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Return of the Emblem Chapter Fifteen: Terra Incognita


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Dining Hall

Lysandra nodded in agreement with Jethro. "I wonder how we're supposed to get in contact with this Jaeger person anyway. I'm sure Weyland has some way of contacting her, but sending her a note might be a bit suspicious."

"That might be a way to try and narrow down the location, but I doubt we can do that before our meeting. Do we have any way to strengthen our case beforehand? I can speak to how we fought the Fallen back in Ursium, but that doesn't prove it's a Neviskotian problem," Veronika said, frowning.

"I guess it doesn't really matter anyway though," Robin crashed back down to earth with a sigh. "It's not like someone like her would want to talk to a nobody like me. I'm just some hunter from the middle of nowhere," she lamented to Zach.

Stables

''Well there's not much of interest here in the smithy- I already checked. It's good craftmanship I guess, but everything made there feels hundreds of years old. Checking out the city sounds like it could be interesting. Uncle Seth would probably want me to get some culture instead of being locked up in a workshop all day," Connor said to Gabbie jokingly. 

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Dining Hall

Contacting Jaegerin Lee, or simply Jaeger, was an objective more closely related to their fight against Cygnus, but if both groups might get involved with this fallen incursion and preventing it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get in touch with her a little earlier. Fortunately, Raquel and Jethro both knew exactly what she looked like. Weyland and Anna had also brought up some important details about Jaeger's mission. "It was Susanna Bosconovitch, right?" Jethro asked the room, hoping he had the right person, "she's the one Jaeger's spending her time with. We find her, we find Jaeger."

Jethro shrugged. "Then it's a matter of deciding what to ask and how."

"Be careful around Susanna," Tatiana warned, her somber expression hinting at the danger, "For all intents and purposes, she's a violent criminal masquerading as a mercenary. Since she doesn't oppose the government, and is the wife of Peter Bosconovitch, very few people are interested in dealing with her or her people. I suppose the fact that she does far more good for the Empire also helps. Still, be careful. She and her followers have murdered a lot of people, and the circumstances have been dubious at best."

Jethro shrugged again at that. He was always in the company of at least one psychotic individual.

"Right," Tatiana pivoted to Veronika's question, "For the moment, the fact that the other representatives can't just barge in with a 'more important' issue as a topic is something of a godsend, but we need a priority vote in the end, otherwise ... we're on our own." She crossed her arms as she thought back on what they'd already tried. "I'm not sure what we could do--especially with the time we still have--to make a compelling case. Just telling them the truth isn't going to be enough. If we had more time, getting a live demon to drag out in front of them would certainly help. Fear is a great motivator; I don't care how underhanded it is, not with our home at stake."

"Hey, that's not true," Zach frowned at Robin. As far as he could tell, the hunter was looking at things the wrong way. She wasn't just some nobody, at the very least, she wasn't a nobody at this point. "We're here trying to save the world. That's way more important than what she's doing ... in the big picture. I'm sure Alyssa would see that and recognize what we're trying to do."

"Maybe after the invasion starts," Reign quietly chimed in with a wry grin.

Stables

"Alright then," Gabbie smirked, "You decide when you want to head out, and lemme know. I doubt we can help them out with that meeting, so don't worry about us being gone during ... heh, during whatever that mess is going to turn into."

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"Herm... sounds like we are going to have some big problems to deal with later." As she finished her bread. she got up from the table and went to exit. "I'll be Training incase things get out of hand. one can never be to sure."

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Dining Hall

"This Susanna Bosconovitch may not openly oppose the Neviskotian empire, but if she's a member of Hydra then she is planning to overthrow it in some capacity. That is one of Cygnus's major goals after all," Lysandra mentioned pointedly. "Still, I think we should find a way to get into contact with her if we can."

"Demon corpses would be easy enough for us to obtain, but live ones...there could be some stragglers from the attacks on Ursium I suppose. Our warpers could go back there to find out, but it would be dangerous and might not be useful anyway," Veronika said with a frown.

"I don't think of myself as a hero saving the world though- I just got caught up in this because I owe Raquel my life and swore to protect her. I don't even understand what's going on half the time," Robin argued.

Stables

"I'm not sure how I can help either- being so far away from Ursium makes me realize just how much I've depended on Uncle Seth's name to do anything. Maybe that's why he let me come all the way out here, so I could learn to be more independent or something," Connor said thoughtfully, putting his hand on his chin. "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do around here so whenever you're ready Gabbie."

