The walk back was thankfully uneventful, a fact that Gillian was somewhat grateful for. Nori, however, pestered him endlessly, as though the skeleton they found was in and of itself proof of the Cal girls innocence and he should make good on his promise to make it up to her. He largely ignored the bunny, much to her ire. If Cal decided he owed her, he’d pay up, if only to stop the lagomorphs insistence.

He trudges quietly towards the captains office, mentally prepping himself for some lecture or another. Hardly the first he’d heard from Fanlily’s type. All romance for the order, no recognition of the realities of their profession. Best just to nod and agree mindlessly while checking off the bingo card. He barely took notice of the group of knights around two decidedly unknightly visitors. Wasn’t his job to entertain the guest, and he was more than glad to leave it to someone else.


Vizer regarded the young man. “Oh, you misunderstand. The goal here is to make the captain look more like a credible threat. While some of your order is great, there are next to none of you who can raise an army on their reputation alone. Much less turn one away.” He says, patting the boys back. “Don’t take it personally. Figure head she might be, but as a figurehead she stands to carry more clout than the order itself. Comes with being chosen by gods and whatnot. You’ve still got much to provide to the people of Thaln, just…on a smaller scale over all. ‘N I wouldn’t worry about getting him to speak to her, was the plan after all.”

Livius meanwhile spoke up. “Apologizes then….didn’t get your name ma’am. If you like, I can explain in your native language, if I k now it. And as for you…” He says, turning to Markus, “If I’d reason to think you more competent I would. But as it stands, the only thing keeping me from /building/ a better army is a lack of resources and time.” Given his tone and reputation, he atleast thought that wasn’t a boast. “But as it stands, I’m stuck with cast offs and the few good people who lead them to dea-“

He is cut off as a familiar weight slams into him, knocking the breath from his lungs. “Who the hell dare-“ He starts, the trio of golems behind him tensing up while he looks down to look at his new assailant. There is a sudden hush that falls, before a decidedly unnoble squeak of affection escapes the man. “Bunny~” He says loud enough for it to echo across the room, returning the hug tightly. Any air of menace and dignity vanishing and the golems stand awkwardly, unsure how to respond to this.

Meanwhile, Nori tightly grabs onto her ears and suddenly takes up position behind the captain, expecting someone to come for her. “oh gods not again….” She mumbles.

“Just a lil’ job to kill off some nasty bad people with your captain my lil’ bunny. Gods you’re so tall! I bet you and snuggles are the envy of the whole court by now!” he says, voice booming with affection one might reserve for a very young child. Vizer, for his part, just stares in awe of this, as dumbfounded as the golems.
The hug holds for a moment, and Livius even considers apologizing for his earlier rudeness to the others, before a sudden lightness fills him. Is…is this inner peace? He’s not felt in such a way for a long time. Perhaps he’d been dealing with things in an overly cynical why is the ground coming closer?

The young mage lands with a satisfying crunch into the stone floor, glasses cracking on impact. He takes the sudden act of violence fairly well, rolling into a seating position after the assault. The golems still stand, confused, Vizer suddenly letting out ruckus laughter. “She-she” He starts between gasps. “The midget totally just stomped your shit!” He eventually manages to blurt.

Livius rolls his neck a few times, ignoring the man. “Yes yes. It was very funny.” He says, coldness now returning. “Seems you’ve inherited more than just mother’s looks Bunny. That was a devil of a hit.” He adds, before Nero comes in to reign in their sister. “Snuggles!” He says, voice preparing to return to its former warmth before his neck protested for him to remember the last hug he got. “Ah..ahem. Surprised to see you here Nero. Mother said you were with a crew of your own making last we spoke.” He says standing. “I hope you’re both well, and I will love to catch up with both of you, but I should really speak to your captain. Lives and more important things being at stake.”

Tyaethe's progress through the college, though noisy and lacking in any form of subtlety--she was by far capable of moving more quietly in armour than she was making any attempt to now--was if nothing direct: the paladin knew exactly where she was going in what seemed to be a fairly labyrinthine building. Though was that any surprise, when the majority of it had barely changed in all the years she had lived in the capital? Even a non-mage would have occasion to venture through its halls.

