After smiting the enemy mage with two bolts of lightning he died a quick and hopefully painless death. "Fools." She muttered under her breath. She never did enjoy killing people. But she has a duty to protect the Champion and to protect the world from the Church. The Champion introduced himself to the group as Jacob. She needs to go with this young man. "Jacob, I will join you to on your campaign as well." She pointed out, no matter the Champion's answer she will join him. He gave her and the rest of the group the okay to go with him, Jerod said he well join, for money, but better then stabbing him in the back. "You remind me of one of my brothers." She giggled. Another person came to the group, a young man, looks well off and armed, is he part of the group. No she guessed, he would try to attack or he's smart and wait till the champion's alone to attack him. But he spoke if they were attacked, which he was acting naive or he's honest. "Yeah, a group of Axemen attacked Jacob and we jumped in to help." She spoke with a friendly smile. She thought of something so she asked the young man, "You should join us, kill two birds with one stone if you want to see the exalt." Konnie looked towards Jacob and she followed behind him, she is to be one of his first allies against the church. Konnie sees a young girl make haste to the group. Konnie thought the girl looked cute even with the eyepatch. Outside the Capital a fair distance away a young woman by the name of Rosa was riding on horseback, she was making haste. She has to make sure her foolhardy and moronic younger sister hasn't gotten herself hurt, or for her other siblings to learn her her picking a side, she hid the note in a pocket which was meant for all of them. But she knew their siblings won't forgive her. She has to hurry.

_"...Yeah, about that. I don't intend on kicking the bucket anytime soon, but if I do, I'd reeeeally appreciate if you left my eyes in my corpse, thanks….Where in gods name are you dragging me off to anyways?"_ “My, my, you’re no fun,” Marianne said brightly. “But even so, you should really know where we’re going mister. Didn’t you want to see him too? The Champion of Naga I mean.” Giggling softly, she picked up the pace before anything exciting happened without them. Thankfully, it seemed the group of fighters had not only increased in size but also gained an audience as well in the form of someone that looked very much like a Noble. That was enough to draw her attention further to this misfit group of warriors; Noble eyes were the purest eyes, next to Manaketes. As she dragged along her unlikely companion, she noticed the dead bodies scattered around the group. In any other circumstance she would have dropped whatever she was doing and begin searching around for collectibles. But the presence of the Champion was just too elusive for her, and it took all her will to not go scavenging the corpses. No. She would meet Mister Champion first and then examine the bodies. Sighing at this decision, she walked up to the group and took in the people more closely. It was certainly a wide range of characters, though she was able to identify the Champion easily by his robes. Well, er, torn robes now. Letting go of the Myrmidon’s glove, which was now still dripping with all sorts of unsightly things, Marianne glanced at each one of them before taking the hems of her dress and bowing politely. “Hello there everyone,” she said politely. “My name is Marianne and this is Unamed Henchman Number One. We’ve traveled so very far to meet the leader of your group.” She walked over to the Champion of Naga and extended out her bloodied hand in greeting. A moment of pause passed and the Dark Mage suddenly frowned. “Oh dear. I completely forgot that you are a man of great power and stature! Thus, it’s only natural I present a token of my gratitude for your work and proof of my sincerity. Let’s see….” Digging around in her pocket, she plucked out the fresh eye from before and offered it to Jacob happily. “Please take it as a sign of my interest and curiosity in you young man. Also, has anyone ever told you that you have _**amazing**_ eyes?”

Jacob first turned to greet the noble, bowing his head in respect. "I am the Champion, yes but please call me Jacob. I'm actually heading to see the Exalt now, the Academy's Grand Master and the Exalt want to meet me, however you may join me if you wish." He gave the noble boy a smile starting to turn back when the Dark mage he spotted earlier walked up to him. He looked between her and the man accompanying her, the she had addressed as unnamed henchman. The woman seemed friendly even cute... If you could push the blood on her hands and her strange fixation on his eyes. She offered him one of her gruesome trophies, crap he needed a way out, luckily Tactician of the Academy are also trained diplomats. "Thank Marianne but I could never accept such a wonderful gift, however if you would aid in ending the war you would have my eternal thanks." By the Gods that was sappy, but he hoped it would do the trick, he bowed to the girl before addressing the man. "What of you, if you are a mercenary then I would hire your service... Saving the world would rake in a lot of gold you know."