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With her mind racing like mad, she almost missed Erion's tug, and would have likely kept going were it not for the tugging trying to move caused her. "Wh-What? Ah... R, Right. Yes. I, I will... Hah. I'm sorry for, making you worry more. I'm alright, I promise." She smiled at him, trying to ignore his wink and calm herself down. Her hand was still shaking some, but that was because she was thinking too much. Everything was racing faster than she'd planned, but it didn't feel bad, which was the most worrisome part. So you want something like this? Or do you want to take it slower? Do you not even know, Amalia? She sighed a bit, finally managed her breath, and her hand stopped fidgeting.

"I'm alright, now. Thank you."

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"Well then. We should go get some breakfast, no?" Giving her hand a squeeze so gentle that it was hardly there, he opened up the door and waited for her to go through.

Entering slightly behind her, but still holding on, he noted Raquel and the others, giving them a small nod before smiling at Amalia. "See, this isn't so bad." It almost seemed like he was reassuring himself as well as her with his words. "Now the real question is, what all is there to eat?"

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Dining Hall

"Well, I hear she's no fan of the Emperor," Tatiana offered in mild amusement, "but she's not in the best position to be endangering throne. As for getting live demons, one thing we might try is just getting the meeting adjourned, the grounds being an official investigation into our claims. At least that way, we wouldn't be the only ones looking for that gate. We wouldn't have a vote today, but it would at least still be on the table."

"That would give us time to find a live demon," Jethro agreed, "whether from the fallen in this country, or somewhere else. Like you said, it doesn't really matter as long as they're scared straight."

Zachary couldn't argue with part of that--Robin usually was out of the loop, and she had no one to blame but herself, really. Zach could argue with the rest, though. "It doesn't matter if you just got caught up in it or volunteered knowingly. Just take Raquel herself for example; she's only involved in this because she and Jethro were attacked, first. It's less about how you start out and more about how you move forward." It was a good thing, too, otherwise the world might not have much in the way of heroes.

"Are you guys talking about us?" Raquel called over after hearing her name a couple of times, not to mention her father's.

Stables

Now was a perfectly good time, as far as Gabbie could tell. "Time to grab Tacito, then," she said, heading over to the lounging wyvern. He looked bored but comfortable, and Gabbie hoped he was up for flying. He'd take them regardless, but an irritable wyvern was less fun to fly. "Hey there," she greeted him as she came over. She knelt down to see if he would respond, and Tacito lifted his head to see what she wanted. "Ready to go take a look around?" Slowly but surely, Tacito lifted himself off the floor and began moving toward the exit, expecting to be mounted, soon.

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Dining Hall

"Maybe delaying the meeting is our best move. It this comes before the Conclave without enough evidence, they'll dismiss it and it won't come up again until it's too late," Veronika judged.

"Do we think we have enough time to delay? I was not around for this initial 'siege gate' discussion I'm afraid," Lysandra butted in.

"No- well yes but not in a gossipy way or anything," Robin stuttered out to Raquel. "We're just talking about how I'm in over my head here..."

Stables

"Being able to wyvern ride freely is a nice perk of being here," Connor noted. He looked at Tacito closely- this wasn't the first time he had ridden with Gabbie but it was still pretty cool.

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Main Mission

"There's no way to tell," Jethro shook his head at Lysandra's question. They might already be too late, and the fallen armies could be on their way as they spoke. They might have a few more weeks. Without any information from the fallen themselves, it was all guesswork. "If we need a demon though," Jethro continued, "maybe we can toss something together. I was thinking we could get back to Weyland and see if any of the demons that were killed at his place were still around. Maybe we could have Erion take a look at one and then do his illusion thing for them. It might be dangerous, though. We don't want to get caught tricking the Conclave, I don't think."

"Illusion magic?" Tatiana had heard the rest, but ... well ... illusion magic! This was new and equally interesting.

Zachary chuckled at Robin. "Yeah, that's true, but look on the bright side. At least you're helping. Maybe you're not strategizing or anything like that, but when it really matters, you're helping."

Free Roam

Gabbie gave Tacito a moment to fully wake up, and then led him and Connor out of the stables. The skies over Kievan Rus weren't so much crowded, as a stark contrast to any city in Ursium. With wyverns able to fly freely, there tended to be a good number of them around at any given time, though spread thin over the region. Everyone was going someplace, but some of the wyverns were likely being ridden by guardsmen, patrolling from the air. Someday, there might be so much air traffic that a strict set of rules and designated flight routes would get put in place. That would be the day ...

"Okay let's have a look around," Gabbie said as she mounted her own wyvern.

