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Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces


Phoenix
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"Burying the enemy could work, but there's the blood spilled during the battles to deal with," Blake replied in response to John. His next comment was directed towards Gytha. "That would take longer than the burying idea, because of the need to transport the bodies. Then there's the blood issue..." Next, Nanahm - the fighter from a while back, the swordsman remembered- spoke up, wondering why they couldn't just walk away from the fight. Raquel answered that one, and Veronika chimed in, so that left Blake to hear the words of the Neviskotian archer. Which essentially amounted to telling everyone that the mage -Zach was his name- was their edge over the enemy. Thanks for stating the obvious, Robin. After her words, Nanahm once again spoke, this time suggesting that they attack head-on and recklessly, which was not a particularly safe strategy. The swordsman would rather not walk into a fight without knowing the layout, thank you very much. John had made a criticism of that, and Reign had just walked out after it, which was odd. Lastly, there was Chelsea, the blonde troubadour, with a request to come to a decision. Well, here was an opinion for her.

"I'd prefer to go with drawing some of the enemy force out of the manse, then strike it after we dispatch those cultists," Blake said, his face emotionless. "For the bodies, well, burying them seems to be the best option in my eyes."

Edited by Snike
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Meeting

When Raquel looked up at the sound of footsteps, she saw Reign open the door to the wardroom and step through it. "Hey wait! Reign, where are you going?" Thankfully he stopped instead of leaving her wondering.

"I'm goin' for a walk. I figure while you guys try to figure out the best way to attack, I'd try to find any helpful resources. Information, enemies of Cervantes or his mercenaries, people who might be able to serve as distractions, anything that might help. Every little bit helps~" and with that explanation, he turned to leave again.

"Hmm." We do know a lot already, but that seems like a good idea too. I figured we'd be attacking at night, and if we are, we should definitely spend the time between then and now getting any extra advantage we can. That way any of our plans won't be as risky. she mused.

Main Deck

"Alright, then. It will cost you fifty gold to sail with us to Yoshimo. I'll give half of it back to you if we come under attack and you pull your own weight before then. Not my standard way of doing things, but you will get off this island and closer to the mainland." Bogdan replied to Gar.

I knew it, Raquel and her friends that annihilated the Utka vanguards are making the captain go all soft and unorthodox. the sailor that had retrieved the captain worried to himself.

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A Man Called Gar

"Spiffy," Gar announced when his contract was accepted. He probably could have gotten cheaper fare elsewhere, but hey, he was here and that would require more effort. Might be nice to kick back and relax once in a while. He dug around in his money pouch and counted out the gold to the coin before slipping it into another bag and handing it to the Captain. "Consider the bag itself a tip for going out of your standards," Gar grinned.

Edited by Script
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"Well... I think I may as well try mounted then, stay in practice and all..." Aneda sighed, seemingly dejected. She wasn't really, she just kinda did that.

"Huh?" She's talking to you, 'Dave'... "Oh, uh... Thigh highs, was it? They could work, I'd say they work very well for the most part, you just gotta make sure they're on tight enough I think... Never been too fond of them myself but I can see why they'd be effective enough. Defensive with much more flexibility than... well I guess other legging stuffs.." Bull. You just wanna see her in thigh highs, don't you? Davod smiled.

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Gytha shrugged. "Well, I'll let th' rest o' ye decide n' just fight when I need to. I don't realla prefer one method over th' other," she put in indifferently.

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"This is the one time I believe a head on attack would be better than a more a stealthy approach. It would be quite difficult to explain to the cult how exactly you slipped past me and headed into the woods past the manse. If we just wait till night I believe I might be able to get us into the manse from the back, and launch a suprise attack from there." Said Zach, speaking his mind on the matter. "Though just charging through the front door is always an option as well." Adding the last part sarcastically.

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Wardroom

"Well we should definitely wait until nighttime, so ... at least we agree on that?" Raquel wasn't really sure, but it wasn't immediately rejected sooo ... "There's just one thing that's still bugging me. If even one of them gets away, they'll probably sic the authorities on us. If they aren't expecting us, will they all be there at the mansion tonight? If so, then I guess that's not an issue, but I've got this sinking feeling that if they don't know we're coming in advance, they won't all be there. I guess they wouldn't have any proof that it was us if they weren't actually there, but I'm still worried."

Main Deck

After accepting the bag and the money therein, the captain grinned slightly and said "Welcome aboard the Leverager."

Restaurant

"Aloight, then, thoigh hoighs it is. I'll need somethin' similar for the gauntlets so be sure to wroite that down. Oh, and don't worry, I'll be there to make sure they fit."

Meanwhile a short distance away from that particular table.

