[IC] Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

[Raineh Daze]

Sir Tyaethe Radistirin and Lilianna Belwiss

"You don't say?" the knight groaned, looking around at the rest of the people that had come with them... and noting that absolutely zero of their magically inclined members were in the vicinity. Wonderful, they were just going to have to stay here, waiting... which made this time to approach the servants and ask them where she could get water. The sticky blood was all the incentive needed to get directions.

She wasn't the only one to approach those around them with an inquiry--though in Lilianna's case, it was the far more practical "if any of the other knights come in, please send them straight here." They didn't want to have their spellcasters meandering about the place trying to find them...

[VitaVitaAR]

Fanilly's shoulders slumped. Not only were those versed in magic preoccupied, but the manner in which the Earl's mind had been addled was... so strange. He'd become unable to recognize blood, weapons... it was as if those things simply weren't there. Lilianna made the wise decision to notify any approaching knights of their location, and a servant was quickly dispatched for just that purpose. This left Fanilly to try and figure out how she could help with this situation. She knew no magic, but if she could think of any way to help at all... the blonde knight-captain sighed to herself. This wasn't a problem she could solve, but perhaps... If nothing else, she could at least attempt to figure out how such a thing had happened.

"Earl Achter, do you remember anything strange happening recently?" asked the girl, stepping forward as she did. "Anything at all? Even if it doesn't seem out of the ordinary, er..."

She paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word her next statement. But the Earl was swift to pick up on her intent.

"Ah, if you're wondering about anything out of the ordinary, there was a visitor less then a week ago!"

The Earl's son seemed confused.

"A visitor, father? I can't recall any," he began, "Are you certain?"

"Of course! She was a beautiful young woman, clad in a black dress," he boomed cheerfully.

The look on the face of his son said everything Fanilly needed to know. He didn't recall any young woman in a black dress, and if she had to guess... neither would anyone else.

"Lord Achter, did you father begin acting differently about a week ago?" she asked, turning to face the young man. After a few moments of hesitation, he nodded.

So the two matters were related...

---

Lyrie fidgeted. She had set Avlin's bone, and he was now resting comfortably as it mended, and for that she felt nothing but relief. But now she couldn't locate her cousin, nor could she find any of the other knights she had spoken to previously. Neither the somewhat intimidating mage, or the scary immortal knight, or... or... well, to be honest, there were more then a few who were kind of intimidating. Not in some rough, frightening way, but in a sort of manner that made her feel as if she couldn't attain the heights that they could. She knew it was perhaps bad to think like that, but it was hard not to at times... Regardless, she had entered the town and immediately become somewhat lost.

All she had wanted to do was speak to her cou-the Captain, and ask if there were any other duties she could fulfill. Surely there were wounded here, but what if there were more experienced healers then herself? What if she simply got in the way? What if-

She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a tug at one of her sleeves from behind.

"A-ah?"

Turning, and looking down, the small girl was greeted with the sight of a child. She looked no older then ten, with black hair and pale skin, and distinctive green eyes. She was clad in a wide-brimmed, pointed traveling hat, and a traveling coat to match. It was of fine make, but seemed out of place for a resident of the town. Still, what else could she have been?

"Oh, a respectable big sister type like you must be with those knights!" she said, excitedly. At this, Lyrie felt herself nearly burning with embarrassment. Respectable big sister type?! What would drive anyone to call her something like that?! She wasn't worth respecting or anything, she hadn't done anything worthy of being looked up to like that...

"... U-um, I'm a healer currently w-working with them, yes..." the blonde said, nervously.

"I heard the pretty blonde captain girl needed all the knights to go to the castle," she said, "So I thought I'd be a good girl and help!"

Her cou-the Captain needed everyone? Lyrie paused for a moment. She knew that Sir Tiral had gone off to the forest to investigate something... she nodded to herself. She'd tell them and then return to her duties as a healer.

"Ah, er, thank you!" said Lyrie, turning on her heel and quickly making to head out of town, "You're a good girl!"

The little girl waved to her.

And smiled.

---

"U-um..." Feeree shifted awkwardly. This was a lot of things the little fairy had clearly never thought about. It was possible she'd never even seen an orc prior to this time. Kopuro was still holding her in a defensive fashion. However, when Fleuri offered the former of the two fairies a feather, she was quick to snatch it up.

"Uwaah, it's so pretty!" she said, quickly distracted from her previous uncertainty as she held it up in both hands, "I wanna use it to make a dress! Or... or a hat! Or... or..."