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Even after the business with the Cathedral concluded, Lane found himself relatively busy for the rest of the week. There were so many things to see, and so many people to talk to, that he felt like there just wasn't enough time in the day. On this particular morning, the servant of Nyx was deciding whether or not he'd take a walk through the city after breakfast, when Veronika's older sister arrived with the news about the Conclave's special meeting. He mentally shelved that plan while he listened to the back and forth, until Jethro suggested using Erion's ability to mimic a demon. It was a decent idea, but its flaws outweighed the benefits.

"The problem with that is that the illusion's useless if someone with 'affinity' is there outside of our group's members," Lane said, breaking his silence. "And, even if there isn't, we wouldn't be able to release him into their custody if they needed to test the 'demon'. I'm in favor of delaying the meeting. In the meantime, is there any way outside we could work garner more support beyond your father's forces, like mercenary work, for example?"

As he was saying this, the man's mind was already working on another problem the senior Valcyn had indirectly mentioned. Was it really impossible to tell if they were too late? To determine that, to some extent, the group needed to know where the siege gate was, which seemed like the impossibility at this point in time. But, was it?

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Dining Hall

"Raquel and I have had a knack for running into random mercenaries so far," Veronika said with a smirk despite the seriousness of the situation. "It would probably be more efficient to find a guild of some sort though. We're going to need as many swords as we can muster."

Lysandra raised an eyebrow at Erion in curiosity. Most 'illusionists' I've encountered before had more clever parlor tricks than actual magic. Jethro doesn't seem the type to be so easily fooled though...

"Well...yeah, I am helping in my own way I guess," Robin conceded. "Thanks Zach." Maybe being the country girl with the weird arrows is all Raquel needs right now. I might be less help to her trying to be something I'm not...

Stables

Connor got on Tacito behind Gabbie and put his arms around her waist. "Feel free to stop if you see something cool," he noted. I wonder if humans will ever create something like a wyvern, but mechanical. What a world that would be...

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"Y-Yeah... Not so bad," is what he'd said and what she'd returned, but the presence of everyone else there was far too noticeable for her to stay entirely calm. It was one thing when they were alone in the hallways, or her room, but here was... It was difficult. "I'm, not too sure. What do these houses typically store? I'm very used to eating on the go, so..." Amalia started to wonder what would be served, considering they likely had a proper kitchen, until one of the other groups glanced over at Erion. That is to say, one person did. "Er, I think they're looking at you..."

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"Hmm, well fancy places like this tend to have a good selection. We could probably go check in the kitchen if there's nothing out..." Erion trailed off having first heard his name and then had the fact that someone was staring at him pointed out by Amalia. He wasn't sure exactly what the illusion they wanted was, having missed most of Jethro's comments but having caught Lane's and nodded in agreement with the man in black. "Don't know exactly what you all are discussing, but anything that might require someone to touch wouldn't work for my illusions. They don't stand up too well to touch. Sight, sound, all that would be fine, but touch could ruin it. At least, that's what it seemed like in the bits that I've been practicing." He headed over to those talking, still lightly clasping Amalia's hand, wondering if perhaps one of them would know about food.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Uri made his way into the dining hall finally, but was brought to a bit of a halt at the sight of Amalia and Erion hand in hand. He shook his head in disapproval before heading into the kitchen. She really is serious about this then. I should talk to her... Though she likely wouldn't appreciate it... Grabbing a small hunk of bread and some fruit, as well as some dried meat for Seraphine, he headed back out into the dining hall where he sat down near the rest of the group, listening in on the discussion.

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Dining Hall

"Well?" Jethro looked to Tatiana, "would the Conclave want to poke and prod a live demon? Assuming they bought it, what would they want us to do with it, next?"

"I doubt anyone there would want to handle a live man eating demon," Tatiana winced, "at least not personally. If you wanted to try a ruse like that, I'd recommend getting a hold of that corpse you mentioned and keeping it hidden with your illusion magic in case something happens. Assuming everything goes well, you could point to the corpse if anyone asks and tell them 'it died.' It may just be my bias talking, though; I'm quite curious about this illusion magic."

It was definitely of far greater interest to Tatiana than mercenary recruitment, especially since Susanna's group was the largest in the area she could think of off the top of her head. "Let's ... worry about the sellswords after the meeting, postponement or vote."

"Don't mention it," Zach smiled, "sometimes you just need a different perspective or a reminder."

Capital Sky

With nothing holding them back, Gabbie had Tacito take off from Rusayev Manor. The climb was shallow at first, but became steep as they gained speed and distance from the property. "Nice, this city's bigger than I expected. It's no Ursentius," she could see the outskirts from this height, after all, "but for a place that's only been around about a thousand years, it's impressive."

