Esben Mathiassen, Ranbu no Izayoi, Galahad Caradoc, and Éliane Laruelle
After a night’s rest and a fast breakfast, Esben did not waste any time pursuing the furtherance of his conversation with Izayoi the night before. Izayoi—despite any of her grousing and protestations—was easy enough to gather, dragging her along in tow behind him as he swept through the Mystrel tribe’s camp. The first of his targets to round up was the pink-haired woman that he shared a homeland with, though more and more often recently he’d had to wonder whether or not her bombastic, distinctly un-Skaeller demeanour meant she’d somehow been swapped shortly after birth with a changeling or someone from a different country.
Luckily, she seemed to be looking for him as well, if her expression suddenly running into them after he and Izayoi rounded past one of the tents was anything to go by.
”Come with us,” he demanded, not wasting a step as he continued on past—one hand grabbing at her elbow to pull her along and make sure she didn’t stay rooted to the spot out of either shock or stubbornness.
”Have you seen Galahad? I need to speak with the both of you.”Éliane had come straight from her wholesome discussion with Miina and had indeed been directly looking for Esben. “Oh, Esben. I was looking for you…” She frowned as the spy grabbed her elbow and began to pull her along. It didn’t take her long for her to tug away and then smacked at his hand with her other hand to free herself from his unwanted clinginess. “Rude. I haven’t seen Galahad… but as I was saying, Miina and I came up with a strategy. We must remove the Grovemasters and you are the person that can help with this.”
”Somehow, I doubt that she had as much input as you make it sound,” Esben replied drily.
”I’ve been planning what to do about the Grovemasters since we spoke in front of them. Isolde has only somewhat changed that. I’ve got something else I need you and Galahad for.” He stopped in his tracks suddenly, turning back to Izayoi.
”I imagine you found a good spot to exercise last night, ja? I wouldn’t put it past him to be doing similar or to find much the same spot. Care to lead the way?”A wordless nod was Izayoi’s only response, followed by a gesture to follow her. Two minutes of walking through camp and slightly outside of it led them to a clearing she’d found the night before, well suitable for training. It was where Miina had come across her previously, and still just within view of camp.
The Mystrel tribe's camp was a welcome reprieve to their thus far chaotic journey. No one looking to betray or attack them, and the din of bustling civilization had given way to the quiet solitude of nature. Galahad had spent much of his time here recuperating from his injuries in silence, reflecting on past events- not quite brooding, most of the time anyway.
The Dragoon glanced over as Izayoi, followed by Esben and Éliane entered the clearing. His eyebrow lifted in mild surprise, he'd expected Izayoi to return at some point- she'd been the one to show him this spot in the first place, though the two Skaellers were an unexpected sight.
”Quite the gathering.” Galahad mused, nodding his head as he turned towards the collected group.
”I'd ask what I could do for you all, but I suppose you're about to tell me.”“I thought we were gathering to discuss how to get rid of the Grovemasters,” came Éliane’s simple reply as she sideyed Esben.
”The most I have for either of you on that topic is that I want you to keep out of my way,” came the spy’s placid reply.
”What I wish to speak with the both of you about is two-fold: Our methodology going forward, and your diplomatic skills.” He paused, finally returning Éliane’s glance.
”And gauge your governing skills, if the worst should come to pass, though ideally it won’t.”Éliane gave Esben another look as Galahad answered. “We’ll talk about that later.” She wasn’t dense enough to miss the obvious dig and had bristled slightly at that comment, but made a gesture for him to continue at what he was leading at.
A beat passed as Esben returned his stare to Galahad.
”How did you sleep, Galahad?”The Dragoon in question raised an eyebrow at the Skaeller's question. He sighed, given the absolute shit show their time in Drana Asnaeu had been thus far, he supposed he should've figured they'd be having this discussion sooner rather than later.
”As well as I could, given our circumstances.” Galahad replied evenly.
”You've never hesitated to speak your mind before, I doubt the quality of my sleep will affect it now.””For the love of the gods, get on with it.” Izayoi scoffed to Esben, rolling her eyes.
”And here I was under the impression that men were supposed to be better at speaking frankly.” She turned towards Galahad and Éliane, her exasperation still evident.
”He wishes for the both of you to restrain yourselves from making any sort of threats or overt actions the next time we must needs take any diplomatic action.”Galahad shrugged, but nodded in agreement.
”Fair enough. I lost my composure. Done.”The corner of Esben’s mouth twitched as Izayoi jumped in, though whether it was momentary frustration or amusement was almost impossible to determine.
”Yes, dear,” came a sarcastic mumble, in response to
one of the two that had just expressed their displeasure with him—though he left them to determine.