Exactly where the knight was headed, though, she said nothing about. Doubtless, had anyone less recognisable or less heavily armed been stomping around, someone would have stopped them to ask what their purpose was. In this case, discretion seemed to take over--or maybe a fear that the massive sword being carried would find its way into their bodies.

It was only when Tyaethe and Indrau reached a door, complete with plaque, that the goal was clear: Agenon Albrenton, Archmage and head of the college. A long-serving old man who, when the door was flung open, looked up from his work on sewing sequins to an outfit already every bit as garish as the one he was wearing.

"The shard. Explain."

---

With the return of the other knights, including the Sunfield siblings, the chance of continuing any meaningful discussion fell by the wayside. Indeed, with the captain's return there was no reason for such discussions to continue in as public a venue as this--or remain open to everyone that came by. Too many cooks spoiled the broth and trying to make any plans with all the knights was the very definition of 'too much'.

Instead, the duellist chose to seek out Fanilly, who--from appearances--seemed quite unsettled, though from inspection unharmed by whatever the knights had found since they set out. "I take it that whatever called you away so urgently was unpleasant, Fanilly?"

The constant back-and-forth of the Knights and the newly arrived lordling and his train of followers presented Tanda with a bit of a conundrum. While she was still hoping to report to someone in authority and make the claim for her great grandmother's suit of armor, these things would have to wait until this more important business of cultists and bandits was taken care of. High ranking knights were coming and going to talk with these travelers, so she made a decision to invest herself in the situation and help out the Rose Knights as best she could.

Dressed as she was in peasant's traveling clothes from the north, and not in any fancy doublet or warrior's garb, Tanda could just as easily blend in with the few servants she witnessed coming and going across the compound. She left her pack and walking stick propped against one of the tables and headed to a servant's window to the kitchen.

"Wine please," she said. "And make sure it's cool to drink. And a tray of cheese and sliced apples."

The kitchen staff had a tray at the ready within minutes, only for Tanda to approach an entirely new scene while she carried the drink and victuals with both hands. One of the newcomers had just been subjected to... a jolly assault? And now there was a reunion of sorts?

"M'lord," she said, setting the tray down on the table. Her appearance was fine- a muscled young woman in servant's garb. It was the smell which she knew she couldn't hide. Weeks on the road with only one proper bath at a wayside inn left her stinking of sweat (and probably worse) but she was prepared for immediate dismissal.

In wine, man finds truth, the Green Priests would say. Hopefully the nobles would be happy to take a drink, or five, and the rest of their tale (if there was more to it) would follow.

@ghastlyInc

Fanilly simply gave Tiral a nod. She perfectly understood the desire to rest after that... failure of a mission. Had those soldiers at the fort all died in vain? They hadn't been able to find the reason for their deaths, the shard of Angroron. At the very least, she was somewhat distracted from her concerns when Sult used a particularly violent maneuver on what appeared to be a visiting member of nobility. And yet, the noble didn't appear too displeased by this at all, somehow, instead... ah, he was a relative, that was the only thing that explained any of his behavior. But for what purpose had he chosen to visit the Iron Roses?

It was around then that she realized the Akitsushiman rabbit had decided to hide behind her. She wasn't entirely sure why, but perhaps her current mindset had caused her to miss something that had happened. Ah, she was being inattentive, wasn't she... taking a deep breath, Fanilly tried to focus on the present. There were undoubtedly matters she had to attend to, and she still had to dispense her lecture to Gillian and Klaus at the very least.

... But... speaking with her former mentor, somehow, seemed to take priority in her mind.

"... An entire fort of soldiers was killed, and they were replaced, all for the sake of smuggling a shard of that evil sword Angroron that the magi had secretly been holding out of the city for a purpose we haven't even begun to guess at," Fanilly said, with a heavy sigh, "And we failed to find its trail. I failed. All we know is that it's associated with some remains of Phoran Cal's rebellion..."