"Oh! There's the Emperor's place," Gabbie used her whole arm to indicate a large complex deeper in the capital. The outer defensive walls were taller than any of the surrounding buildings, and the main attraction within was an enormous citadel, shaped like four tapering cubes connected to a fifith, central, and significantly taller one at the center. At this distance, any man sized windows were invisible, but there were some vague details at the corner of each section, and the tops of the massive structure seemed to have a variety of buildings strewn about, with a small defensive wall providing some protection for them as well. Although there weren't an especially large number of fliers in the air, the majority of them were near that imperial complex.

Tacito seemed to be looking all over the place, though not for anything on or near the ground. He was eyeing each other flier in the area, trying to figure them out.

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Dining Hall

"This is a big risk. If the Conclave finds out what we're doing, that makes our entire claim seem like a lie. These are desperate times, but I am worried that this could backfire terribly," Veronika voiced her concerns aloud. I don't exactly have any better ideas though- hunting down a live demon probably isn't plausible in such a short window of time. 

"Hmm, I never took you for a mage dear," Lysandra commented to Erion. "Your group is full of interesting surprises it seems."

Capital Sky

""It is pretty cool," Connor agreed. "Do you think those guards might get nervous about us flying around? They could think we're some kind of assassins or something," he said, although thinking about it more an assassin probably wouldn't be riding around on a large flying lizard if they wanted to be stealthy.

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"Me, a mage? No, it's not exactly like that..." Erion glanced at Tatiana, not sure how much exactly he should be saying here. "I think that using me as a fake demon would be risky, like Nika and Lane said. If someone with the ability to see through what I'm doing is around, that could ruin everything. We want to convince these people to work with us, not have them unable to trust anything we say." He knew there had to be emblem users somewhere in the country. Whether they were in the Conclave or not was an unknown but it was a big risk for maybe little reward.

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Poaching Plan

"Isn't it just emblem wielders that can see through that?" Jethro asked, just wanting to make sure they were on the same page. As far as he could tell, emblem wielders were rare enough that the odds of running into one in the Conclave were extremely low. There was also the issue of what one would actually do if they saw the ruse unfolding right in front of them. Would they really be so inclined to cry wolf and point out an illusion no one else could see and few would dare test? If they didn't have some serious credibility they would look like a fool; in the strictest of terms, illusion magic didn't exist. Assuming there was an emblem wielder at the Conclave, one with a reason to out them, that person was very likely to be with Cygnus ... but if they were, then that would mean they were still fighting two enemies at the same time, and no temporary truce was possible. It would be more than a little discouraging to learn that at the Conclave of all places.

"Either way," Jethro shrugged, "I don't see us getting a live demon sitting around here in the capital."

"Not to make things even worse," Reign chimed in, "but you might want to think about what kind of demon we're going to capture. I don't think a hellhound or something like that will sell everyone, but you can't capture something huge and expect it to stay locked up, either."

The nomad had a point, Tatiana had to admit. She hadn't been too choosy, considering the psychological impact of seeing something entirely unnatural in its creation, but a dangerous animal wasn't going to scare the body of Conclave members into voting their way. They needed a 'demon,' something that would tear even a veteran imperial soldier to pieces if set loose. The order was perhaps taller than expected ... "Our priority will have to be buying time for you to get our sample ... I don't see any other way. At least our strategy is more or less in place. I'll have to leave the actual acquisition and handling to you, though," she glanced worryingly at her sister.

Dragon Express

"Not if we don't get too close to anything important," Gabbie assured Connor. She wasn't entirely sure of that, but the guards weren't the only ones flying around. In fact, some of those armed didn't look like soldiers at all. A few of them looked like mercenaries. They were flying lower than the wyvern riders that were in uniform, likely not to overstep whatever unwritten bounds were in place here. Gabbie made a mental note to do the same. For all intents and purposes, she was a mercenary, too.

Once Gabbie had corrected her altitude a little, making sure she was visibly lower than the airborne patrols, she noticed an astonishing sight near what was probably a proto-industrial area. Two dragons rose up from a large complex, both sharing an enormous load, a rectangular container framed in steel and filled with who knows what. It was difficult to make out at their current distance, but the dragons seemed to have straps, or perhaps full harnesses specially designed for carrying the cargo. Gabbie was just curious enough to go pester them if Connor was up for it.

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Dining Hall

"It's not as if emblem wielders are so common that they're showing up left and right. Well not since I last checked anyway; it has been quite a while," Lysandra admitted. So these illusions probably have something to do with the emblem- so long studying magic and yet I know so little...

"If we're not willing to risk the illusion then we'll need to form a hunting party. Going back to Ursium would take too much time I think- we can use the opportunity to scout around the siege gate area as well. I've fought a few demons but I'm no expert on their varieties or what we might find that would be suitable. We might just have to improvise- as usual," Veronika suggested.

