[center][h3][color=#b3ccff]Esben Mathiassen[/color][/h3][/center]
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[color=#b3ccff]"Hmm? Oh, sure. I'll go look with you."[/color]

In their time since washing ashore, Esben had spent the majority of it in quiet contemplation of the events that had led up to their current predicament. All told, considering just what had faced them—it wasn't a complete, unmitigated disaster. But to call it a setback would be a severe understatement. The most value he'd gotten out of everything was a clearer picture on the dynamics of the Grovemasters. Isolde, either an utter fanatic or using it to hide a deeper betrayal; Zacharias, the staunch conservative, with a seeming penchant for isolationism and superiority to match the stereotypes of Skael's leaders; and Alambert, the one that supposedly 'could be turned.'

The prospects were bleak, but not impossible.

With somewhat vacant eyes, he followed along behind Éliane towards the beach. Evidently, in the process of removing them all to the safe shore, Leviathan's waters had managed to knock pieces loose of her cannon. Perhaps her other firearms, he hadn't listened closely enough to determine just what was missing. He just barely took note of Rudolf slipping away into the forest, and with a wave and a nod, set Eos to follow along behind him. Small insurance that the swordsman wouldn't get himself killed, and if anything truly catastrophic should happen, the fairy would be able to fly back and warn the group extremely quickly.

Combing the beach with Éliane, and leaving Eos to watch over Rudolf, with Selene floating behind him ready to step in or fly off for anything else he might need, did not require much of his mental bandwidth, leaving him free to think over other things.

The first being that he would need to have a talk with both Éliane and Galahad at some point. Likely with Izayoi's backing, as she had learned her lessons about not letting her temper dictate how she conducted herself, and he didn't hold much hope that either would be likely to listen to him much without the backup. Talks with [i]everybody[/i] about not volunteering information where it wasn't necessary, though some of that was due as much to what Neve had shared with her masters as anything the rest of the group had actually said.

More than that, however, he needed to come up with a plan for dealing with the Grovemasters themselves. No doubt they would all be on high alert and under heavy guard, though that was nothing he was terribly unfamiliar with. Getting close to them was not his primary worry. What to do once he [i]had[/i] was. Eliminating them all, tying up the loose threads, and rendering Drana Asnaeu little more than a protectorate [i]was[/i] an option, but an unsavory one. Best to keep only for a complete emergency scenario, as the likelihood of reprisal and rebellion would increase exponentially if he should have to make that move.

The name Cid, however, had gotten some purchase with them. Not only with Isolde, though she was the one who found the most opportunity to gain from it in her personal goals. The most conservative member of the trio had the greatest reaction to it, while it had provided enough for Alambert at least to call them into their chambers, rather than continuing to deliberate openly. The primal elementals were obviously of importance as well, given that they were sent to undertake a trial with Leviathan—no doubt part of Isolde's doing, but the point remained. Should he manage to get one of them away, to commune with the eidolons, then perhaps—

[color=#b3ccff]"Eh?"[/color]

[color=#008b8b][b]"You weren't supposed to say that!"[/b][/color]

Evidently Rudolf and Eos had returned, with the corpse of a bear in tow. The sun's position in the sky had notably changed, and as he looked behind, he noticed the line of tracks that he and his countrywoman had left behind them as they combed the beach. [color=#b3ccff]"That's why I sent her, yes. Glad to know I made the right choice."[/color] Eos fluttered over to Selene, as the pair began to go over just what the green one had witnessed following behind Rudolf. He clicked his tongue, a brief bout of annoyance coming over him as he was pulled out of his thoughts, digging his toes into the sand...and striking metal.

He bent down, lifting out what looked like some sort of worm on its shaft out of the sand, where it had been barely buried. [color=#b3ccff]"Hmm. This isn't what you were looking for, is it, Éliane?"[/color] he asked the pink-haired woman, holding it up where she could see, revealing the hand crank attached to it. [color=#b3ccff]"I haven't missed too much while we've been walking about, have I?"[/color]