Ryoichi folded his hand together and studied the map. Nanrao? That was just a little fishing town set out in the middle of nowhere. Unless somehow a mage was responsible for the demon attacks, he couldn't see why the location was important. Yet, there is was in black and white. "Interesting conclusion. Still, we need to check the town out as quickly as possible. As long as the truce holds, House Aseryo will help you rid us of the demons."

The lord wished that he knew more about this little town, or that he had somehow come to the conclusion first. Even still, there was something about Nanrao that he didn't like. Something more to this than it being the center of demon control and attack. He tapped his finger on the table, as though impatient. What was it that bothered him?

"Illyan Travard. What else can you tell me about this? Something about this whole situation doesn't sit right with me. Could it be a mage's doing?" Ryoichi asked.

"Unfortunately the most we can come up with dark magic has been linked here, but we can't figure out who was using it or even if there really was a mage here." Silzard replied, "The only thing we have is the sheer amount of demons near it."

"This is rather a lot of demons, I can see why you didn't make a move on your own. This is some time out, and we have arrived late, I suggest we move for Nanrao in the morning, so let's dine and perhaps not try to kill each other in the meantime," Ryoichi said, sitting back and taking a bite of the food offered in recompense. It didn't feel like nearly enough to bridge the gap yet, but it was a good start at the very least.

Silzard nodded in agreement, though it was still tense. "Very well. We shall depart in the morning, then. Now, we should eat then find somewhere for you to stay in the meantime."

"Please report it quickly so we can end this talk of demons and terrible magics," Ryoichi said, leaning back in his chair. He'd have to keep an eye on this... Travard? Illian Travard. Either way, this was clearly a powerful and intelligent mage. Maybe Ryoichi could somehow pull this mage away from Tosen to do small tasks for him from time to time.

As they dined, night fell upon the feasters and things slowly grew to a halt. It wasn't hard for the 'festivities' to do so. The two Houses still loathed each other, after all. However, the night was quieter than normal. Even the stars seemed to eagerly look in on the events. Perhaps they too were curious as to the lifespan of the tentative truce that had been called.

Ryder touched her food very little, simply taking small bites every so often. Most of the time she seemed to assume straight posture, fold her hands, and stare off into the middle of the table. Her ears were sharp as she listened, though, to many it would seem as if she was simply zoning out. This was a practice not uncommon for Ryder in the little time she had been among House Tosen. As one of the newest members, she never understood or cared for the politics Silzard dealt with.

The 'Demons' that were so frequently brought up, had her listening a bit closer than Silzard's normal talks. So the two Houses were going to join up and take out the threat? Ryder's eyes lifted up for the first time in minutes. She once more scanned the group gathered on the other side of the table, though with more curiosity than discontent this time. Slowly, her gaze passed each member, wondering how they would be if put in a combat situation, and more importantly, how they would be when put in a combat situation with their rivals. "Fighting alongside your enemies never ends well," she muttered, her gaze returning to the center of the table for a moment. Ryder then sent an inquisitive glance towards her lord, then to Ryoichi, then back to Silzard.

Allow House Aseryo to stay? Sure, Ryder didn't think any of them posed too much of a threat, but she didn't wish for this situation to go south. Her eyebrow rose, her teeth gritted slightly before she spoke. "You wish to let your rivals stay here?" Her eyes flicked towards Karesh with a hint of despair and disgust. "They've already rifled through who knows where..." She trails off into a mumble soon after. Ryder barely knew these House Aseryo fellows, and sure didn't plan to let her guard down if she had to be around them longer than a few hours.

Ryder spent a moment lost in her thoughts. Now she would have to protect the House Tosen estate. She found it odd that Silzard has so easily allowed the people they had feuded with for years now to stay among his own.

Orion was careful to remain silent at his lords side, he knew his place was to defend against violence and occasionally offer advice. As the night went he ate and drank little mostly watching the room, he had to take his job seriously right now. Even if they were getting along things were still tense and both sides having thieves did little to put him at ease, he hoped this could be settled and they be on their bright and early tomorrow.

The Cavalier carefully looked back towards the door, he desperately wanted to feed and water his horse. The little mare deserved it at least for caring him all the way here. She was a tough little girl and he also wanted to ensure no one was trying to eat his horse. Food had become scarce and desperate people had resorted to eating horses and even dogs for food. He prayed it was resolved before many of the breeds of horses went extinct from being eaten.

