back against the nearest building wall, her armor making a thud as it hit the building through her cloak. She took in a deep breath as she looked up. In an annoyed whisper, Jeanne uttered "Fuuuuuuck my life." This didn't make her any less frustrated. With a sigh, she snatched her lance from Megaera's saddle. By carrying this around near the local tavern, she could at least get a more exciting job such as killing some bandits. Being sure not to stray too far from her pegasus, Jeanne rounded the corner and stood near the entrance of the tavern. She propped her spear up beside her, gripping the shaft with her right hand, making it look as if she was guarding something. Her pose seemed to give off an air of confused soldier, instead of the hardened mercenary look she wanted. She ran a hand through her green hair, hoping desperately for a more dignified job to fall onto her lap.

[Mercakete]

"Did your man have anything to report?" asked Gytha from the net rigging, holding onto the ropes with one hand and standing on it with one foot, allowing her left leg to simply dangle while her left hand was on her hip. She had just been climbing down from the crow's nest and missed most of the conversation. Though this had been her only voyage with this particular band, it had been a long one and she found herself anticipating the next port.

The cat Karene mentioned, meanwhile, had been out of ship rats to hunt for days now and was, instead, sneaking around the ship's cook's storeroom. That was it: the fish barrel. Silently, gracefully, Maw crept to the barrel's edge, passing her tongue over her muzzle. Sure enough, inside the barrel were fish: alive and swimming. They had been caught the day before and Maw wasn't about to miss this chance.

[EchoingPewter]

"Unfortunately, no." Wolfgang replied to the young girl that descended from the nest. He looked over the girl with a keen glare fixed on every aspect.

"Wolfgang, must you really size her up right here? I could grow suggestive." Karene said with a tap of her foot.

"It's always best to know exactly who you're dealing with, Karene. And you're not the jealous wife, so I'm not worried." Wolfgang replied with a smile. He returned his attention to the girl.

"So I take it you're defending the merchant aboard this ship? You seem experienced, even if a little rough around the edges. Glad I'm not taking a break to entrust my life to a greenhorn." Wolfgang said, smiling again at the girl. The smile on his rough features was difficult to read, perhaps even excited. He was surprised he hadn't taken on a new job yet, but perhaps it was because he wished to start off in Ursium looking for his next assignment this time. He knew this endangered Wallace a bit, but if they couldn't put a little danger in their way, they didn't deserve their vast reputation. Hans was too busy gazing at the view beyond to notice the girl joining the couple behind him.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika walked through the streets of the city, avoiding the merchants for the most part. From her experience merchants tended to more interested in selling their wares than offering useful information. Besides, unlike the tavern patrons the merchants were probably not intoxicated for the most part. Alcohol often loosened people's tongues and lowered their guard.

She walked towards the building she thought was the tavern. There was a green-haired girl outside, lance at the ready. There was a pegasus tied near the post. Is she a pegasus knight maybe? I thought Ursian pegasus knights usually had better things to do than guard entrances to taverns Veronika thought to herself.

Vernokia approached the girl. "Do I have to pay you to get inside or something?" she asked her. What an odd custom, in Neviskotia we just pay for the drinks directly. Typical Ursians I suppose, putting rules and regulations where there don't need to be any.

[Mercakete]

"Aye, that I am," she answered before dropping down to the deck and standing back up. Striding over to the rail, she casually kept her hand on the pommel of her sword. She didn't have any business or interest in being too chatty for the moment. For the time being, all she wanted to do was guage their distance from the port from a place closer to the sea. She smiled as the crash and splash of the water more easily fell upon her ears and as the salty wind blew them swiftly towards land. Turning about, the woman leaned against the rail and gazed across the ship's deck and to the sea beyond. She knew it wouldn't be long before she longed to be playing upon the ocean again, so now was the best time to look at it and to feel the ship's movement on the sea. They would have to lower sail and drop anchor soon. Then it was payment, a ride to shore aboard the ship's tender, some time to enjoy the land, then off to find more work.