”Just figuring your mood before we dive in, Galahad; that helps me decide just what level of the topic has to be broached with you. If you’re back to the form I expect, that makes this so much simpler.”Éliane gave a glance at Esben’s comment. It lingered there for long enough to send a message. “I still don’t see anything wrong with my brand of diplomacy. But I’ll check in with you more,” she conceded. At least, on the surface.
For all that the dragoon’s festering frustration had given him cause to worry, he at least hadn’t been given any reason
not to take Galahad at face value when he admitted to it.
”More than that, though—from the moment we stepped off the boat, we’ve been far too loud here. Our first chance for a diplomatic solution was when we were faced with those guards on the dock.” While Galahad hadn’t been the one to let the cat out of the bag there—and the one who
had done so had already caught an earful about it—it was clear enough to Esben that contributing to it then had only set the stage for the continued failures the party had experienced trying to navigate Drana Asnaeu’s tangles.
The pink-haired Skaelan gave an innocent look at that.
”Might I have your assurance that you’ll encourage everybody to take more precautions in that realm?” he asked, before continuing:
”And, for the benefit of this conversation, could I also ask you to give your personal take on the consequences of a failure of diplomacy? Because as things stand, if I can’t make the right appeal, I’m afraid we may be pushing Drana Asnaeu headlong into them, both internally and externally.””Might as well have brought everyone here to have this conversation then, but yes, I’ll tell them.” Galahad replied, not necessarily happy, but not arguing otherwise.
”I’m aware of the consequences. As you say, we risk pushing Drana Asnaeu into conspiring with Valheim. At best, they refuse to aid us. At worst, we find ourselves fighting a conflict on multiple fronts, while also trying to stop Valheim from taking the crystals- and facing the end of the world as we know it.”Galahad sighed and the dragoon brought a hand to his temple. While not an outright accusation, it certainly felt like the blame for the debacle at the Grovemaster’s chambers and beyond were being heaped onto his shoulders at the present moment.
”As I said, I lost my composure- Normally I maintain it, this time I didn’t. Hells, even without me losing my temper, half of our party- present company included-” The dragoon’s eyes glanced towards his two longest running companions,
“-has no issue antagonizing practically everyone we come across. As far as the Grovemasters go, they were already set against us from the start.“”I antagonize people by remaining alive in their presence, Caradoc.” Izayoi sighed in exasperation, more at the situation than any bother at the actual concept.
”I exchanged no hostilities to the Grovemasters that their old wretch did not initiate. Regardless, while I don’t share his evaluation on the severity of our situation, I do agree that we could stand to be somewhat less open as a group.” Her gaze shifted towards Éliane.
”That would mean no threats of war that you cannot fulfill. While I doubt that refraining from doing so would have changed the outcome, it certainly did not aid us. Frankly speaking, I care less about the results of what happened with the Grovemasters and moreso how we treat with Skael and Edren from here on out.”“Fine,” Éliane replied sharply. “I might not have the absolute authority to make those threats, but I don’t have any doubt it’s a decision that Skael will be prodded towards even without my opinion if the Grovemasters continue acting as they are now.” She smacked a fist into her open palm. “If the Grovemasters are the problem –and they are!- then we’ll just have to get rid of them. As I mentioned earlier, Miina and I were working on a plan to assassinate all three of them. We don’t have any other choice if you think my warmongering is unfeasible.”
Esben remained silent, looking back and forth as Izayoi and Éliane spoke up in turn before he could reply to Galahad. The stubbornness of the latter was exactly what he’d expected, and exactly why he wanted the other two present to help rein it in.
”We were going to get pushback from them regardless,” he conceded at Galahad’s final point, echoing exactly what he’d said to Izayoi the night before.
”Nor do I think I made the right decision holding my tongue, hoping someone else would share my definition of judicious...and we all made our unhappy remarks to their faces. This certainly isn’t only about you.”Hopefully that would assuage the dragoon’s pride, or cut through his frustration enough that he could see what was actually going on.
”Assassinating all three of them is exactly what I was talking about, asking Galahad to give some personal insight on the stakes we’re facing. We don’t know the playing field here well enough beyond the Grovemasters to take that option easily. Who to back, how to ensure a useful continuation of government—if all we do is cut the head off so that we can get to our target, that leaves Drana Asnaeu ripe for exploitation by our enemies, not to mention the potential for local unrest. That should be saved for the absolute last resort.”Exactly why he’d said that he’d already been working on his own plan, and he didn’t want the others getting in the way. Trying to execute a coup was messier than any story presented it as—combining that with outright assassinations even more.