As the night rolled on he sighed. "My lord, my I go check on my horse. I do not fear much but I know some locals are desperate enough to try eating anything these days." He told Ryoichi as looked towards the door. He hoped his Lord would allow him to leave, he knew it was not usual for a bodyguard to leave who he was to guard but Orion could not abandon his steed it was much a knight as he was.

Naturally after the talks were over, the rest of Aseryo's retainers who were to wait outside were allowed inside to eat and rest. Once inside, Clarissa caught her first glimpse of Lord Tosen. He was not quite what she expected as she thought the lord would be a much older man. Perhaps it was the son that was sitting in the chair? He looked stern but dignified yet their was unease in his face. There was unease in everyone's face. She observed everyone else at Tosen's side. A young lady with clothes fit for royalty sat besides Lord Tosen. No doubt it was the daughter of the family. She sat composed and calm but there was definitely stiffness in her. Perhaps it was her first time at such an important event. Another person caught her eye. Illyan Travard, was it? He was barely a man yet he stood at the Lord's side. Quite an accomplishment to achieve at such a young age.

"Well there is food to eat," she mused. Grabbing an apple from a bowl she made her way to Orion. "So, what did I miss?" she asked. She bowed her head at Ryoichi.

"Good to see you Lord Aseryo. I hope things went along swimmingly?"

The young Lady of House Tosen remained mostly quiet throughout the meeting and the dinner. After all, it was her older brother's duty as the stand-in Lord in place of their father. Her presence was required, and she certainly wanted to know what was going on and be involved, but she didn't have much to say. Her distrust in House Aseryo still existed, though much like the reasonable Silzard she was able to look past her objections for the greater good. Her people were dying and the only, or rather best, way to stop it was by working with Ryoichi. Lorelei was still angry with the thief who decided to peruse the castle, but putting him in a guillotine would accomplish nothing except further dividing the two Houses.

As the night winded down and the parties finished their meal, the question of where the Aseryo party would spend the night. She had immediately made it clear to Silzard that allowing them to stay in the castle would not be acceptable to her. "People like them are the reason I carry this sword with me," she had said at one point. Eventually it was decided that Ryoichi and his subordinates would stay, much to Lorelei's dismay. The young woman had to restrain herself from throwing a fit, as it would make her look bad and make House Tosen look even worse.

"I will be going to my room, then," Lorelei announced, standing up from her seat next to Silzard and leaving the room. She did not forget to grab her rapier, fastening it to her hip the moment she left her brother's line of sight. "The things I must endure for the sake of the family..." she mumbled to herself as she walked through the hallways of the castle. "At least tomorrow will see the start of a heroic campaign. Just gotta survive the night. But if any of those people find their way into my room I will stick 'em with my blade. Damn Silzard, wouldn't have been expensive to just rent out a hotel in the next town for them..."

Karesh boredly watched the proceedings. He put his feet on the table and ate very little of the food offered. It wasn't that he was hungry, but rather he wanted the soldier and the fighters to have more food. That way if there was a skirmish they'd have energy and he could just slip away. Simple, but elegant he thought. The problem was there was another thief about. She was fairly good, not great, but she did manage to hide from the rest of the group for a while. He'd only known she was there from her fall earlier.

Once the feast was over, Karesh stood and wandered around in the main room, taking in the best spot for him to slip away if the need arise. However, Lorelei Tosen loudly announced her own departure from the main room. Without missing a beat, Karesh followed her. The Lady Tosen had none of her brother's tolerances of House Aseryo, and thus it was important for him to make sure she wasn't up to anything. He'd made it most of the way before stepping on a traitorous floorboard. It squeaked loudly and Karesh waited just outside of Lorelei's room. She spoke to herself inside, and on a whim he answered her.

"Ah, but my lady, by the time the groups convene yet again, it will be late in the day and surely you wish for us to seek out the demon threat as soon as possible?" Karesh leaned against the doorframe to make himself seen. "You'll have to forgive me for following you, but you left so suddenly, my lady. The loss of beauty made the gathering much more boring and ugly."
@j8cob

"Orion, you do as you feel is best suited for you. I trust you to not die from a villager's desperate spear. Please take good care your horse," Ryoichi said just before Clarissa joined them inside the castle. He laughed politely at her asking what happened. Where to begin? With Karesh's unwelcome 'scouting'? "There was only one moment when I thought they were going to kill us all, which is better than I expected to happen, quite honestly. We have an objective to head out for tomorrow morning, so eat and rest up, if you please. No doubt this truce will be tested along the way there."