She trailed off. Discussing the mission had of course brought what she felt to be her failures to the forefront, and the small blonde girl's eyes were downcast for several moments.

... But she had to push through. There was a face she did not recognize... no, multiple faces, one of whom was a rather large face. There were matters she had to attend to.

Clearing her throat, Fanilly straightened.

"Those who came here to join this order, please be patient just a few moments longer," she began. While their intent was of great importance, as any who would join the Iron Rose Knights was, the concerns of a Noble who had allotted time to come here took priority. After all, they had less time to talk then a new knight perhaps would. "I would like to speak with Lord... Sunfield."

It was hardly a difficult guess.

---

The old man, took a deep breath, placing aside his sewing equipment. Many skilled magi never allowed themselves to advance to such an elderly appearance, but for whatever reason Agenon Albrenton had.

"Ah, Tyaethe Radistirin, Lady Paladin of the Moon Goddess," he said, giving her a warm smile, "... I should have known that this day would be coming, sooner or later."

He laughed to himself. "I suppose you might doubt my motives, but I hope to make you understand, at least. I truly believed that the shard of Angroron was best kept a secret... and I hardly anticipated some of the faculty would believe it could be used."

He let out a sigh, his expression becoming somewhat colder.

"Such a thing cannot be used by man, nor any living thing under the Moon and Sun. And yet, before I knew it, the progress made to destroy it had taken a darker turn, and some wished to wield it instead."

His warm smile returned.

"And a foolish old man didn't realize what he must do until it was gone," he continued, "... And I suppose, keeping secrets is a hard habit to shake. I believed that if we told others of the shard, some would attempt to take it. But that outcome occurred even without anyone else knowing about it."

The noblemen regards the plate of...modest offerings and wine. "Thank you but no." He says hesitating to wave the girl off. "No matter how regal someone might be they always look like an asshole while giving orders while sipping wine..." He adds, reaching for a small coin purse tied about his waist, placing it on the tray. "However do me a favor and go buy yourself a proper set of work attire. Whoever is acting as your patron is less than an animal for not treating your profession with the customary dignity it deserves." The coin purse in question has some considerable heft for its size,its contents likely good for a few outfits and then some (maid or otherwise). The man hurts for manners, but damned if he doesn't hurt for coin....

Fanlily's voice was welcomed with a relieved sigh from Vizer, now somewhat recovered from his giggle fit. Livius gently brushes past his siblings and the would be maid Tanda. "Danbelion. Good. Was worried I would have to actually spend time in this....humble fort." He says, waving her over to the map still firmly planted on the table and prepping to give her an abridged explanation of the reason behind his visit. He loathed explaining things twice. And now they were firmly reaching a third time.

Sult's facial expression was that of a deep frown when Livius brought her familiar resemblance, of all things. "Don't compare me to that woman." She hissed beneath her teeth, as she stood tall, her arms crossed. It was then when she noticed someone offering wine. Good. After all the fort slaughter and the bandits, and the lady Cal, she needed a drink.

And given that Livius was declining, she took her chances and sipped the concoction in one go, cheekily.

Nero, in the meantime sighed, taking a fairly more neutral approach. Well, clusterfuck doesn't beging to describe the situation. We're on the hunt of a really dangerous artifact, and this twerph shows at the worst possible moment? With that guy. Despite the good looks, something is off. The elder twin thought mentally before adding. "I relinquished captaincy of the Ravens a while ago, to join this order alongside Sult." It was her answer.

Well, at least it seemed that Livius was going to speak with the captain, to see what this was about. Meanwhile, Sult slipped by, shadowing her sister, a whisper in her ear.

"Yeah, that beefy lacky of his is not bad in the eye. Your sight is betraying you, Nero..."

Nero sighed. "I could say the same about you, but with a different bodypart." She retorted as she fell in line to follow Livius. "Now, let's see what this is about." She added, following her brother.

"Yep. We should be helping the mini captain." Sult added, as she also fell in line.

