Oh my~? What an interesting turn of events. At first, Evelyn believed that she was the last to arrive, but she was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. Two more interesting individuals made their presence known; the first one was an armored swordswoman riding a steed, a fellow human who shared a nearly identical hair color and style as herself, albeit her locks had an orange ombre to them and she sported amber irises instead. She was... gorgeous, for a lack of better words, at least Evelyn believed so. Little did the young girl know, she admired her father so much that she became subconsciously partial to people sharing his traits, and the warrioress who just introduced herself as Carnatia definitely qualified as one, small differences in detail aside. As such, without even realizing it, Eve found herself not-so-subtly staring at the exiled noble...
Just after Carnatia gave her greetings to her employer, she noticed the young girl who had arrived just before her looking curiously at her. The girl had introduced herself as Evelyn Theophania Konstantin. Carnatia, of course, was aware of the Helvetia Republic's ruling family. She was sure that their family—both being important families of prominent nations that border each other—has had some dealings in the past, though she, herself had never personally met anyone from the Konstantin family.
Of course, the question that ran through her mind—and probably most of everyone in the camp—was what a child her age doing here? Moral issue aside, there was also the political consideration that one would need to consider for being on this expedition with a child of such an important family. It did not seem like she was exiled like Carnatia, hence, Carnatia's other worry was what the repercussion and the political fallout would be if Evelyn was harmed or worse in the course of this expedition. She did hear that they had a daughter who was a tremendously prodigious artificer.
Before she could approach the girl, however, Evelyn turned around and started a conversation with the hooded elf—who apparently went by Gray Flame—and the heavily armoured knight who had arrived around the same time with Carnatia. It would appear that the Gray Flame was an acquaintance of Evelyn's father. Perhaps he was even here partly on behalf of Consul Konstantin to chaperone her daughter? If so, at the very least, were things to go south, the Gray Flame would most likely take the brunt of the responsibility. Of course, Carnatia wished no harm on the young Konstantin scion but alas, such were the considerations one would need to take when dealing with a prominent family. Of course, both on a pragmatic level of lessening the risk of political fallout and morally just by virtue of being comrades in this expedition if nothing else, Carnatia intend to keep an eye on the girl.
Although...seeing the young girl brandishing her rapier in a short exhibition of her skills, Carnatia could tell that the girl was not defenceless. There was that at least, although...being an adventurer involved more than combat ability. Carnatia couldn't help but cringe remembering her clumsy attempts at various other aspects of adventuring aside from combat—many of which would be common proficiency for commoners—before Master Tokimune picked her up as his student. Carnatia didn't know how much experience Evelyn had with those things, but well...perhaps she should keep an eye, just in case. Also, she was in that scenario before. Although, if it turned out this girl was actually more proficient than Carnatia was at such things, that...would be embarrassing...and mortifying.
Before long, they departed from their camp, starting their journey to Nuria. Being the only one who brought her own horse, Carnatia was tasked to be the outrider. A task that she acquiesced to happily, as she trudged along a few paces behind the wagon, enjoying the sound of the flute one of the elf adventurers was playing. Indeed, Carnatia was perfectly fine being the outrider. It was logical, and furthermore, she was getting paid a hefty sum of money, so she would like to pull her weight. There was nothing worse than someone who insisted on receiving unmeritorious dues, and she hoped everyone in the expedition shared that sentiment. They applied for this expedition with a huge reward, so it was only right that they turned in a performance that was worth the money they were being paid for.
As they continued travelling along the road, however, the weather turned foul as a fierce thunderstorm fell upon them. So foul was the weather that they were forced to stop their travel and seek refuge at an abandoned house. Carnatia was not exactly jumping at the idea of staying in such a dilapidated house, but she understood the necessity—especially in an expedition such as these—and it was a better alternative than camping in this thunderstorm. She just hoped the roof held and kept the wind and rain out. Carnatia got off her horse and had it settled.
Another of her fellow adventurers, Engelbert appeared to have taken it upon himself to take care of the horses. Carnatia had never personally met the knight, but given she was from a family who had a long tradition of knighthood, she had heard of the wandering knight by reputation. Giving the old knight a nod of gratitude, Carnatia entered the house, where she saw some of the adventures going to the upper level. Carnatia opted to remain downstairs. They did not need everyone to check the second floor, and it was important that we still have a lookout downstairs, and so she remained on the first floor.
After some time, Engelbert entered the house. Carnatia was about to answer his inquiry with 'Nothing much' when the eastern-looking man came down, asking for some flame for lighting before a newcomer entered the house, introducing herself as a member of the expedition who ran a little late. Carnatia would lie if she said it wasn't somewhat suspicious, but it was easy enough to confirm with Vesemir here, she assumed he had done a background check on the people he hired.
"Ahem! As we're finally in one place, shall we do a small reintroduction? It will be good to know each other better since we will be traversing into an infamously dangerous location soon enough. Jolly cooperation and all that, yes?" The knight-errant glanced around the room for a split second, continuing before anyone can sound an objection. "It is only fair for me to start. I am Sir Engelbert, but do call me whatever you're comfortable with. Old man, tincan, or just my name - I do not mind. As you can likely guess, I'm best at the vanguard. Scant few can penetrate my armor, and I'm strong enough that most things that get in range of my sword will likely have a very bad time. And... I believe that is all from old me. Nothing flashy, but it gets the job done."
Once again his gaze fell across the audience, as if encouraging someone to step up after.
"So! Who's next?"
As they all gathered on the first floor, the old knight introduced himself, before proposing a small reintroduction. It was probably a good idea, they hadn't properly gotten acquainted with each other, and now was as good of time as any.
Carnatia stepped forward,
"Well met, Sir Engelbert. It is an honour to be working with such a decorated knight." She then turned to the others,
"My name is Carnatia, all of you may call me how you wish. I do not mind as long as it is not meant to be derogatory or an insult. As for my skills...well, I am a fencer, of sorts, though I rely more on magic rather than sheer strength. I also have some skills in dismantling magical enchantment, though I am far from an expert. I look forward to working with all of you.Roxas came down the stairs easily, and moved to the dining table. She set the items from the chest down, and the pamphlet for the business, then set the pendant and draft a little bit away. She looked up to the group. "Oi. I found all this upstairs. The quiver and other items were in a locked chest. This pendant, picture and draft.. were behind a locked bedroom door. Why it was locked, don't ask me. Anyone who can.. I suggest seeing if they're magical items, or if they can get information from them." She looked back to the items, the quiver pictures in particular. They looked so drastically different, but what was the time frame between them.
Carnatia then turned to the elven girl who just come down with various items,
"I could try to take a look at those things you have to see if any are magical. Although..." She turned to Evelyn,
"I presume Lady Konstantin there would be the one best suited for it if we are talking about magical items."