_The Champion of Naga?_ Interest piqued, he was suddenly much more compliant with following her than he had been previously. Was the Champion here? Now? ...Had he been among that group fighting? Now that he realized who this "Champion" that the girl had been talking about was referring to, he couldn't deny that he was curious. He had heard little snippets about the individual on his travels, and the prospect of meeting them and seeing what kind of person they were wasn't an opportunity he really wanted to pass down. That being said... As they neared the group, Rylan's voice dropped to an almost inaudible mutter as he stared at the back of the girl's head. "I hope you don't ask him for his eyes. _Please don't ask him for his eyes._" Anything else he wanted to say was cut short as she finally released his hand and greeted the unusual ragtag group that had gathered. Looking between all of them, his gaze immediately flickered back to shoot a dull look at Marianne's head when she introduced him as her henchman. "_Rylan_," He corrected, his tone dry, "My name is Rylan. And I'm not her henchman--we just met like five minutes ago." Attention falling onto Jacob then, the corner of his mouth pulled upwards in a lopsided smile at the teen's words. "I am indeed a mercenary. I can't deny that I'm in need of a job right now, though I admit to being a little picky about my employers." Pulling off his gorey glove--_thank you for that, Marianne, truly_--he tossed it to the side before moving to stand right in front of the tactician. Leaning forward, he met the younger man's gaze with his own, lips curved into a smile and arms crossed over his chest. "I just want to know, what is it that you hope to achieve, o' Champion of Naga? Perhaps this is rather rude of me to say, I'd only be happy to lend you my sword if I feel your mission lines up with my own interests as well. I have my own set of morals I abide to, after all."

Jacob sighed. "Honestly I just want the fighting to stop, I want to go back to my studies and enjoy a few goods books, but I can't. I was told I have to find a way to end this war before it kills needless amounts of innocents, all I want is peace to return, even if I have to kill to do it." He sighed running hand through his hair. "I'm young but I was chosen and I can't walk away from that." He stood looking between his new allies and friends. "And if it comes to I'll die, but I will not ask anything of you that I would not do myself." With that he stared back at the swordsman. "Also if you say O'champion again I'll burn you alive, speak like a normal person."

Isacc gave a smile back to Jacob and took a look at everyone else in his group before giving any comments on if he would like to tag along or not. he figured they defiantly looked like and interesting group but wondered how well they all got along it wasn't too likely they knew each other but he thought oh well might aswell tag along anyway. "Sure I'll join you might be a good experience." Isacc then noticed the dark mage and the myrmidon behind her they seemed like a rather Interesting bunch. Isacc then looked at all the other various adventurer's and mercenaries they all looked well enough he just hoped they'd all get along otherwise tagging along may end up being somewhat frustrating. "So I do want to say one thing though I'll call you Jacob but not beacuse you ask me to but beacuse in my eyes your still just a normal teenager all titles do is drag people down or go to people's heads making them think their invincible."

Chosen, huh? Rylan was surprised that the boy took so easily to this role that had been thrust upon him, but maybe that was because he himself tended to be kind of a flake. Gods knew that Rylan would never accept having his future plotted out for him. It was definitely part of the reason he had left home--traveling was just so much more freeing than having to deal with duties as a young nobleman. His eyes widened slightly at the hint of snark that leaked into Jacob's speech, and there was a moment of silence before he let out a laugh. Straightening up, the man rubbed at the back of his neck and grinned at the tactician. "Yeah, yeah. Jacob, was it?" Although he was young, Rylan had to admit that he admired his determination. Having to find a way to "end this war" was definitely a vague mission, but on that note...hey, sounded like fun to him. He didn't usually travel with a lot of people, so he was sure it'd be a new and interesting experience for him. "Well, I suppose if you don't mind me tagging along, I don't mind offering you my service." Taking a step back with a cheeky grin, he gave an perfectly poised, flourishing bow. You could thank all those damn etiquette lessons for that. "My sword is yours, Champion."