"Hunting?" Robin's ears perked up. "Hunting I can do," she volunteered confidently.

Capital Sky

"It's so weird to see dragons flying around like it's completely normal. I know they're really dangerous but there is something majestic about them....they're a lot smarter than wyverns and can talk right?" Connor asked Gabbie. He wasn't sure how much of a dragon expert she was, but this wasn't an area he was well versed in. 

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Hunting Party

"Do you know what area the siege gate might be in?" Tatiana asked, still looking a little worried. The plan was coming together, but half of it through lack of options, and the other half through a bit of desperation, mixed with perhaps a bit too much gusto. Tatiana's biggest concern was whether the siege gate was anywhere near the capital to begin with. She supposed there might be limits to how far into the country the fallen could infiltrate, but as far as hiding places for a spatial gateway, the fallen had a seemingly limitless number of places to choose from. Unlike Ursium, forests weren't just in the north and near the mountains, they were positively everywhere.

"Steinn gave us some spots to look into he thought looked 'strategically viable,'" Jethro nodded. Tatiana doubted most of them were close by ...

Reign wasn't sure what a hunting party was going to look like. His imagination showed him the usual traveling circus he was a part of, complete with its iron clad wagon, and mild lack of battle readiness. He hoped that wasn't how they were going to handle this, but there was no pressing reason to leave anyone behind, and likewise, there was no pressing reason to bring anyone in particular along, save for maybe the locals. Even the Paladin, a vehicle that might prove a liability off road, still packed a special ballista on the fore section of its roof, and what better way to bring down something big and dangerous?

Hello There

"Damn right they can talk," Gabbie laughed. They were obviously smarter than wyverns if they could talk, but Gabbie wasn't going make assumptions about dragons in general. Intelligence was a very broad spectrum. "C'mon let's see what they're up to." Hopefully the guards wouldn't get the wrong idea ... ... nah.

Rather than flying directly toward the two dragons and their cargo, Gabbie flew along a path that would smoothly intersect their own. She had to make some adjustments, since this pair wasn't flying in a straight line. Fortunately, they seemed to stick to their general direction, southwest, the same direction the river was heading in. When they were finally within earshot, long after the rearmost dragon began to keep an eye on them, Gabbie called out to them. She waved, too. Best to look like a tourist since she was one. "Hey there! Are you delivery dragons?"

The dragon up front looked both annoyed and amused. The dragon in the back was just the latter. <"Yes, of course,"> the dragon in back answered, quickly realizing he should probably answer in the same language as the question. "Erm, yes, we are. Carrying heavy things is not just for fun. We need money, and harsh military life is not for us." The dragon's accent was quite thick; there was no doubt in Gabbie's mind that his first language was Neviskotian, and that he'd picked up Common only recently. Perhaps within the last few years. "You are visiting from other lands?"

"Pretty much," Gabbie nodded, exaggeratedly so he would catch the gesture more easily. They weren't the largest flying dragons, but they'd still scare off bull wyverns.

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Great Hall

"The siege gate wouldn't be that close to the capital or Imperial forces would have found it already. That means this may take a fair bit of time to travel to these spots to find the correct one, capture a demon, and come back here. I assume you can stall the Conclave's decision on this with some filibuster or something in the meantime," Veronika said to Tatiana.

"I have to wonder if trying to find one of these siege gates and returning a specimen before it's too late isn't more risky than an illusion," Lysandra pondered aloud. Perhaps I am just biased towards magical solutions, but this seems like a bit of a shot in the dark...

Capital Sky

This is so weird...like talking to Tacito and having him talk back. "Uh, so...how did you get into the shipping business? Do you work for the government?" Connor asked the dragons, thinking that mentioning he was from Ursium could potentially be dangerous. 

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Getting dragged over to a bunch of people in this situation was more difficult than things already were, but she tried to save face and smile, not fidgeting as much as she could. When Erion was brought up as a solution for their plans, she was confused by what they meant of illusion magic. "You can do that?" It was rather impressive if he could... When the emblem was mentioned, it made more sense, but that was quite the odd ability for an emblem user. I wonder what caused that...

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Xenia

"If I may offer another option on this persuadin' plan," Xenia interjected.  "Don't bring the demon to them, bring them to the demons.  Gotta be someone in their camps so trusted if they say 'demons are coming' it'll convince their master demons are coming."

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Time Marches Onward

"Well," Tatiana began after Veronika, "the burden of proof is on us. They'll want to move onto something 'more pressing,' like the war with Ursium. We can bring this up as many times as we'd like, but getting a meeting like the one the Grand Marshall called is difficult. Once I wear out my credibility, things will start to get nasty." Tatiana could see a few people in particular trying to get a vote called on the Rusayev, herself, one to suspend her from her duties temporarily, or worse ...