"Okay, I'll start you off with some water, then. Be sure to let me know when you're ready to order. I'll eave the menu at your table for the moment." Neela replied, and with that, she was off to go fetch a large cup of water.

Things in the kitchen were tense.

"The guy ordered the hottest thing we have; he didn't ask you to come up with the hottest combination you could think of, you ass." the cook explained to the other cook preparing Davod's meal.

"The man is clearly an endurance specialist. I will not have my work mocked for being too mild."

"Your pride is going to get him killed, and Anton's shut down. Seriously ..."

Guild

Tali had her 'assignment', so she got to work, and Mandy went out to the Guild's stables to fetch Summer, who turned out to be none other than a pegasus. Unlike the average pegasus which was either white, grey, or a very pale shade, Summer was auburn in color with a black mane and tale with a white diamond patch on her forehead and white ankles. She seemed somewhat pleased to see her owner approach, since that meant it was either time for some fun or to move on to the next interesting place. "Oh Summerrrr~, ready for some action?"

The pegasus' ears perked up at that. It was definitely time for fun. Summer hopped up a couple of inches off of her front legs, her way of asking to be let out of the stall. "I'm glad you're looking forward to this as much as I am."

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A Man Called Gar

"I'm sure she has the finest rum stores in the world," Gar smirked. "Call me if you need me, and you can call me Gar in the mean time too."

Edited by Script
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Restaurant

for a few seconds the mage looks in the menu and then in his thoughts decides what he'll eat, after that he goes back to reading his book waiting for when Neela returns.

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"All the members are going to be present at the manse tonight" Zach confirmed for Raquel. "Cervantes wouldn't pass up a chance to prove his power to the rest of the cult or to gain even more appreciation from them, so he's ordered every member to be in attendance in order to, as he put it, "Test the new toys." " He spoke with disgust as he looked at the female members of the group.

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"To 'test' the new toys? I did not know that he and so many of his guard were into men." replied Robin. The implications of what Zach had just said were not lost on her one bit, but she did not want to think about it for even one second.

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Gytha's face twisted in disgust. It'd taken her a second to figure out that by "toys" Zach hadn't meant "weapons." Now she was really against going to this place. Her better judgement was screaming for them to just try to get away and to kill whoever came after them. "I don't like this..." she grumbled under her breath, feeling quite uncomfortable with the situation. More clearly, she spoke up, "I'd suggest all th' women stay b'hind but then th' rest o' ye could be overwhelmed. We should ask th' captain if he can spare any o' his fightin' men t' help bolster us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, there wasn't much to do but wait and speculate. The pegasus rider began wondering where exactly he was supposed to be meeting up with the others. "Outside" wasn't exactly a specific meeting spot. I wonder if we'll be tested with or without our equipment. If we're tested without it, it'd show our base abilities without any help from our armor and weapons. But if we test with it, it shows how we've learned to use it.

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More planning, but still nothing definite came. And then Reign left the room as well.

<Well, at least until nightfall it gives up plenty of time to have thought up on something.> John thought. <Though I'm sure we would have to inform the rest of this first.>

Then Zach confirmed one of Raquel's worries regarding the cultists being at the manse. And then threw in an interesting comment. Though...

<Test the new toys?> John thought, a bit confused. <What, after sending Raquel to the organization they plan to do with us whatever they are doing to the girl? As if reasons to go after them were running dry.>

Toys? What did he meant by that? Sophia wondered. It's such a weird way to say it. Could it be that... they have mind mages among them and plan to add us to their ranks!? Just like when they were told about the dragons in eastern Neviskotia, not a pleasant thought.

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"A daylight attack would mean the death of us, so I believe we are agreed on that," Blake said stoically, before mentally breaking down the defector's strategy. Zach suggested going through the backdoor... which was novel, because the swordsman hadn't known of such an exit. That brought them back to the issue of battlefield, and how even with the edge of surprise, they'd still be outnumbered, and have an inferior sense of the layout. The only way to make the numbers work for them would be to rattle their faction, but how could they do that? Just a surprise attack wouldn't be enough...

Zach spoke again, attempting to reassure Raquel that all the cultists would be present at the manse, but the words he used were... disquieting. The 'toys' comment was simultaneously rude and horrifying, which was exactly the last thing any of them wanted to know. Or maybe not, since in turn that gave the group even more motivation to win. But, speaking of toys, how did they know that party was mostly female? How did they know of the party to begin with? It must be that the cult was with the Organization, but if that was the case, their info might be outdated, due to roster changes. Maybe the mercenaries could use that to their advantage. After all, if Zach was telling the truth, he was trusted by the cult, which meant they weren't too paranoid. Which could be exploited.