[RPG]

Jeanne put little effort in looking towards the woman. "Nah, you don't." she told her plainly. She then put her free hand on her hip and sighed. No wonder she was stuck with terrible jobs; she was terrible at being a mercenary. She didn't have the look or attitude, and she had just proved how inept she was with general know-how. Annoyed at misrepresenting herself, she decided to look the woman over, deciding to give her some thought. Her attire implied that she was wealthier than Jeanne, though that's not a hard task. Was she serious just now? She's either not from around here, or she's never left her house. OH DAMN! If I'd said yes to her, I could have walked away with a heavier sack of money. Too late now.

Then a theory struck Jeanne. Maybe she was being clueless because she could afford to be clueless. That thought made more sense before it was coherent. Regardless, she couldn't afford to pass up a job opportunity from someone who might be well off.

"Say," Jeanne started, now looking at the woman directly. "You wouldn't happen to need any work done, would you? I have knight training." This wasn't technically a lie. "I might sound a little direct right now, but it's rare to find a Pegasus rider that's willing to work for someone. This is a good opportunity to take, if you ask me. I can do a bodyguard job, message delivery, information gathering, you name it." It occurred to Jeanne that she might be sounding like a desperate sellsword (though she considered herself as that anyway). But she couldn't take back her words now.

[Kanami]

Seina peeked at the band of soldiers from her hiding place as they dragged the corpses of her captors away. The group in Kigen had in been at least two dozen in numbers, but apparently only half a dozen had been aboard the boat and they were captured of killed pretty quickly with little resistance. A few of the girls that had fled with her had also been captured and were likewise being hauled away with or without their consent.

Deciding it would be better not to reveal herself she sighed with relief as the shiny clad men disappeared around the corner and out of her sight. She didn't know where she was, the boats, the buildings, even the people she saw looked oddly clad. Was this the outside world? She'd heard a few rumors about the foreign nations, savage idiotic barbarians that quarreled amongst themselves when the threat of the black birds were looming right over their heads.

Deciding that she needed to figure out where she was first, she started to wander around, maybe she'd find someone of noble standing to escort her back to her Lord? She saw a man clad in what appeared to be a expensive garment and was about to speak out when the man spoke some unintelligible noises to another man near by. She frowned, and moved on. Did these people even know how to speak? Her mind went back to the cries of the soldiers, and was assured somewhat when she recognized their speech as common.

Thinking her goal could take longer then anticipated she considered to stroll in no particular direction. Taking in the scenery of Sergio.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Kanami

[Phoenix]

The UNV Celeste

On board the ship guarding the dock, deck hands kept a vigilant eye out, making sure not to overlook any ship that ventured into the area. One of the men holding a spyglass spotted a wyvern rider landing on one of the vessels and quickly waved over one of the others and quickly handed it over so he could see for himself. "What'dya spose that is, eh? Neviskotian or just anotha random drake lovah?"

"Can't honestly. But Neviskotia knows better than to send wyvern riding knights to spy on us and just one of them isn't enough to cause a lot of damage around here. Leave them be. Nothing to worry about."

"Aye."

Meanwhile below the ship, a lone figure wearing a deep blue outfit emerged from the water and quickly latched onto the ship with iron claws while taking as silent and as deep a breathe as he or she could manage. After that, they began clawing their way up to the bottom row of cannons and stealthily lifted open and peeked through the port to see no one in sight in that area of the ship. The stealthy infiltrator took one last look around making sure they weren't spotted before disappearing through the port closing it quietly behind them.

Elsewhere in Sergio Port

A young Rexian man wearing a large red overcoat and other suspicious looking gear sat alone on the edge of a building overlooking the edge of the city and the ships in the harbor. He was so far away from his home that he felt perhaps he had sentenced himself to a lifetime of aimless wandering. Going back empty handed was out of the question, but he had been at this for months. Worse yet he had gotten into quite a bit of trouble along the way. Even been forced to kill on rare occasions. That wasn't something he particularly enjoyed, but he couldn't always run away either. People outside of Rex-Avaz tended to favor the tactic of surrounding loners like him. With a heavy sigh he shut out his memories of the past couple of weeks and watched the sun as it reached its 5 O'clock position in the sky.