She stood aside. Wherever they were going and discussing certainly interested her but Salz decided that it would be more prudent to remain in the main hall. Seeing the other knights made it plain that whatever they had gone to do had not ended well. If a solution had been reached at all. It was only after a long look around she realized that she did not see the one face that she would recognize.

Salz panicked for a moment. His last letter had said that he was on his way back to Candaeln. Had some thing happened to him? Was he hurt on this latest mission?

She calmed down after a few seconds. Maybe he was just outside seeing to his horse or something. He was always a man of action and even at home he was never a person that was content to sit and talk. This thought improved her mood greatly and she went outside to take a look around.

Oh, she could understand the point in keeping the shard's location a secret--far more were those that could be tempted along darker paths that had never gained proper admission to the college, nor sought it in the first place. To not publicise that it had been kept in order to destroy it had doubtless prevented far more theft attempts or what remained of Hidroroth's followers from launching a siege to reclaim the shard by force. To that extent, the secrecy was understandable. Yet to tell nobody outside of this college... to prepare no-one to reclaim it or join the defence if knowledge escaped...

"Yet why not tell us? Why not tell me? You know that not one day in two hundred years have I been lacking in readiness. That I could pursue the thieves without pause. That someone so close to a saint will not be corrupted," Tyaethe spat, pacing in her armour. Agenon had been the headmaster even when she was young; there was no excuse to overlook such things, "But worse than that, what kept you from telling us the instant it was stolen! We nearly caught up to the thieves on what looked like an unrelated mission. If you hadn't kept this from us for a week..."

"No more secrets, old man."

---

Once this... issue with Livius was dealt with, she would need to get more information from the captain about this mission. Calling her actions 'failed' seemed to be a stretch; as she had tried to emphasise when preparing Fanilly for the role, it was unwise to try and shoulder responsibility for something that was outside of one's own actions. The knights had not been sent out as a scouting party but as a military response. To have gleaned anything from such a change in circumstances was an achievement--they could have been left none the wiser.

First, though, to pre-empt the Sunfield's longwinded explanation: "A cult on the Ithillin and Veldt border has been going around killing anyone with a hint of magic, and worse. Lord Sunfield here seems to think the correct way to deal with this is to use yourself as bait and bring two armies and the knights down on them."

"You're early~"

Klaus entered the captain's office holding a plate of strawberry cake, only to see Gillian right in front of her. She didn't know much about that fellow Knight, but one thing for sure is that they are on the same boat. She placed the cake on the table, taking a slice from it.

"Help yourself with the cake, it wouldn't be good to face Captain with an empty stomach, especially after a long day like this~"

She pointed at the remaining slices, taking a seat at the side as she started on her regular meal. Except, her stomach was never empty to begin with.

"Seems like the Captain is late, isn't she?"

Fanilly approached the map and carefully, quietly looked it over. She wasn't entirely certain, without explanation, what it was meant to be conveying beyond the obvious map of the countryside. At least, until her former mentor provided a rather quick explanation. For a few moments, the smallish blonde girl was silent.

"... I'm... I'm afraid I don't understand," she began. The idea of such a cult acting in such a matter was quite vile, but at the same time... "Wouldn't it make more sense for us to simply go in force and quickly eliminate them, before they can commit any other terrible acts?"

She couldn't understand the need for an army to be brought to root out a cult, unless the cult was an army itself. Let alone two armies. As Fanilly understood, Velt and Ithillin, the countries included on the map, were quite militarily strong themselves. She had to confess her knowledge of their neighbors was limited only to what could be learned from her tutors, as she had never traveled beyond Thaln's borders. She could not, therefore, confirm all that she had heard. Though at the very least Fanilly was certain that the pastries of Ithillin were absolutely lovely, as indicated by the party she had attended when she was younger. There had been an Ithillin baker there, and what he had created...

Regardless of how hungry she suddenly felt, however, Fanilly could not be certain she knew why such a plan would be required here.

---

Agenon let out another sigh.

"I cannot argue with you on that matter, to say the least," he responded. "Look where keeping secrets has gotten me. A stolen shard of an evil artifact, and a divided faculty who fight over what to do with it should it be returned.