”We would also—sorry, Éliane,” he added as a fast aside,
”Be served by making ourselves less conspicuous if we can. Less open, as Izayoi said, should extend to trying not to be so identifiable. Valheim could have eyes and ears anywhere, and it’s safest to assume they do. Even in otherwise friendly locations.”He shot a glance at the woman to his side.
”You heard what Kayliss said about Loki, ja? If her reports haven’t been coming in, that can’t mean anything good. I’d just as soon play it safe and assume they’re onto quite a bit.””First, whomst? Second, assassination is also pointless should they die before giving us the Water Crystal’s location.” Izayoi gave Esben a sharp look at the random names he’d thrown in.
”We are here for one thing and one thing only: to secure the crystal. All else is immaterial. To that end, we’ll need to either interrogate the Grovemasters or find some way to cajole them to our side. As much as I would far prefer to drench my blade in the blood of obstinate fools and be done with it, we cannot. Yet.” ”I’d go so far as to say we should expect some pushback for every crystal, no matter our personal connections to whoever is in charge of each. We can afford this even less with our allies than with our supposedly-neutral opposition here.””Indeed. I can imagine certain members among us each would far prefer not to kill Skael’s overseer, King Leonhart, or Lord Hien. In that sense, Drana Asnaeu at least affords us the luxury of none of us giving a bent copper about the Grovemasters.” Esben stared flatly at Izayoi. He was joined by Éliane.
”I think assassination would be less than ideal.” Galahad agreed with a short cough to break the growing tension.
”Even if I might agree that Isolde at the very least deserves retribution, I think that cutting the head off of Drana Asnaeu’s leadership would be more detrimental to our efforts. Though Neve is no longer physically with our group, I doubt she’d look very fondly upon us if we started uprooting her nation’s government with nothing to show for it.””I’ll agree that we should make ourselves less visible moving forward. It may be a bit late for us to start concealing our presence here- but perhaps making it worse would be less than ideal.” Galahad frowned,
”How ought we go about getting this information out of the Grovemasters then? They consider Cid to be a false idol- a pretender of sorts, perhaps there is a way to use that to our advantage?” ”One of them believes that,” the SEED countered.
”We don't know that for the other two. It may well be that Isolde was concealing her motives from them as well in that meeting. If Zacharias believed exactly as Isolde does, I doubt he would have been able to hide his rage—instead, he was shocked to speechlessness. That's hard to convincingly fake.”Which left Alambert, the one who hadn't reacted at all, and who Isolde felt could have been swayed if they played along with her, as the ever-present wildcard.
”They value their country's relationship with the spirits and elementals that populate it, do they not? That may be something I'm able to leverage.””Supposedly.” Izayoi cut in, a cynical expression upon her face. Which was no different from her usual expression, really.
”But Isolde certainly had no issue enacting what Leviathan perceived to be a betrayal. Perhaps we may be best off judging the temperament of the other two before we proceed down this path.”Éliane looked unhappy at this turn of events, with the conversation and planning straying away from military invasion and assassination, but she knew they were right. Looking as if she swallowed a bitter pill, she nodded. “Fine. We’ll investigate the other two. But once we get that information…” she trailed off, her intentions obvious.
”I feel like one of the key takeaways of this conversation was that we wouldn’t murder the Grovemasters.” Galahad mused.
”Even if I’d hardly call them agreeable. Zacharias might be a good place to start. He’s simple minded in his indignation- yet that makes him more predictable.”“Yet,” Éliane emphasized.
”The continuation of Drana Asnaeu’s government serves us better than the opposite, and we don’t have enough information to know who to replace them all with if we kill them all,” Esben replied flatly, stubbornly repeating himself.
”If we can maintain both Alambert and Zacharias, turn them against Isolde, then that is the absolute ideal—certainly if we can convince them to bring Neve in to fill the vacuum. Even if only one of them can be convinced to work with us, that is a better option than having to replace them all.”He nodded at Galahad once.
”Zacharias was, in fact, the one I was planning to start with. For that reason and others.” His gaze shifted over to Izayoi, wondering just which side she was inclined to
vocally agree with on that particular point.
”As it stands, though—we are all in agreement about the rest of what we discussed, ja? It may be best to conclude this there, then, and get on with our other preparations while we still have this camp to rely on.””Yes, fine.” Izayoi grumbled, folding her arms across her chest at the thought of dealing with that unpleasant curmudgeon again.
”Should he raise his voice to me again, though, I cannot guarantee he will leave his captivity unblemished.”“...” Éliane was looking increasingly irritated, but she nodded slowly, darkly agreeing with Izayoi. “He better cooperate then.”