A few minutes of forgetting how seemingly fruitless his journey had been, and he finally noticed something strange. A faint glow was coming from the trinket he had carried from the beginning of his journey. It was glowing? That was the first and only time that had happened. He was only told it would guide him to what he sought. Was that the means by which it would guide him? Amon quickly got to his feet and looked around hoping to spot something that stood out but ... nothing. "This can't be right." he muttered as he removed the trinket and the necklace it dangled from from his neck. Perhaps he had to move around, he thought. Maybe he was simply close enough to get a reaction from the device. In fact, the glow may have had something to do with proximity ... or so he desperately hoped.

He quickly took off running to the edge of the building and leaping over the alleyway below and landing on the otherside before continuing his sprint. He glanced at the trinket in his hand to see if the glow was going to get brighter, or dimmer. Should it be the former, he would pick up speed, and the latter ... he may just have to turn around.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika considered the girl's words. True, she was Ursian, but Veronika had no other allies in this nation. And by her eagerness for work and attire, Veronika figured that she was probably telling the truth about being a freelance mercenary. And a pegasus could cover a lot more distance than Veronika could on foot as well.

"I may have work involving finding someone close to me. But given the nature of his disappearance, the job will probably be dangerous and will require some measure of confidentiality. You are not part of the Ursian military, are you?" she asked the girl quizically, raising an eyebrow at her.

[roymbrog]

Found on the edge of town, Nomen’s tavern was a pretty popular establishment, even if only sparsely occupied during the day. At night it had been filled with noise, drunken sailors, travelers who couldn’t afford a stay at a decent inn, and the smell of alcohol, and was virtually indistinguishable from any other taverns in Ursium. Naturally, this meant that Synthia hated it. She had only stayed there because of her exhaustion and stinginess, and had been quick to leave in the morning-- only to completely fail at finding any sort of work. With no more money and nowhere to go, she had returned to that damned tavern to plan her next destination. She looked over the map in front of her and sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

It was then that a short man, breathing and panting heavily, burst into the tavern and ran to the counter, shouting all the while and almost knocking the door down in the process. “Hey, Kiraz! Some guy out here’s injured real bad, come and help me carry him.” Kiraz Nomen, the owner and guy behind the counter, quickly followed him outside.

Most of the tavern’s meager patrons, including Synthia, were not terribly surprised. It wasn’t unusual for sailors to get into fights around here and there were usually two or three incidents like this a week. Once the unconscious man was brought in, however, the entire atmosphere changed. The damage was far worse than anyone expected. Three arrows were sticking from the man’s back, burn marks covered the clothing and skin near his shoulder, and his cloak was splattered in dried blood. He looked dead, and looked as if he’d been dead for a while.

The man who had first run in left to find a doctor. Everyone else looked on as Kiraz carefully removed Edwin’s cloak and checked his breathing, revealing that he was still alive. He immediately started barking out orders to the tavern’s staff and the quiet place soon became a flurry of activity as people gathered sheets and ointments to treat and bind the injured man's wounds. Synthia stayed in the back and ignored the scene as best she could. This was not her problem and she was not a charity was what she told herself, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty for doing nothing. Even though she was now trying to remain inconspicuous, she had forgotten about her staff and left it leaning against her chair. Whoops.

[ReformBlade]

A rather standard day for Nanahm. He couldn't seem to find a job, but of course, he didn't exactly try all that hard either. He spent most of his day carving then decided to spend a little coin at the tavern, always a good decision in his mind. better go see if I can haggle a room for the night... he thought, making his way outside when all of a sudden there was commotion and a gravely injured man being brought in. Normally, he would've jumped up to help, but some other patrons seemed to have beat him to it. Enough that he wouldn't make a difference. So, without anything holding him up, Nanahm headed outside, noticing a horse that seemed to be hastily and lazily tied up outside, brown and white in color. The injured's horse, I guess he mused as he overheard two people in mid conversation.

"...job will probably be dangerous and will require some measure of confidentiality. You are not part of the Ursian military, are you?"