_"Thanks Marianne but I could never accept such a wonderful gift, however if you would aid in ending the war you would have my eternal thanks."_ “My, my, you’re just like Rylan here,” Marianne said kindly, having learned both of their names. “But I’m sure you’ll change your mind eventually. As for your offer to war…sure, why not? There’s really nothing for me to do these days, and all my other friends are buried six feet under. It’s settled then.” She bowed one more time before saying, “Carry us forward my fearless leader. Oh, and consider this act a display of my affection for you; I’m giving you my utmost and undivided trust and respect. There were a lot of corpses lying around here, and I was_** so, so, so, very**_ tempted to study them. But you take first priority!” With Jacob and Rylan now discussing other matters, Marianne looked over their group once more. The more time they spent trying to get to know each other, the more time wasted on winning this supposed war. Oh well. If they died early, maybe she could bribe Death with a couple of her friend’s spare body parts. That’d prove amusing no doubt. Walking around to entertain her mind, she noticed the presence of two others that immediately caught her attention. One of them wore a wizard’s hat, indicating that the woman was a Mage much like herself, albeit in the lighter arts. The other was a man much older than anyone seen here so far with a beard and armor. Walking up to them, Marianne titled her head before smiling. “Greetings new comrades. We’ll be working together from now on so let’s make sure to cover each other’s backs, alright? Also, you don’t have to worry about your bodies after your inevitable demise. I’ll be sure to make them into beautiful art to help fundraise our cause.”

Jerod kept his peace for the most part, just listening and watching the back and forth from the various newcomers. The dark mage woman seemed stable enough, if one chose to ignore the eyeball fetish she seemed to have going. Well, that made her more a complete nutter then anything else, but since no one had directed commentary towards him yet, he kept his peace. That was, of course, until the dark mage nutter walked over and promptly introduced herself to Jerod and the spell spitter he had been working with. Her introduction seemed reasonable enough until the comment on bodypart artwork was made. Jerod couldn't decide whether to laugh or distance himself as far as possible. Well, if they were working together, distance wasn't going to work. So he just faced the situation with humor, chuckling and extending his hand to shake in greeting. "Ach, well, consider ma concerns at ease. Was never rightly concerned with ma carcass after death. Reckon if we're on the same side, introductions are needed. Call me Jerod, sword fer hire, at yer service."

Nephene marveled at all the attention the small fight had drawn. What had started as a small ambush had ended in a congregation for the forming of a heroic party. Just what she wanted, this sure beat her plan to wander around the countryside looking for something heroic to do. She decided to play it cool and just leaned on the wall of the alley and simply said, "My spear is yours for whatever heroic mission you have in mind." satisfied with the way things were playing out.

Jacob brushed off the Lordling, the title wasn't going to his head, it was simply what it was. He gave Marianne a smile. "I thank you for ranking me above the corpses you wish to search." He spoke politely, even if inside he felt like it backhanded compliment. However he looked over his new allies and sighed, they weren't a army but they were a start. He started the walk into the castle the guards standing at attention and saluting him, each tactician at the academy held the rank of lieutenant in Ylisse's army. The guards allowed him and his party in a maid leading them along past more guards, rushing around as servants whispered of the Naga's Champion, here in the palace. Finally they were waved into the court room, soldiers were also being allowed in as well to witness the meeting as well nobles and high ranking officials.