Lysandra brought up a good point, at least as far as their dwindling time. The siege gate might not be anywhere near the capital, and depending on how long it took them to locate it, they might have more demon samples than they really wanted ... "It's going to take some time, and I'm not sure exactly how your mage warped you all here so quickly, so if you're going to try and bring back a live demon, you may want to use that magic to save whatever time we have."

The healer woman seemed to have a suggestion as well, and it was certainly welcome given their current options and the downsides of each. "Bring someone to the demons?" Tatiana hadn't considered that, mainly because getting a Conclave member into the wilds was like pulling teeth with grease on your hands and instruments both. Xenia had mentioned someone who was trusted, though. There were plenty of people like that not in the Conclave. Tatiana's first choice would have been a good one if not for the recent incident in Ursium ... "If only Boscov were here. He would have volunteered before any of us could blink ... and likely would have tracked down this siege gate for us with some leads ..."

"Anyone else?" Jethro scowled. No point thinking about options they didn't have.

"I'm thinking ... I assume you can bring them back to Kievan Rus right away on confirmation?"

Tudor's Wings

"Wanted to work," the dragon in back began, grimacing, "wanted to eat. Military wants every dragon to fight for them, but I am not good fighter." That bit of personal history glossed over, the dragon began to smile, again. "Costin and I work for delivery company, based right here in Kievan Rus. If you need big things sent anywhere in capital region, Tudor's Wings is always happy to help!"

Gabbie guessed Costin was the quiet dragon up front. "I'll remember the name," Gabbie promised. "By the way, I'm Gabbie, and this is Connor."

"My name is Vali. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

Edited by Phoenix
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Whereabouts of White

Spoiler

 

“I see… Thank you, milord. Have a good day, and good luck with the guard,” Evelyn said as she stepped out the front door of Lord Lear’s estate. Once she was off the premises, the woman let out a sigh. No luck there, either.  While it was to be expected in some sense, what with how long ago the assassination attempt was, it was disappointing to be unable to find even a glimpse of a clue with regards to her past, especially after three days’ effort.

In the meantime, Ursium seemed to be burning to the ground all around her. The unrest in Ursentius had apparently reached a critical level, and took all of Evelyn’s restraint not to return up there, even though protecting the royal family was no longer her responsibility. At the same time, Ursaea itself was experiencing some problems with bandits, as the lord had just informed her. And that was without the looming threat of the Fallen to worry about.  It was almost as if the end of the world, or at least, Ursium, was coming.

If Eve was honest with herself, she wanted to go back to Ursentius, back to the Guard. She missed the early morning sparring sessions, the chatter and the teasing, the endless meetings and the quiet times that now seemed fleeting. Above all, she wanted to be around the Princess and the other guards again, where she could forget about her forgetting for some time. Yes, it was a great amount of stress, but back then she could care less, as at least she had a purpose there.

But that just wasn’t possible anymore, she realized. Once she had aided Mercy’s Cleric and her rescuers, that time passed, and it seemed as though there was no going back. Even if the woman had remained, she couldn’t help but notice her problems hanging overhead, much like a sword hung by a string. They could’ve come crashing down at any moment, to a disastrous end. So, the former knight had to leave before that happened, and here she was. Alone, and with very little idea as to what to do with herself.

At least the sun is still warm, and the breeze is still gentle, Evelyn thought, as she leaned on her staff and looked at the sky. That’s all I really need, now.  Alright, so Ursaea’s out. Maybe I should head to Urden, next…

“Never thought I’d see you here again, Miss,” came a voice from somewhere ahead of her. The amnesiac woman looked down to see an elderly man, probably in his sixties, with short white hair and a long white beard.

“I’m sorry, but have we met? “ Evelyn asked, a little startled.

“Yes, a long time ago. I guess an old fart like me would be easy to forget,” the old man said.

“I’m sorry sir. A while back I lost my memory a while back. How long ago was this?”

“Is that so… Well, I guess something was up since you’re still young enough to not forget things. About fifteen years. You were leaning on that staff, looking up at the clouds, just like today. “

At those words, the woman snapped out of her distracted state. “I actually lost my memory around that time. Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, did I mention where I had come from? I want to see if I can find anything about my past.”

“Yes, you said you had just arrived from Urcenter.”

“Thank you,” Evelyn said, bowing. “Again, I’m sorry for not remembering you, especially since you’ve helped me. Is there anything I can do?”

“Don’t worry about it,” the old man said, as he turned and began to walk away. “Just come see me after your search is over. I want to hear your story.”