Maybe today won't be so normal after all. he thought as he approached the two. "Greetings, and, sorry to interrupt, but are you by chance looking for some muscle for hire?" he blurted out without much warning. This man clearly needed a little more tact, but hey, muscle is muscle, and if she was looking for it, she found it. "Sorry if I interrupted, which I probably did, but hey, I heard 'job' and jumped at the opportunity. If I'm mistaken, I apologize."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika looked the strange newcomer over, he wwas a large, burly man, perhaps drunk. "Yes, it is interrupting when you interject in a conversation you were not invited to. However, I might have a job for you. It will require some discretion, this is no simple job of smashing bandits or moving furniture although it may prove dangerous. Do you have any skills in gathering information?" she asked the man, turning her attention away from the pegasus knight for the moment.

Edited January 7, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[NTNP]

Nomen's Tavern

"Uhh..." Edwin's mind was swimming by the time they got him into the tavern. His temperature was high, and his breathing was still shallow. However that wasn't what truly was strange though. Even though the man seemed like he was accosted by bandits or the like, he was still carrying some pretty nice stuff. Some of his equipment looked expensive, such as his ring and earrings. But what was especially a conspicuously large sack of gold tied to his belt. Although no one would likely know, he had around 1,000 gold in there assuming none had fallen out on the ride here... all the good it did him now. Once the group of kind drunks had brought him inside during the confusion (after all, its hard to apply bandages and other healing items while on a full sized horse).

Sitting him in a chair, the brown haired man's eyes opened slowly. He glanced at the one named Kiraz and at the establishment. Edwin tried to remember, he was pretty sure this wasn't his first time in the place. Although after all the years of traveling, places like this always looked a little similar. The nomad spoke weakly, "I guess it's too late to ask for a last drink isn't it?" A few of the people in the room were shocked, mostly that he could still talk with those injuries. There was a serious wheeze in his voice by the end, likely from blood pooling somewhere in his lungs. The rattle turned into a full cough, as a couple of drops of blood splattered on the floor in the general direction of Synthia. As he tried to raise his hand, it didn't work. He couldn't help but look horrified for a moment at the realization, one of the arrows had really done a number on his shoulder blade or worse yet his spine.

"...Hey girl... please tell me that staff isn't for show. If you know how to heal me up, half of the money in that bag is you... *cough* yours." Normally it would be a lot harder to make the nomad part with his well earned loot, but if it was between dying or parting with a little money it was clear where he drew the line.

[ReformBlade]

Nanahm laughed at the lady's blunt manner of speech. He liked the woman already, "I suppose I can, if you need it. Can't in good conscience say it's one of my specialties, but I'm not new to the concept. I guess it really depends what you're gonna need to know for me to do it." He almost thought of saying that she could find someone better for that kind of job, but he had SOME business sense. If she needed info gathered, by Raguni himself, he'd get it... if the price was worth it.

[Snowy_One]

"The marketplace of Sergio port is no idle place to be. Though it was to be expected that any place in which people had set up stalls to sell wares would not be calm and idle places, there was so much more in the markets of Jerdon! Fishermen, their arms filled to the brim with freshly caught seafood of all sorts, lined the walls so thickly that as I strode among their many stalls that, beyond the first row of men offering up tuna, shark, and salmon, I could see yet another row of stalls laden heavy with riches and feasts of food that I could not even begin to comprehend. To a man whom has only seen small towns all his life, it was a wondrous sight for the eyes. Beasts I had never seen, tastes of foods I could never have dreamed of eating, names I could not hope to repeat! Lobster, crab, and things I could not hope to utter again for fear of mangling the names.

Overwhelmed by the many sights, I took to spinning about wildly, my eyes rushing over every strange sight, absorbing as much as I could! But alas, having been left alone in the plains for most of my life, my body has grown to possess little sense of balance. I could not cope with the wonders that were splayed out before me, and I tripped. As I fell, my hands reached out instinctively for the first thing that they could grasp so my arse would not burst upon the ground. That just happened to be your purse. I did not know what I was grabbing, only that it jingled and did not break my fall. And that it came with such a strong and mighty man attached to it!"