She trailed off, remembering the situation.

"... U-um... Sorry."

At the very least it was clear she felt guilty about it.

Meanwhile, fairies almost flooded into Indrau's hand, swiftly distracted from any theft attempts at the promise of a gift. At least they tried, but it was clear enough that there was really only enough room for one to stand comfortably soon enough, so most of them relented and allowed a single fairy to land. She was blonde, with bright, blue eyes.

"Feeree told me about her," she said, "So I went looked and I found her again! She was by the big rock with the old ruins around it! Um... humans call it... Old Falthier, right?"

Old Falthier? The ruins were ancient, a relic of Thaln's earliest days. Was it possible the 'dark lady' had made a base there?

Kopuro, at this news, folded her arms.

"Hmph. I'm not going to tolerate mistreating Feeree, even if she's really stupid," the pigtailed fairy began.

"... I... y-you really don't have to try and speak up for me, Kopuro..." protested the other fairy weakly.

"But it looks like we have a common enemy!" declared Kopuro, thrusting on finger skyward, "That dark lady used one of us to do something really bad, and I won't forgive her for that! Even if it would have been avoided if Feeree didn't act so dumb!"

"... Y-you can stop now, Kopuro..."

"That's right! Just because Feeree can be a total idiot doesn't mean someone can just go taking advantage of her!"

"... Please stop, I-I think they get the idea..."

"She's our idiot!"

"Kopuro..."

Feeree didn't seem particularly upset, but it was clear she didn't exactly like the way Kopuro was calling her an idiot, even if it was seemingly with the best intentions.

[Crusader Lord]

Cymbeline Lockhart

---

Cymbeline perked up at the mention of the "dark lady" again, but this time with an actual location where she had been last spotted. However, the location was more...potentially worrisome and concerning than she might have guessed. If she had a guess at all as to where such a person wielding dark magic would go in the first place. Old Falthier, ruins from the ancient history of Thaln itself, a relic from among its earliest days. A potential treasure trove of information, but if someone with potent dark magic was going there....something was fishy. Fishy indeed, like the plot twist in stories told to young children about heroes and monsters and ancient beasts and such. Even so, this fairy's spotting of this figure there could be old by now, if the figure had any sense of tactics about them. But...a potential lead was a lead, and part of her burned to get a hold of the one who had tried to harm her-......"their" beloved Captain.

"Sir Indrau, i'll go inform the Captain of these developments," Cymbeline said, looking up at the older rune user, giving the man a respectful nod, leaving the piece of charred wood alone that she had been about to investigate here on the spot.

With that, the half-Nem began to sprint towards the town and out of the woods, after biting the top of her finger and drawing a sigil on the outside of her cloak, before running her magical energy into it. This would activate the sigil's power, in the form of a temporary boost her stamina. It wasn't much, just a sigil used for the whenever she needed to push herself a little harder, or needed to escape in a battle. It would be enough, she supposed, to get her to the town well enough.

However....

As she made her way towards the town and rest of the knights proper's location, she saw a pair of blond twintails head in her direction. The face was definitely familiar, that being of the groups' proper healer as it were. Lyrie. Admittedly Cymbeline found her to be a bit cute, but as the girl was headed towards where the mages were in the woods the half-Nem directed her own course to approach the other girl.

"Lyrie, is something amiss?" Cymbeline asked aloud as she approached the healer, one eyebrow raised, curious as to what would bring the healer out this way where the attack had come from that could have nearly incinerated the captain.

[Noodles]

Klaus

Klaus looked away from the Faries. Old Falthier, not another ancient ruins. She pondered whether the ruins they've encountered a week before have something to do with that one. She was eager to pursue the black-dressed lady without delay, not to lose the trail of the magician. But one part of her had told her that it isn't a very good decision. Just like what that immortal Knight said about not blindly attacking someone that she doesn't know about, if I'd remembered it correctly...

Despite how things were going, Klaus still found it hard to take the faries seriously. From their manner of speech... Wait, I know... since they're known to be harmless...

"Kopuro, Feeree," Klaus approached the faries, trying to put on a more gentle and refined tone of speech, "Would you all mind to keep the dark lady under watch? There's no need for you faries to do anything there, you all just have to keep us informed on her whereabouts."

[TheFake]

— Brennan Woods —

"Good job, I am in your debt."