“Alright, I will do that.”                          

“And Miss? It seemed as though you were caught up in some bad business back then, so maybe that was why you lost your memory. Anyways, some things are better left forgotten. I’d think about that before continuing on, if I were you.”

Before the amnesiac could get a word in edge-wise, he was gone, leaving the former standing there. Eventually, Evelyn regained her wits, and decided to head back towards the inn she was lodging at. Urcenter would be her next destination, and since it would be a lengthy trip, she would have plenty of time to ponder the old man’s words on the way there.

It took Evelyn another five days to make the trek to Urcenter, which seemed to be doing as well as any border city could be, given it had just been conquered weeks earlier. The cracked and crumbling walls surrounding the city were in the process of being rebuilt, and posted at the entrance between them were a pair of Neviskotian guards, eyeing any newcomers sleepily. Even though they didn’t seem to be attentive, and even though she had quit the Guard, the woman instinctively pulled the hood further over her long brown hair. Just in case. With that precaution taken settled, she headed towards the checkpoint, all the while keeping her head down.  Eventually, Evelyn made it to the actual crossing, stepped through in between the guards….

Then made it through without incident. Perfect. The woman continued down the street until she was well out of sight of the entrance, then let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Right, now that she was inside, time to familiarize- or reacquaint, if what the old man said held water- herself with the surroundings.

About five or six years ago, Evelyn had had the opportunity to visit Urcenter, and, alongside Princess Athena had to wonder why it seemed as though the whole city was under construction. Now, she knew that it was because it was constantly under construction, if this devastation was any indication of how the border wars treated it. Every building, as far as she could see, had at least a huge chunk torn out of it, some from the top of the building, as if bitten by a dragon, others from the side of the building, leaving their tenants with little to no protection from the outside world. The unluckier structures were better described as rubble, having collapsed during the fighting and onto the roads, judging by the cratered condition of them. Most of this debris had been moved out of the way, but it still choked the alleyways between blocks, hemming in the main road as though it was an impromptu fence. The outside wall’s deteriorated state could hardly compare to that of the city proper. 

If the state of the buildings in Urcenter had shocked Evelyn, the state of its people disturbed her. Aside from the occasional soldier patrolling the streets, the citizens of the town as a whole were generally divided into two groups: the very young, and the very old. The former she only caught glimpses of, scavenging the rubble for any sort of valuable, then darting off into whichever alleyways that weren’t blocked off. The elders, on the other hand, were everywhere. At the sides of the street, on the corners, even on upper levels of ruined residences. None of them spoke, but instead they were watching her. Judging her. Evelyn couldn’t help but feel the pressure of their eyes boring into her back, even long after she had disappeared from their line of sight.

            The traveler spent some time walking the streets of the ruined city, hoping for some sort of familiar sight so as to jog her buried memory, but to no avail. In the end, the sun was beginning to set when she decided to go find an inn, or some other place to rest for the night. Just as Evelyn turned away from the rubble, a glint from one of the many nearby piles of rubble caught her eye. Curious, she walked over and dug up the source of the glint- a bakery sign. Whether said bakery still stood, or whether it had joined others like it in the wreckage, the woman couldn’t be sure of. As she looked at the sign, however, she felt as though she had seen it before… All of a sudden, images of a boy and a girl, likely siblings, appeared in Evelyn’s mind. She felt that she had known them, but from where, and why, she couldn’t recall. Could they be memories? The images faded away, but that was all the woman had needed to confirm that yes, she was in fact tied to this devastated city. It was swifter progress than expected, and so it must be a sign she thought, as she lifted the sign from the rubble pile. A sign that things might be looking up for her, for the time being. All notions of that, however vanished as she turned around to see two Neviskotian soldiers standing a short distance away, with rifles trained on her chest.

***

Evelyn’s guard-escorted trip to the city barracks was relatively uneventful, though, as they passed by the cemetery, she noticed a Neviskotian man, standing in front of a tombstone. He was an oddity for two reasons: firstly, he was wearing a brown leather coat and undershirt instead of a uniform, which meant he likely wasn’t a soldier. Yet, he was out past sunset, which from what she inferred was curfew for residents of the city. The other strange thing about that man was that those very same clothes –from what she could see- were spotless, in this city of dust. Even the newly arrested traveler had a thin layer of dust on her cloak after being in Urcenter for no more than a couple of hours. It was enough to distract Eve from her current situation, at least, for a moment.

            Unfortunately, her reality came crashing back as the soldiers marched their prisoner into the jail, which was left damaged but intact by the Neviskotian invasion. Once inside, Evelyn was further ‘encouraged’ down a hallway, around a corner, and into the only cell, where there was neither bed to rest on nor window to look out of, just darkness. Before she could evn turn around, one of her captors pulled the barred gate closed, and left the traveler alone to her thoughts for a time. 