Isacc decided he may aswell start introducing himself to everyone else so in a calm soothing voice he began to tell Jacob and the others nearby who he was. "Well I may aswell introduce myself now My name is Isacc I'm a noble from Valm on a quest to attempt to end this craziness I came here in hopes that I could meet like minded people.So I'll join you on your quest besides it's an opportunity to meet many interesting people." After that Isacc began to walk around introducing himself to everyone else being as polite as he could he then walked towards the dark mage a little uncertain of what to think of her he found the others seemed well enough but something about her seemed off to him it's probably his imagination though. He did think she was rather cute though but then again looks and be deceiving. "Hello there your name is Marianne correct?" After saying that Isacc extended his hand and said. "I'm Isacc a noble from Valm I hope we can get along well"

“Jerod…well it’s really nice to meet you Mister Jerod,” Marianne said, all the while flashing him a small smile. Yes, it was nice to have friends that weren’t so easy to kill. Or explode. She really hated the ones who just decided to combust on you. Giving both him and the other Mage a small nod, she turned to meet sights with the noble. Hearing his introduction, she smirked in interest in hearing that he was from Valm. She had heard once before from her father that inhabitants of Valm were no stranger to battle, and that their iron wills were something to be quite wary of. She briefly wondered if their eyes were battle-edged too…actually, on that note, what other parts of the body were honed through bloodshed and evolution…? She wondered… _"Hello there your name is Marianne correct? I'm Isacc a noble from Valm I hope we can get along well"_ Distracted from her thoughts, the Dark Mage smiled warmly before extending out her own hand towards his. Unfortunately, it was the very same palm that had handled the severed eye a few minutes ago, and one could see the thick blood now drying. Before Isacc could react or protest, his hand was already clenched in Marianne’s. “My, my, a noble right before me. What an honor for me! It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Mister Issac,” she said brightly. “From now on, we’ll be fighting on the same side, so I’ll make sure to protect you too. That being said, I’d like to ask a favor of you kind sir. When you eventually have your head split open, I hope you don’t mind if I help myself to your corpse.” She tilted her head, single red eye now hazy as she day dreamed of all the possibilities she could do with royal blood. “Ah, but rest assured. The sacrifice of your internal organs and skin will do wonders for those of the future.”

Jerod smirked as the young dark mage made her commentary and responses towards the others. Other people showed up and swore themselves to the tactician, and he couldn't help but chuckle at a thought he had. They were only following the leader now, he had done that before the others which was an amusing idea. Her commentary on body collection to the champion of naga had brought some thoughts to her physical appearance, mainly, that missing eye of hers. He assumed it was missing at any rate, why cover up the area otherwise? Deliberately blinding half of ones vision seemed like a terrible idea under normal circumstances, and if they weren't moving towards the castle already, he would have brought it up already. It didn't make sense in Jerod's mind. So first thought was to get answers. Perhaps after the meeting he would waylay her, or perhaps before depending on the way things were working out. Arriving at this castle, it only really dawned on the myrmidon that they were going to meet the Exalt of Yllise and the Grandmaster Tactician himself. Great, he decided, more stuck up royalty to deal with. Jerod and royalty never really got along, he bowed to no man and it was generally considered a necessity to bow to royalty. He couldn't imagine being a royal of any sort. Too much arse kissing for his liking, and he didn't like any. He fell into step with the Dark Mage, and brought up his question, thinking on what little he knew and saw so far. "Oi, lass, if ye have a moment. Yer real fixated on collectin' dead parts, tryin' to fix that eye of yers or something? Resurrect folks maybe? I ain't got a bloody clue, aint no spell spitter me self."

"_When_ he has his head split open?" Rylan drawled, hands in his pockets as he moved to stand where the dark mage was conversing with three others, "It's so very nice to see that you have a great deal of faith in your new allies' ability to stay alive, Marianne. At least, you're certainly very confident that you'll outlive all of us if you have plans to swipe all of our eyes." He still thought her to be a weird young lady, but Rylan had come to the conclusion that she was relatively harmless...so long as she was on _their_ side. At the very least, she was certainly polite enough. Besides, you know, all those creepy comments that she apparently had no qualms with sharing with people she had just met. "But hey, a noble, huh?" Completely disregarding any sense of personal space, the young man slung an arm over Issac's shoulder and grinned, "Nice to have you join our wacky little family. Can't say I can foresee how this will all turn out, but hopefully we won't die in a giant blaze. At the very least, I'm sure it'll be interesting." And dangerous. Definitely dangerous. But enough of that, it looked like they were moving. Linking his fingers behind his head, Rylan followed after Jacob, humming quietly to himself for the duration of the walk. It wasn't until they had arrived at their destination and ushered into the court room did he finally drop his hands and fall silent. Damn, he hated being in these fancy places. With luck, they wouldn't be here for long though.