He took a deep breath, stroking his thick beard.

"I can't make any excuses for my continued secrecy," he continued, "Aside from perhaps that I foolishly feared retribution would come upon some of those who work here. The men and women who believe they can re-purpose the shard are misguided, not evil. They think that using such a thing would be the ultimate rejection of its original purpose."

He sagged a little.

"And so, my affection for this school's faculty betrayed my common sense. From this point on, I pledge to assist in the shard's recovery however I can."

---

The carts outside seemed like, well, carts. There was nothing particularly strange about them.

What may, however, have been noticeable is the rope in the back of one cart. Any close inspection would reveal that it had somehow been severed...

There was no-one in sight.

@ghastlyInc@AtomicNut@TheFake@Raineh Daze@Aleranicus@Saltwater Thief

Livius rubs his forehead. “oh the best and brightest of us…” He moans. “Alright Captain. “ He begins slowly, “I deign to assume you understand these men aren’t suicidal or mentally invalid correct? If three massive armies show up, one of which they’ve proven to be able to avoid being tracked by handily (on their home territory no less) they will go to ground. Best case scenario is they stay quiet for a few weeks before popping up to butcher another town and we’re stuck chasing them until we get lucky. Worst case scenario is they begin using this forced down time to create ideological footholds in Illithin and Thaln, or even train new recruits. These men took heavily fortified positions with forces three times their size in a few hours. Last thing I’m giving them is the chance to make more of their ilk.”

He sighs. “I understand wanting to go in full force, but you’d be potentially killing far more people than you’d be helping. The safer option is to play off their victories and use their over confidence to lure them into a trap. They don’t have the size right now to hold back their officers, making this a prime opportunity to cripple their command infrastructure, and that’s our worst case scenario. Better yet if you manage to bring back their leaders head on a pike….well, not a lot of cults quiet get over that. ‘s Bit of a mood killer.”


“I’ll…pass on the cake.” He says to his…rather odd companion. “And I figured I’d go ahead and get this over and done with. Putting it off ‘s only going to make the lecture longer you know.” He huffs, folding his arms. “And I think she’s caught up in dealing with someone. Shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

She had expected more resistance to the demands for transparency, given that this would mean exposing the idiots that wanted to use the shard--or had failed to protect it--to criticism about their actions. It left nothing more for her to continue strongly on, leading to a rather weak: "Well... get someone from the church to give them a history lesson. The sword itself was evil and when the pieces show up again people die. You can't use something for good if it kills any good person that tries to take a hold of it."

Awkwardly making her way out of the room with a mention that she would see if Merilia could be persuaded to help with restoring any defences for when the shard was eventually regained, now that the mage was starting to take a look at the knights again for whatever reason, the paladin finally noticed that she hadn't been making this journey on her own. It was a good thing that the only sensitive topic covered had been one that he was there for.

Though there was a question that needed answering as she began to navigate through the halls towards the exit and back to Candaeln: "Why are you following me?"

@TheFake

---

"We need a plan that relies on more than our enemy possessing a particular level of bravado, Sunfield," the duellist said, rubbing her head. It was all very well and good having a plan that couldn't possibly fail if it got to the final step--the overwhelming level of force that would be present once Veldt and Ithillin made a move would wipe out any number of rebels.

"Step back and think: what are we to do if they see through any disguises and realise Fanilly is travelling with the knights? Or if they do not know what the knights are supposed to look like and assume that any armed force in her company must be the Knights? They have no goal to complete that requires the captain's death; even a small amount of caution will leave us with no battle. All this assumes that locals would miss the scale of forces assembling upon the borders."

It was the fated moment. For so long she had waited up until this moment, biding her time under the auspice of darkness. She inhaled in anticipation, her crimson eyes peeking upon the objective. So pure and naive it seemed to be, unaware of the fate that would befall upon it. With an unholy burst, she spread forth her demonic wings, and dashed onward, a wicked smile of glee on her face.