Before he could say anything, Gytha spoke up with a suggestion to reinforce the party with sailors. That was risky. "I don't think we should trouble the crewmen with what really is our problem right now," Blake said serenely, as he pretended to ignore the toy comment. Time to change the subject. "Do we know how much information the cult has on our forces? And Zach, could you tell us if there are any requirements to join the cult? Or if you could vouch for a few of us in the event the cult doesn't know us so well?" His intent was clear here.

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"The requirements are as simple as being vouched for by a senior member, which I suppose I could count myself as. However I doubt that plan would work, that would imply I've been out recruiting people instead of doing the extremely important task given to me." Replied Zach to the blue haired man. Pausing to think for a moment he continued "The only feasible way I could get anybody in would be to pass you off as a member of The Organization, but we don't have any of the crests that they use so that's a bust as well."

Out of nowhere an idea popped into Zach's head and he quickly turned to Raquel "You have connections with Seth Weyland don't you? If you can prove that you know him the the authorities wouldn't touch you, might still have to pay them off a bit though."

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Wardroom

"I don't want the guys fighting by themselves and if the captain and his crew get linked to what's going on, they'll probably keep his ship here for some days while they investigate, and we'll be stuck. Plus we're already outnumbered, and there's nothing they can do to us that's worse than killing us, and that's what they'd do to the men, so we should all just fight, regardless of gender." Raquel chimed in at Gytha's suggestion. "If there was just a way to make sure we don't end up in jail for this .... I mean we can't rescue that girl unless we attack them, but there's no way anyone's going to care that we were striking preemptively no matter what we say ..." I'm not sure where Reign's going to look, but hopefully he can come up with something that helps. How would he get Cervante's enemies on our side without incriminating us, though? Urgh, I don't want to think about this right now.

Zachery's suggestion seemed to be on the jail avoidance track which was her primary concern at the moment, but she wasn't sure how effective Weyland's name would be in this part of the world. She figured it would probably depend on some factors she couldn't gauge from where she was sitting, like the spread of Weyland Enterprises' business, or the concentration of Ursian born colonists in the region and various other things. "Well, Weyland's company logo is on the Dauntless, but I'm not bringing that thing to the mansion just in case the police show up. There's Connor, but ... there's absolutely no way we can have him anywhere near the fighting under any circumstances." Once she mentioned Connor, she began raising her voice and became much more alert and desperate in her speech. She sounded dead set against putting the young nephew in danger. Without the Dauntless, there did seem to be a much heightened danger posed to him, though.

Main Deck

"Bogdan." the captain replied with his own name as well. "One more thing. We're hauling prisoners from a battle at sea. Should go without saying not to talk to any of them, especially the druid. We are also carrying several very young dragons in the hold. If you hear any odd noises, it is probably them. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Barring that, I'll send for you if I need you."

Restaurant

Neela soon returned with the water for the young customer and set it in front of him. "Here you are."

Guild

Tali had finally finished gathering what she needed and left the guild building on foot. She spotted the annoying pegasus rider not far from where she was. She wasn't going a foot closer until Mandy showed up. Mandy came riding out of the stables at high speed and seemed to be enjoying herself. Her pegasus was galloping like mad and she rode around the side of the building out to the front to meet Tali and Bert.

"Hi there, you two!~" she greeted.

"It's really odd that you're using a pegasus for this, I'm just saying."

"Autumn doesn't like anything that even resembles danger, so I couldn't use her for this." Mandy explained.

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The Man Called Gar

"Passengers, and prisoners, and druids and dragons. Well, certainly I've gotten my money's worth if unorthodox was my goal on this trip," Gar smirked. "Questions, eh, well..." My mission is a joke, probably not a good idea to ask about those prisoners. Dragons? Well, not like I'd go all ballistic on them even if I wasn't Neviskosian. Gar shrugged at his thoughts. "Eh, might as well ask, any of those other passengers on board? Strike me as a right bunch of interesting types if they're continuing on with all that out in the open."

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When Mandy arrived at first he thought she was riding a horse. However, that thought only lasted a moment before he realized it was a pegasus. So, she's a pegasus rider, too. A brief exchange between her and the Fallen he was ignoring revealed that she could ride pegasi and another form of mount, most likely a horse. "I've never seen that sort of pegasus before," he commented, "Where's she from?" Curiosity had been piqued. Rizen, meanwhile, was wondering who this new pegasus was and looked at her curiously, but didn't attempt any form of actual interaction. Maybe she would've if Norbert wasn't on her back. She tended to be more alert and less carefree when he was.

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Well, nevermind trying to figure out what Zach meant, there was another topic on the conversation.

''We don't have to bring Connor with us. Or he can just wait outside and leave someone with him just in case.'' John said. ''On the other hand, if we do end up employing a distraction even if we end up dealing with the authorities it wouldn't be right after routing the cultists if it goes well, and as such he avoids being in danger either way.''