@Aara1112@Apollosarcher

She nodded in agreement. "Yes, the little lady by Lord Tosen's side looked rather cross at times before she took her leave. Still, there is a heavy tension in the air even though we feast! I wonder if we can set aside our differences. Well, I'll take my leave then, I am sure you have things to think about. As for me, there's food to be had!"

Clarissa turned to Orion with a mischievous smile taking one last bite out of the apple's flesh. "You planning on sleeping on the stables tonight to keep a watch on your steed?" she asked jovially. She grabbed an ale and took deep sips.

"Oh! This cider is quite good!"

Orion turned Clarissa sighing. "I might, people are starving out their, people will eat dogs. Horse's are just the next step up." The knight looked at women carefully. "Of course I'll be keeping an eye on Ryoichi as well. You'll be quite happy Feathers is still alive so can ask me for a lift tomorrow when you barely feel like moving after eating most of the feast." Clarissa had been among the house almost as long he had, arriving just a few months after him. They had worked together before of course, just not this closely as he had never gotten to know the women well. "I'll see you all in a bit."

He left the feast carefully walking past the guards, his lance was tied to his horse's side. He entered the stable and quickly found a bucket of water and few left out apples. "Hey girl, I know it's no fancy feast but you deserve it." He patted her head and smiled as she drank from the bucket he gave the first apple. "You know girl, it's strange. I like talking to you more than I do most people. Guess it's cause you just listen and never complain about having to." Feathers looked up at him and bumped his armor with her head. "Yeah, yeah I know it's probably boring to you." He smiled and petted the animal.

After finishing her meal, Clarissa was lead to her room by one of the servants of the castle. It was hard to imagine the severity of the drought inside these cozy stone hallways. Back in the north, stone was harder to come by. Much of it was imported and the vast majority of mining that was done often took place during the short summer and spring. Only the really wealthy or powerful could afford homes out of stone, let alone a fort, and many times as a child, she would look up in envy at them. It was no surprised that they were often the first to be raided during food shortages when winter became especially harsh.

Taking off her gear, she laid down on the bed. The food was very good but how long would it last? She was no stranger to hunger. She'd known the sort of hunger that would force one to kill and steal to survive. Those were desperate times.

"Hopefully these lands won't come to that," she wondered aloud. Soon after, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

[Clarissa has fallen asleep and is waiting for tomorrow]

Silzard didn't like the idea any more than Ryder did, but all the same, House Tosen couldn't handle it alone. Not with the drought and the demons wearing on his people. He looked at Ryder and said, "I don't like it either. However, with the war going on we can't protect the people. I'd rather the white haired lord be strung up and dead, but we're not in a position to turn away help. Besides, if we keep our friends close, but our enemies closer then we know what they want. If it's a truce, then we play along."

Besides, he could hardly talk like he was better than Ryoichi right now. He had a hidden thief too, and had it not been for Karesh it was likely she would have been the one ruining the peace talks. Silzard had the upper hand for now, because the thief hadn't revealed how much he knew yet, but all the same there was no way to know if he was bluffing or not.

@OppositionJ

Her teeth gritted as she leered up at Silzard. It seems she was in no position to change his mind. So she'd do the next best thing. "Then I guess I shall protect the estate myself, should something happen." Ryder took one last moment to eye each of the House Aseryo members that remained at the table before she wiggled both of her blade out of their stuck positions in the table. She'd stand with a disapproving sigh before turning on heel and quickly striding off without any further pleasantries. She was out the door in moments, peering around the large estate.

With a few short strides, Ryder had started off at a hurried pace. With Karesh having left before her, she would have to worry about him another time. She'd simply worry about the lords, the ones that mattered. She hurried off to one of her usual climbing spots where she found herself among the rooftops with a height advantage. Before long, Ryder had circled back around and ended up across from the building in which both lords would exit after they were done in the dining hall.

Now in position, Ryder waited. With both her Stilettos in her hands as she laid prone on the roof, she watched silently, awaiting the lords. She was to foollow either Ryoichi or Silzard. Silzard, for he needed protection, compared to Ryoichi who just needed to be watched. This was her home turf. Ryder was sure to be able to stay out of sight.