"HAHAHA, THE REIGN OF SOULSCALE DAWNS, AND THIS CAKE SHALL BE THE FIRST SACRIFICE". The demonic armor turned little imp exclaimed, as she deftly snatched a slice of cake, flying away with it as if it was some kind of overgrown kitchen pest. The wicked demonette, to add further insult, perched herself into the most improbably location. Sir Gillian's shoulder.

"Oh, hello there. Have you been sucessful in your task, sir Gillian? Have you BROUGHT THE SACRIFICE SOULSCALE DEMANDED ASWELL?" She added, before stuffing herself in the cake slice.

---

Nero stood silent, her chin resting on her hand, as she eyed the map and conversation. Ocasionally, her mind wandered to Sult, that more often than not, gave a sympathetic shrug. Her eyes rested on Lilianna's while she made her statement as Nero's lips curved in a disappointed expression.

"With all due respect, Lady Belwiss. You are being naive." Nero finally said in a somber voice, as if not exactly liking what she was about to say. "This reeks of a done deal. Regardless of the plan we come up with me... such a mobilization and forethought, even if it's not a good plan, would make people who thought of this not precisely open to criticism." The eldest of the twins added. "They're pulling the strings on a done deal, knowing that Fanilly will be hard pressed to disregard such a plea for aide. Even if she refuses on grounds of being an idiotic plan, the people who are interested in staining the Roses' reputation will make their move."

Nero sighed. "It all boils down on who we pick as bait. I don't think they will care about it, as long as it seems valuable enough like Fanilly." The Sunfield bit her lip, and eyed all the presents . "I can do it, if need be. I will be the decoy instead of Fanilly, and we will play this stupid Noble hunting game." She conceded.

"Huh." A voice whispered at her back. "Come to think of it, I have an even better idea. If it's about having a bait target..." Sult grinned, as she moved towards Livius, her hand resting atop his shoulder. "Congratulations, Livius. You get to play captain of the Roses for a day. Or should I say Lady Livia? Given your looks, with a little of work, you can make a convincing female commander." The youngest of the Sunfields smirked.

The knight straightened up his posture with the help of his cane.

"Not following you. I trust these mages about as far as I could kick their asses. I'm here to check out that skeleton that was brought in."

He didn't trust the mages in any other capacity either but Tyeathe was already seeing to the other main point of interest. His own, private thoughts were of a more sinister nature. When Tiral had explained the nature of the shard he had mentioned that the barriers around it had been eroded suddenly, even though the shard had been held for decades. It sounded like sabotage.

"If anything unfortunate were to happen it would be nice to be on hand."

@Raineh Daze

"A whole day of search, and just a skeleton... Somehow I feel that I would be better off wielding a mace or warhammer, heard rumours that even their severed limbs could crawl as long as the head remains intact..."

Klaus complained whilst taking another bite off the cake slice. For somebody who likes to dice her opponents into pieces, Necromancers aren't good news to her. Also, she wasn't officially trained in the sword, she relies more on her instincts to do the cuts, in other words she cuts blindly.

At the moment some demon or imp popped out of nowhere, Klaus dropped her half-finished cake slice and closened her wrist to her sword handle. She was at the verge of pulling out her sword until she realises that the demonette doesn't seem hostile to her. Letting away her alert stance now, she took another slice of cake.

"Will clean up after eating~"

The previous slice have splattered the floor, aching her heart a bit. That knight seems popular with kids...? She thought, now giving a full glance to the demonette. She looks younger than Klaus, but she worried it would be the same case as those tree hugging elves, those who lives for ages, but doesn't look or act their age. She cleared her throat and asked,

"So, any words on Necromancers lately?"

Gillian barely reacts as soulscale burst forth from unseen cupboard. He had to silently wonder how many times she jumped out only to get the wrong target, only to awkwardly climb back into her hiding spot. “Hello Scalie. No my trip was fine. Thank you for asking.” He says, seemingly unaffected by the demonette's antics, only raising an arm briefly to block whatever strike Klaus seemed to be prepping to defend his new passenger.