**Marius** Marius mingled with the other Ylissean Knights as the ragtag followers of the proclaimed “Champion of Naga” entered into the courtroom of Exalt’s palace. The cavalier was partially baffled at how young the majority of the “Champion’s” followers were. And the only man who looked a little older than Marius himself did not seem of good character. Kids and Sellswords, it seemed. Was this really the party that was supposed to do Naga’s will? At the moment, Marius decided to stand back and wait for the Exalt’s reaction to this motley band of warriors. While he did indeed attempt to position himself closer to get a better view, Marius bided his time until he would reveal himself, if such a time was even necessary. For if the Exalt, and therefore Ylisse, turn their back on this group, what would any introduction do? His role was to help protect this kingdom and he has dedicated his life to that. Why change now?

The Exalt stood up clearing her throat as she stepped down from the throne walking towards them, As the Knights bowed Jacob simply gave a curt nod. Jacob walked towards, unflinching he knew courtroom manor was to bow at the waist but he simply ditched it, he needed to show his strength to carry out this task. The Exalt spoke as she neared the young man. "So Jacob your back, I'm glad to see you made it here with little trouble." The women spoke as if she knew him more personally than was let on. The Grand Master however reacted differently, he was old, but his eyes lit up as Jacob walked in, though it broke courtroom he rushed down and hugged the young man. "Jacob! I was worried the damned Church had taken my best pupil away. One of these days your going to be taking my place you know." The man chuckled kindheartedly, he seemed brittle and weak but he was a Grand Master and there unique powers made them more deadly than any common Mage or swordsman. Jacob hugged Grand Master Andres back tightly, he had been like a father to him after his parents passed. "I am fine Master, however I have a favor to ask of Exalt." He broke the hug as the Exalt stared at him puzzled it seemed, Chrom's family was not known for there ingenious minds. The Exalt sighed. "And what would you ask of your Exalt?" Jacob steadied himself and spoke proudly as if he was a man double his age. "I ask that you reform the Shepherds under me. We all know that Shepherds could be anyone and that means a highly diverse and powerful group to help drive back the Churches forces, they see us all as enemies anyone who does not stand with them is the enemy. If you give me this then I will go to Ferox for you and renew our treaty with them if we can unite the continent then we can drive back these lunatics and save your... No OUR people." The Exalt took a step back, he sounded almost to much like a man she had been told stories about and met a few times. She smiled, Naga's Champion indeed, many nobles murmured as they were afraid of the Church Robin however was not. "Very well then Jacob, Kneel for me." She drew Falchion as Jacob knelled the crowd going silent as she knighted him. "Rise Captain of the Ylissian Shepherds and tend your flock well." Jacob smiled then looked at the crowd. "So do I have any volunteers? After all the last time the Shepherds were formed they saved the world and were going to have to live up to the name." He spoke looking over the crowd, the Exalt laughed as she and the Grand Master stood beside him.

Isacc let out a small sigh and walked towards Jacob who I guess is his new leader though honestly he thinks of it more as a companion then a leader tacticians aren't known for having great leadership anyway. Isacc gave a bow to the grand master and exalt then decided it'd be best if he asked them if he could come along aswell. "I know I said I would but I volunteer to come along your goal and mine seem to be the same after all though if possible hope we can cause as little bloodshed as possible would make us as bad as our enemies are if we went about killing everyone." After saying that Isacc produced a bag of 1000 gold and handed it to Jacob "eh you'll probably get some money but just think of this as a gift from Valm might make things easier we have a hard road ahead." Isacc then bowed again and walked back to the others in the group.