                A few minutes later, a lantern and its carrier-a woman - rounded the corner, shedding light on the cell. She was a Neviskotian officer, judging by her uniform, but Evelyn couldn’t make much else out.

“Good evening, ma’am.  Your name is?” The woman asked, in accented Common.

“Eve,” the prisoner responded, deciding not to lie, well as much as she could.

“I see. Well then Eve, why did you come to Urcenter, and why were you out so late?”

“I’m looking for something.”

“Something? What is it?”

“I… don’t remember,” Evelyn admitted, her face falling.

“So, you come to a warzone looking for something, but can’t remember what,” the officer said, shaking her head. “And I have to believe that?”

The Ursian woman remained silent, and her counterpart sighed, and shrugged.

“Enjoy the cell,” she finished, before turning to walk away.

The Neviskotian disappeared, returning Eve to the darkness.

***

Hours passed, and, at some point, Evelyn must have fallen asleep, for she was awoken by the sound of the cell gate opening. As she opened her eyes, the woman realized that two Neviskotian soldiers were at her door, weapons at the ready.

“Get up,” one of them said, a request to which the prisoner immediately complied. “You’re moving.”

Eve opened her mouth to ask why, but saw the look on the soldiers faces and decided against it. Instead, she followed their directions and, without incident, was led out of the jail and into the city once again.

The morning in Urcenter was not much different than midday the prior day, though it looked like there was marginally more activity, as people set up shop and traveled to what few jobs remained. Evidently foot transport of a prisoner was commonplace, which, given the recent occupation, made sense. Still, that did little to reassure the Ursian prisoner, who shivered as they went past the gallows. Fortunately -or perhaps unfortunately, depending on what was to come- that wasn’t the final destination. A few minutes later, they had: the garrison.

Once inside, Evelyn was escorted to another, smaller cell adorned with nothing but a small bench. This time, unlike her meeting with the officer the previous night, there was a lengthier wait. Eventually, however, someone did arrive- not the officer, but rather the strange Neviskotian from the previous night, who was now carrying some parchment and a smile on his lips. Now that she could see him in broad daylight, the Ursian woman realized that he had a familiar shade of light brown hair.

“So, you must be the woman Popov’s been going on about all morning,” he said, in unaccented Common, looking at his notes. “Have you remember-“

The man froze, colour draining from his face as soon as he saw Eve’s own.  He recovered quickly, but stopped smiling altogether as soon as he glanced down at his parchment. “You’re Evelyn White. Ex-Royal Guard, aren’t you?”

Eve thought about not answering that half-question, but, since she thought it couldn’t get much worse, eventually nodded. 

Her questioner sighed. “Looks like we’re going to be here for a while.”

***

In the end, before much else could be determined, the man- who introduced himself as Gilen Belyakov, or Gil for short- moved the location of their discussion to an empty meeting room, where, after a few questions over why she had left the Guard, he bade the prisoner recount her story about coming to Urcenter to try and find traces of her past. Evelyn, for her part, omitted her recollection the previous day, as she couldn’t quite make sense of it yet, either.

“What a tale,” Gil said, as he set his quill down.  “Not that I don’t believe you, but I’ll have to verify some of those claims. As for the rest, from what I understand, you’re in this city because you think you used to live here, correct? “

“Yes,” Eve replied, frowning. “I think – no, I know,- that the answer’s somewhere in this town.”

“Okay. Then, since I’m not keen on interrogating you, let’s make a bargain. I’ll let you wander the city for the next few weeks. In return, you’ll make no effort to try and escape or otherwise hamper our forces. In addition, you’ll answer my questions truthfully, whenever I come up with a set.”

The former Royal Guard kept silent for a moment, thinking about how to reject the proposal. True, it seemed fairly generous, but that last condition couldn’t be met. Especially if he asked about the royals’ defenses…

“They won’t be about national secrets,” Gil said, as if reading her mind with his blue eyes. “So, don’t worry about betraying the Ursian Crown. Do we have a deal?”

He offered his hand, which, while Eve was a bit reluctant about this whole business, she eventually accepted.

“Deal,” the prisoner said, and they shook on it.

 

 

***

"We can, though it might not be directly to the conclave," Lane said, glancing at Raquel for a moment. "We might want to limit the size of the group that goes scouting, then, if we want to make a clean escape."

Maybe what they needed to locate the gate was a look at the map. The servant of Nyx decided to ask about that after this short briefing was concluded, just so he wouldn't get people's hopes up.

Edited by Snike
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