“Klaus. This is soulscale. By dark reign I assume she means a panty raid on the fort. I'd hide my delicates if I were you.”He says, introducing the two awkwardly. “And no. I found neither an elf princess nor absconded with her underwear.” He says, turning his head slightly so his chin rested on the imp's leg. “Dont know why you expected me to have it already. Not like you gave me much to work with here short stack.” he says, mild agitation clear on his face. “You seem to be doing well though. Seems you got out of your cage and are actually clothed. A nice change of pace.”

“And how should I know how the investigation is going. Tyaethe and the Lion ran off to do it when we got here.” He huffs, wishing he could skip the lecture and join them. “Coins to croissants though? Probably getting the run around by the college.”


“Painting a rather unflattering image of your captain if you think I could impersonate her Sult. Though I appreciate the confidence in my assumed cross dressing abilities. Moving on...”

“....While I resent the fact you're implying the plan we worked on to be idiotic. Yes. You're right in that this is a done deal. You can leave those people to die if you wish. This failing wont hurt the Sunfields reputation in a way I wont consider to be an acceptable, if not enjoyable, loss. Goddess knows father and mother could stand to be taken down a peg.” He says with a pleased grin.

“As for Fanlily. Remember what I said about 'unflattering depictions of Mayon and Reon'? Suppose it is my fault in failing to realize you'd not pick up on the subtext so I shall elaborate.” He picks up the manifesto from the table, thumbing through it until he finds a dog ear'd page. “ 'Lo and the whore witchs Reon and her vile bride belied their divinity and turned the world of lions to sheep. Affirming their actions with the bloods and viscera of innocents slain by their damned avatar'-” he pauses, pointing at Fanlily. “in this context referring to your captain. 'for generations of untold suffering and the propagation magecraft and its raping of the worlds natural incandescence.' Sufficed to say, they would like your good captain dead. There are more passages like this. Whoever their leader is, mans quiet the prolific writer. If long winded.”

“As for addressing their possible hesitation, that is indeed a possibility if slim.” He says, thumping the tome closed. “Thats why I am insistent on your order performing this task. The attempted assassination of her highness proved you're adaptable enough, so if the plan fails I know I can trust you to improvise and get the job done with minimal civilian causalities. Trust me, if body count were not my for most concern, I'd have trusted this job with the Ravens in your stead.”

He leans back onto the table. “Long explanation put shortly, if you wish to go off script after we deploy you, there is nothing I can do nor do I have much impulse to stop you. All I've provided you with is the terms of engagement agreed upon by myself and several other noble houses of various states.” He says, gently rolling up the map and placing the manifesto back on the table. “I'll leave one of my golems here for the night. You may address your equipment needs to her. If you provide none I will take that as a decline of aid on your part and not trouble you further.” He says, polite bowing to Fanlily before heading towards the door, Vizer shortly in tow. The smallest golem stays behind, head awkwardly swiveling to look at the rooms residents like a lost pet.

"It's just a skeleton, if it was anything more significant it would have done something in the journey back. I've never known someone to be able to keep undead dormant and undetected through being carted around by mages. The worst they can do with it is try and work out who it was, though the body's too far gone to just ask," Tyaethe answered, leading the way down some stairs and towards the outside--a different route than the way in. Obviously, the main doors were closer when you had no cargo on hand.

A distrust of mages was something that the paladin couldn't really wrap her head around. They died just the same as everyone else when you cut them into pieces, and it wasn't that hard for someone to survive long enough to pull that off in her opinion. Her own ability, limited as it was to lighting candles, kept magic firmly in the realm of "just another skill to be learnt".

"If anything goes wrong, the college can either deal with it or last long enough that we can walk from Candaeln. If they can't, that's a problem for more than one person to deal with."

@TheFake

---

What pressure led people to accept things as unchangeable so easily? Of course there was a plan presented to them--and, true, it would be difficult to arrange a perfectly new one without a full strategic meeting with the other commanders. Something that they should have been arranging well in advance of allowing a noble with all the manners of a donkey to present it to them. Yet to blindly write off the potential to improve upon it was every bit as ridiculous as the Iron Roses' insistence on picking their leader by looking at a calendar.

