The trek and 'key' granted by the Lady had gone, compared to what had transpired so far, much more smoothly. Rolan had considered the rather large, now bested, Guardian the rest of the Order had slain and it made him wonder where he would have been more useful. The Gannek had been vitally necessary to slay, for both their own personal goals and the overall good of the woods themselves, but he had a feeling that he merely made the kill slightly faster while he had to consider whether or not alchemist fire would have rendered the guardian ash and bits of kindling. Then again, given its current condition in defeat, that might be frowned far more heavily upon than simply slaying it as it was currently. Still, between their efforts they fortunately had both the door and key in hand, so all that left was, unfortunately, to go wandering a fae realm, parlay with a being powerful enough to maintain her own domain quite thoroughly, and win back not only the Duke's wits but a trophy for the Lady as well. How hard could that be, he considered with full sarcasm as the gate was opened and they were cast into the fae realm proper.

[hr]

[i][color=lightblue]"Should have known better, really..."[/color][/i]

Rolan's thoughts on the current scenery and warm, snow covered ground were not complimentary, to say the least. He never liked cold weather to begin with, snow being a byproduct of that typically, but the fact it lacked any of the normal signs of a cold winter night didn't help matters at all either. Every little detail he noticed about this place put him on edge, and it left him hoping that fortune didn't abandon them now. The moon was wrong, unmarred and alone in the looming sky, not to mention far too close for his liking. Close enough he had to almost wonder if he could place a bolt on its surface, and how it might even react if he could. Assuming the distance between them matched how it looked, which he couldn't assume or take for granted unlike the not so fae realm he found himself preferring more and more with each passing moment. Not a surprise but there was a large gap between the thought of going into a fae realm, and actually doing so and having to acknowledge everything only working the way the Queen wanted.

The best way he could consider putting it was the place had an empty, comfortless warmth. Yes, it was warm despite the snow, the unnatural moon that hung low and large, dominating the sky like an arrogant fixture, that was what it was, arrogant. Blot out the stars, wipe away all the perceived imperfections, and it was an arrogant approximation of the moon. Fit the way the Lady described her sister, broadly speaking, to have such a realm that stretched out as far as the eye could see, snow and woodlands that grew denser the further one moved from the gateway to this place. The trees were wrong too, mind, but at this point he would be more surprised if something [i]wasn't[/i] subtly or flagrantly wrong in some shape or another. Never mind the crow headed fae who had opened his massive beak to comment on their...

Rolan felt every nerve go on edge as he tensed, noting the captain rest a hand on her blade, as he pulled his cloak tighter, concealing his arms from view in case he had to act as he turned to face the fae who had found their arrival. Warden on this side of the gateway, perhaps, fitting for a bird to be ready to squawk the moment it saw something unwelcome or uninvited. Speaking again, the goal of their little adventure made herself known. Small, child like, hair that would drag if the realm was allowed to do so, and a temperament that reminded him of some traits he disliked in people. Her sister was by and far the more preferential one to deal with, and that was not even taking into account anything besides demeanor and behavior, in appearance it was no real contest. None of that was relevant currently, however, as the Captain was....cursed? However it was done, her hair sprung free and grew wild, practically matching that of the Moonlit Queen herself, reinforcing that they were within her power's domain.

She seemed more interested in who landed the killing blow on her guardian, something that Dame Tyaethe rightly pointed out made little difference, though the mention of a guardian not letting them in, he suspected, was a somewhat pointless redirection. If he was to guess at how things worked, the Moonlit Queen probably could tell exactly who's key was used, it was not exactly like they had simply borrowed or stole a literal keyring and tried them until one fit. Considering their presence was also known immediately, a gambler might safely wager that the question on the slayer of the guardian was of more interest since she likely had no eyes on it when it was felled. He had not been present for its defeat, and could not truthfully state who had laid it low, so it was not his place to speak on the matter. Still, he was wary and on watch, deferring to those with experience in dealing with the more dangerous fae to act as diplomats unless he had to interject otherwise.