Daloth lay upon the dusty ground of the marketplace, a purse of golden coins having been poured out about him. Dirt mixed with the glint of gold covered his blue robes as his large, green eyes looked up pleadingly. Standing over him was another man, his fist clenched in fury upon the collar of Daloth's shirt while the other held something Daloth took to be a fish knife in his hand. He had run against the man by accident and fallen down, grabbing the mans purse by accident as he fell! No! Really! He hadn't been trying to steal from him, and it had been just a honest accident. A accident that the man did not seem to be willing to believe.

"You're a bloody liar you brainless twit!" hissed the man. "And I didn't ask for a story you moron! I didn't ask you for anything! You tried to steal my money! Now you're going to give me no trouble as I haul you in to the guards so they can send you to jail!"

"And the knife?"

"It's for gutting fish, but I swear, you try to steal from me again, and I will be gutting you instead!"

A faint 'Eep' slipped from Daloth's lip as the man pulled him up by the scruff of his collar. As soon as his body was right-side up again, Daloth dropped too his knees. "OH PLEASE SIR! PLEASE! DON'T SEND ME TO JAIL! IT WAS A ACCIDENT! HONEST!" he grabbed the mans pants in fear. "I lost my balance and grabbed your money by accident! Please!" He shook the mans leg violently. "Please don't send me to jail! Please!"

"Get off me you barnacle!" The man tried to lift his leg to shake Daloth, yet the man clung as tightly as he could to the mans pants. "Getoff!Getoff!Getoff!" he hissed three more times before resolving to drag Daloth in, even if it meant dragging him in on one leg. Yet, as the man took his first step, Daloth showed no sign of letting go. "I don't have a record, but if you report me, I'll be thrown into jail! I won't get to work any place except at a hired mugger! Do you want to do that too me? Force me to be a hired mugger?" One step. "No! No! No! I'll do anything! I'll carry your catch, I'll clean your coins, I'll cook for you!" Two steps. "Wanna hear a tale? I know one about a man who was just a normal scholar until one day he was bitten by an enchanted spider!" Three steps. As the man took the third step, a sudden slackness passed down the cloth, accompanied with a mighty 'SPRANG!' A small vase before the pair burst into a thousand shards as the mans belt buckle burst right off and went rocketing into the stall. Daloth fell backwards as the man pitched forwards... and right out of his pants. For a moment, Daloth did nothing, sitting there stupidly with the pants clasped firmly in his hands. Then, the man slowly regained himself.

His face was red with rage, and his knuckles white with the sheer grip that they now had upon the knife. As he looked at Dalton, it was clearly a look that could shoot bursts of fire to incinerate the poor mage. "Give me back my pants. Now."

"Oh bloody hell."

Daloth shot upright as fast as he could, the pants clutched instinctively in hand as he dove for his tome. He flipped the pages open as he raised the pants-holding hand high into the air. "ICE!" he screamed out as loud as he could. A bolt of frozen ice suddenly shot forth from Daloth's hand... and got stuck in the folds of the mans pants. Thinking as quickly as he could, he threw the pants at the man before trying once more. "ICE!" This time a bolt of ice shot forth and lodged itself in the ground, impaling the poor article of clothing as the man screamed in fury. Leaping over the ice, knife in hand, he rushed at Daloth. "HELP!" screamed Daloth as he tore off down the street, being chased by a pantless fisherman with a knife in hand, screaming at the top of his lungs. "YOU RUINED MY PANTS!"

[Dark Sage]

It had been awhile since he sent out from the capital, but Domovoi had arrived in Sergio Port. Finally he would be able to find his father's killer and complete his assignment. However there was his wyvern to attend to. If he entered the city with the wyvern, people would likely assume him to be a Neviskotian soldier. Which he was, but he didn't want them to know that. Still there wasn't much of a place to hide him anyway.

Dismounting, Domovoi led the wyvern through the city, keeping a good eye on him. Mainly to avoid the wyvern snatching food from people's hands. Deciding the first thing to do was to learn information of this town, Domovoi headed towards the local tavern nearby.