"I did not suggest scrapping this plan," she stressed--though it was too complicated anyway, so why not? "I said that we need one that accounts for the limitations of relying on gullibility. 'Twould be better to determine alternatives now, rather than in a field with our targets following our every move."

(From ghastly)

Livius sighs as he walks to the door. “My only job on this matter was informing you of your 100 to 120 man limit and the plan proposed and to obtain your agreement. I cant in good knowledge return to my contacts telling them the plans radically changed by one with no emotional or finacial stake in the issue. They're people are being killed. They are understandably upset and stubborn. What you do without my knowledge is out of my control. After all, you said so yourself. I've no direct authority over you. Manifest includes documents on what little we know about the cult and their forces. I'd suggest you take time to flip through it Belwiss. Can only imagine what you and your might cobble together as a plan without me to over see you.”

After several moments of silence, as Fanilly took in all that had been said to her, she took a deep breath. Indeed, there wasn't any further time to remain here and discuss the issue. There were innocent people in danger, some of them dying, because of the whims of a deranged cult of evil madmen. Taking the documents and setting them aside, the blonde girl rose to her feet.

"While there's much to talk about, we can't delay any longer," she decided, finally. Fanilly had wished for some more time to rest, but she supposed it wouldn't be difficult to do so in transit to their destination.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow," she concluded, "I can't allow murderous madmen to kill whoever they please, and perhaps those in charge of Velt and Ithillin's forces can help to explain this plan in more detail."

Or formulate an alternative. What mattered most was that they successfully eradicated this cult. Fanilly couldn't say she felt the utmost confidence in herself or in any other matters, but what she could say is that they had to move quickly in order to stop any other innocents from being harmed.

She decided to put off admonishing her knights. As distasteful as she found their behavior earlier, there was too much preparation to be done and explanation already.

Fanilly took a deep breath.

"... Lady Belwiss, please inform the knights to be prepared for departure tomorrow morning," she said, turning to her former mentor. Admittedly it was a duty she should have handled herself, but at the moment she felt rather drained. "I'll be in my quarters, preparing for tomorrow myself."

@ghastlyInc@AtomicNut@TheFake@Raineh Daze@Aleranicus@Saltwater Thief

"I just don't trust the college to not have something to do with all of this. If not all then at least some of them."

He followed her out to the main gates.

"Maybe, in my own way, I was hoping that a couple of knights poking around would force somebodies hand. A spooked conspirator would be that much easier to find."





Salz found the presence of the rope in the cart a little bit odd. But she had other things on her mind and the lack of any bodies or blood anywhere helped to ease her mind. As things were, there was little she could do, not knowing the city. All she could do was return to Candaeln and wait. At least she had finally reached Candaeln to join her adoptive brother.

"Anybody that could keep this plan secret for long enough to enact a theft would take more than our mere presence to give a clue."

---

"As you wish," the older woman said, getting to work on the task immediately. If she had to inform the knights, that left less time for her to prepare for the first field campaign that she had been involved in since taking up the task of training Fanilly five years ago. It was fortunate indeed that the job itself had required exercising her combat skills... and the captain had improved rapidly enough to allow her to shake off the rust after an unexpected break.

Yet, several hours later, Lilianna still found time to visit Fanilly, awkwardly pushing open the heavy door with one hand. The other, after all, was rather occupied with a young child. It wouldn't take a genius to connect it to Lilianna; white hair wasn't so common that there were a vast supply of other options around Candaeln.

The visit had been expected, the tag-along less so. Showing demonstrably more embarrassment than normal--that is to say, blushing at all--Lilianna explained that Vivien had wanted to say good night to "her aunt". A message that the girl herself enthusiastically repeated, wriggling free only to latch herself around the captain's waist.

"I've told you, Fanilly, that even as a captain you can't take responsibility for actions and problems outside of your control. Especially when dealing with enemies."