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Veronika

"Is Weyland even relevant down here? We're a long way from Ursium...you'd think that if his name meant much here we'd have an easier time getting a ship back," she commented.

Connor

"I'd go for a little more armor coverage personally- but it's your design not mine. And a lot of armor does impede mobility some I guess," Connor commented to Gabbie.

Nadya

Nadya got herself back onto Luca, who had been waiting patiently for her return. Well she wasn't quite sure about the patiently part, but he was where she left him. She decided to await further instruction- maybe she'd be tested with the others, maybe alone.

Clara and Cloe

Clara breathed a small sigh of relief as Sardis decided to call off the attack. I have to wonder, does Sardis just command members of this organization to fight at random? What if he sent Cassandra after me, or Cloe, or Cecily? I don't have a good feeling about this...

So that's over...he's going to work with Cassandra regarding the emblem? Wonder if those meetings will be private or not- in any case we should try to get a report to Layla about this as soon as we can, let it be her problem. Where did Cecily and 'Darksider' get off to anyway? Cloe thought to herself, looking around the area.

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"I thought Connor would be stayin' on th' ship," Gytha mentioned before adding, "N' realla, ye should stay b'hind, too, Raquel. Captain Bogdan n' his men'll take care o' ye while th' rest o' us go fightin' th' threat."

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Going outside and following the group, Aneda quickly freed Hannah from her post, making sure to give all of her affection yet again. D'aaaw. Now it was a waiting game. Again. Oh cool, a different colored pegasus, that's pretty neat.

Nanahm seemed to have wandered off, the discussion not really going anywhere for his tastes. He had nothing to contribute anyway, and he had a figurine to try and deliver. "Well, I'll be back unless yall need me here..." He said as he meandered approximately away from them all. Deep down he was still wondering if anyone knew where Pavel was. Even if the odds looked slim, he'd narrow it down eventually, for better or worse.

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Meeting

"Okay, good. Hopefully we can just get in and back out without ever being noticed, though." she replied, sounding somewhat relieved. As for her staying. "I guess I could stay behind, but I don't want to stay behind just because they're trying to capture me. I mean everyone is in general. They'll be trying to kill the rest of you so I'd rather help anyway I can, even if it's just staff work and empowering."

Main Deck

"Oh, they're around." the sailor answered. "Not sure you're getting into that little meeting of theirs though." The captain grunted at that. "It's ... complicated." Blabbermouth.

Restaurant

"I'm mainly concerned with my arms and legs. Those are where I take the most and the chainmail can stop anything I'd make the mistake of letting through."

Meanwhile at Dion's table ... "Alright then, It shouldn't take too long, Sir. About fifteen minutes. If you'd like anything else in the meantime, please let me know." And with that, Neela was off and heading back to the kitchen. When she arrived she found the chefs arguing still and sighed. Of course she was soon surprised to hear why they were arguing.

"Why?! Why did you do that?!" Davod's cook asked the other one who was standing there with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.

"Well I'm frankly sick of you and your hot food fetish, so I swapped the bottles."

"You RUINED it!"

"Yep. Now you have to make it again and if you even think about throwing in a lethal dose of hot sauce, I'll beat you to death with the largest pan I can find."

Well I guess that's a resolution of sorts. Neela mused with her head cocked slightly.

Guild

With Nadya back, Luca thought it was time to leave, but instead they waited for a short while. That turned out to be just fine by him. He was investigating the other horse he saw Mandy ride out on and wondering what those bulges on her sides were. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she wasn't a normal horse. She was one of the winged ones. All Luca knew about them was that they were stupid for hanging out in the air all the time where predators could easily spot them ... and what if their master's fell off? There must be a lot of dead winged riders out there. Stupid, stupid winged ones. Luca snorted in disapproval and disappointment at Summer.

Oddly enough she whinnied happily upon seeing the new long faces. Even Luca. Meanwhile, Mandy began to explain the situation with everyone present. "Okay now I'll explain how this works--or rather how it's going to work today~"

"Oh boy." Tali muttered. Mandy was getting unorthodox again.

"We'll do several different tests to assess your individuals strengths in those areas. Everyone mount up and follow me. I want to take this somewhere more open. You there, Miss, you can ride with me or with one of your friends." she explained before asking Faatina to mount with someone for the journey. Obviously Tali could keep up by flying and- ... suddenly Tali put the notebooks and writing utensils in Summer's saddlebags and then hopped up behind Mandy. "Err ... okay, I guess I'm taken. Hmm, you know, it just occurred to me. If you want to test mounted, you still can. We've got several horses in the stables that are used by multiple people. It would save you a trip and you'd be able to get your true mounted statistics~ Whaddya say? Interested?"

Edited by Phoenix
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