"Ok then boy. I promise to get you something really good to eat ok? Just be patient yes?" Domovoi said to the wyvern seriously. Miskavolv merely snorted in reply, but stayed still obediently. He simply couldn't pass up a good opportunity for a treat. It'd be a better treat if he waited for Domovoi to get it then if he stole it anyway.

[Acacia Sgt]

John finally reached the vicinities of the port.

''Well, here we are Gil.'' He said. ''Now we just go in, and keep a low profile while we're at it.''

The wyvern just gave a small grunt. ''Seriously, last we need is trouble so close of getting out of this place.''

With that, they marched in, towards the closest tavern they could find.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[RPG]

Jeanne gave the new arrival a quick glance over. She almost felt an urge to smile; this job was looking good so far. A potential partner other than Megaera is a very nice change of pace. Yet Jeanne was still not sure on how to answer the woman's question. What could she call herself? An outcast? No, too negative. She decided to be vague and hope for the best. "I'm Jeanne Fersed," she said, still relatively monotone, her attention returning to Veronika. "You could say I'm different." She lazily pointed her thumb at Nanahm. "And I'm in the same boat as him. If it's a paying job, I'll do what I have to. That includes keeping things confidential."

[roymbrog]

Obviously excluding his injuries, the man looked pretty well off. If she had to take a guess as to what happened to him she’d probably say bandits attacked as walking around here with so much nice stuff was like suicide. Though, with all that money he might have paid her for healing had he been conscious. She knew how selfish that thought was, but was trying to be practical. She needed money. Immersed in her thoughts, she completely missed Edwin’s offer, not even realizing he was conscious till she felt everyone staring and finally looked up.

She looked around confused. Why were they staring? She cursed under her breath, it was obviously because of the staff she’d forgotten next to her.

“Well?” Kiraz asked after a few moments, trying to keep his temper in check. “Are you going to heal this dying man? Or leave him to die? He’s offered a fairly generous amount.” At this he removed Edwin’s sack of gold and held it up for inspection.

Shocked that she had been asked and more than a little intimidated by the large bar owner, Synthia had some trouble articulating, dumbly nodded instead, then fumbled for her staff, and finally walked towards the dying man in a chair all while enduring the accusatory stares of the bar's occupants. The blue orb on the staff illuminated as she channeled energy into it over his wounds and the cuts, burns, and bruises slowly began to disappear. It took several minutes before the internal injuries were healed and Edwin was almost as good as new; Synthia bowed her head apologetically and stepped back to give him space.

[Phoenix]

The Markets ...

It didn't take Jethro long to grab a large crate out of the back of the wagon and put it over his shoulders. He was planning on selling off most of the crate's contents to a man in Sergio that he knew rather well from his occasional visits. Of course it was just a plan. He figured he was either going to realize that he came at a bad time, or simply find that his friend's taste in random finds had changed significantly. Before he went into his friend's store however he stopped and called over to Raquel. "Hey, you ready to get rid of that chunk of magical gold yet? It'd probably be worth enough to cure my unyielding stress."

"Uhhh nope. Sorry. I think we'll do fine if we work together like we talked about."

He grunted a bit replying "You won't even read any of the books I bought for you. Instead you're reading romance novels ... which frankly is ironic." He wasn't sure why he was trying to convince her to give him the mysterious object she had found. When he thought that he might have more faith in selling that one item than in maintaining his short lived business alongside his daughter he grimaced. "Never mind. I'm sure Ezio wouldn't pay much for something if he knew I was trying to get him to appraise it anyway. Would probably just rip me off and live like a king. Guard the wagon. I'll be right back."

"Yes, sir." she replied before turning her attention back to the horses. As Jethro disappeared into the shop, Chip stood up in Raquel's seat and shrieked loudly. It got her attention right away and as she looked passed the horses to him, he pointed back over her shoulder leading her gaze to a frightened mage stampeding in their general direction! The man chasing him was slightly less than decent. Was he a fire mage that somehow manage to burn nothing but the man's pants? No. Too unlikely ... and too implicative of other things. What could have possibly happened then? She didn't know but she certainly didn't want to get run over for standing around thinking about it for too long. With that in mind she stepped closer to the horses giving the men plenty of room to pass between them and the store without any trouble.