The short walk to the grand castle was peaceful enough. Marianne spent her time deep in thought, making it habit to study each and every one of her new comrades. To be fair, it was quite some time since she last joined a group of merry going warriors. And in all honestly, she really still didn’t know what side to fight for. Claiming she was neutral and indifferent to the Church was probably just a farce; the only things keeping her here was her interest in the Champion and a chance for greater research. Still, it didn’t hurt to have some allies along the way. Maybe these folks would grow on her? Who knew? Entering into the lavished building, she glanced all around at the intricate interior designs of the castle. So this was the home of Ylisse’s Exalt and her Grand Master. A Mage so powerful, that she could only dream of taking his eyes in…well, her dreams. Seeing the two individuals before her, the Dark Mage bowed politely. In hindsight, and with all things considered, everything had gone smoothly. At least no one noticed her- _"Oi, lass, if ye have a moment. Yer real fixated on collectin' dead parts, tryin' to fix that eye of yers or something? Resurrect folks maybe? I ain't got a bloody clue, aint no spell spitter me self."_ Marianne’s entire composure froze up and she turned slowly towards her older companion. No, wait, was he still a companion? She didn’t know. He had seen it. Spoke of it. Talked about it… “What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice tense. The smile remained plastered on her face, though now it seemed one of intense cruelty and mistrust. “You mean this?” She pointed towards her eye-patch. Right now, she didn’t care of the fact that she was in the presence of royalty. To hell with royalty! To hell with nobles! To hell with everyone! All that mattered was that this man, _**this one man**_, had noticed it. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. “It’s nothing….ahha, nothing. Nothing. **N.O.T.H.I.N.G.** Pay it no mind, yes? Ahaha, I said pay it no mind! Stop it…you’re still looking at it….why are you looking at it…I said stop looking at it!” she exclained, her voice slowly rising in pitch. “Pay it no mind I said. Pay it no mind.** S.T.O.P. L.O.O.K.I.N.G. A.T. I.T.** Ahaha, stop it, stop it, stop it or I’ll do something! I’ll do something nasty! Just pay it no mind! Pay it no mind I said!” She clenched one hand while the other rested gingerly on her eye-patch. “Ahahha! What are you looking at? I said pay it no mind, right? _**Riiiiiiiiiiight?**_ Stop it! Ahaha, stop it, or _**I’ll find the highest point of this castle and hang you with your own entrails for the people down below to rejoice in consuming your flesh**_.” All traces of thought or reason were lost on her, though she made no attempt to lash out with magic. She was sane enough to keep track of her surroundings, noting that the Grand Master could smite her at any time. _**"Heh....ahahhahhaha! P.A.Y. I.T. N.O. M.I.N.D."**_

**Marius** Once Marius had heard the opinions of the Exalt and the Grandmaster of Ylisse, he knew what he had to do. Not only would he be serving his country, but he would also be upholding his own religious beliefs, upholding the will of Naga. Therefore, Marius finally stepped forward from the crowd of knights that had gathered in the courtroom. “I am Sir Marius, a cavalier amongst the knights of Ylisse.” Marius bowed in a courteous gesture to the young chosen hero. “It is a long road from here to Regna Ferox, especially for a young lad like yourself. Even as the *Champion of Naga*, you shall face challenges more dangerous and difficult than anything that you have ever seen before. But as the *Champion*, you need not go alone. While you have accumulated a band of companions so far, I fear that they may not be enough to complete this mission. More allies, even from unlikely places, might appear on the road, I believe that you will need all the friends that you can find and get, no matter how young or flawed in character.” Marius quickly glanced at the ragtag band of warriors that had followed Jacob. “Anyways, to get to the point, Sir Jacob, as an experienced knight and cavalier of Ylisse, I wish, no, I am obligated to offer my service to you in order to see this lovely and grand Halidom protected and the will of Naga done.”