He nodded at the small figure in his hand. He knew the ruins though had never visited them himself. It would be foolish to go ahead with just the numbers that were present. He was certain that this womon would have placed traps in their path similar to the one on this hilltop and there was a possibility that she may have more orcs with her.

"We should stay here and await reinforcements."

He nodded to the departing Cymbeline and again at Klaus's suggestion.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Tiral brushed himself off as he collected the last of the material off the ground, calmly dispelling the ice crystals orbiting him from existence as he got to his feet. The other knights had gathered enough information, it seemed, and he had eavesdropped well enough to be able to more or less understand where everyone stood. Pursuing their target to their own base, especially considering the damage that had just occurred, was nothing more than a fool's gambit at the moment. Of course, before he could head off himself one of the other knights decided to ride off instead. While that was... Less that ideal, there wasn't much other excuse he could conjure up to leave this area any faster to handle his work.
In peace.

"I shall follow. You should do as you see fit," he stated curtly, mounting his steed before following after Cymbeline. The sight of the healer from earlier rushing over towards them, though, caused him to pull back the reins of his horse, if only for a moment.

"Is something the matter? I thought you were tending to the wounded back near the battlefield—is there an issue?" he asked, standing by for a response.

[Crimson Paladin]

Fleuri Jodeau

So she may be at Old Falthier, he thought. Fleuri knew little of the ruin, but he didn't need to in order to realize that this was valuable information. They would need to take this information to Fanilly and Tythae as quickly as possible, because every moment they wasted would mean more time for the Dark Lady to recover from her failed attack and plan something else. They couldn't be sure what further tricks this mysterious adversary may still have up her sleeve, but they at least had some faint idea who she was and where she may be hiding out.

He put his helmet back on and gripped the reins of his horse, turning it toward the direction of the city. "I'm heading into the city to meet up with the Knight-Captain. Hopefully the locals are done parading their saviors around."

"Oh, and fairies? Don't put yourselves at risk. We wouldn't want to be responsible for any of you getting hurt" he finished before trotting away.

[VitaVitaAR]

"Ah..."

That was good, one of the knights was already heading back. Lyrie... panicked slightly on the realization that she did not recall her name, but she knew she was one of two rare half-Nem knights. She knew enough about the Nem race to know how to heal them, but that was about it, and she didn't truly know if such knowledge would help her here, anyway. The knight didn't appear to be injured, after all. The small girl shifted awkwardly where she stood for a moment, clutching her staff. She at least recalled the two Nem knights' surname... And now another knight from before, Sir Tiral, had appeared as well, asking what was the matter.

"... Um... Sir Tiral, Dame Lockhart!" Lyrie began, after a moment's hesitation. "U-um, I came out here because, er... my cousi-a-ah, I mean, the Captain, Captain Danbalion, er... she needed you! ... Er... all the knights I mean... she needs everyone to report back to the town, the castle specifically..."

She shifted from one foot to the other. Another of the knights was approaching, this one a man. She recognized him as Sir Jodeau, and after a moment's pause she raised one hand to wave to him.

"Um, the Captain needs you back at the castle!" the healer in training called, giving all three knights a swift nod before proceeding onward towards the forest. She had to let the rest of them know as well. To be honest, Lyrie didn't know why the little girl knew, but it seemed unlikely that there was any other reason why a child would have sought her out to tell her something like that. She had to let everyone else know what was going on, after all.

It wasn't exactly hard to find them, either, given there was a smoking hole in the earth right there. For a few moments Lyrie stared in mute shock at the smoldering crater, before realizing that there was also a great deal of fairies fluttering about.

After a moment's pause, she shook her head.

"U-um... my cou-the Captain needs everyone at the castle!"

Kopuro, meanwhile, nodded firmly.

"Right now, we're comrades!" she declared to Klaus with a grin. "See you!"

With that, she turned and started to fly away, pulling Feeree with her. The fairy in Indrau's hand smiled brightly before waving and hopping into the air and fluttering away.

@Crusader Lord@Noodles@PKMNB0Y@Crimson Paladin@Raineh Daze

[Noodles]

Klaus

So... the reinforcements have arrived, Klaus took a glance towards the familiar gold hair, and realised the girl was smaller than the one she'd assumed to be. The young healer?

It was summons back to the castle. She let a slight smile at the faries before turning back and without a word, trotted her horse back to the town of Brennan.

[Raineh Daze]

Sir Tyaethe Radistirin

Unfortunately, she seemed to be gathering a little crowd as she washed off the blood, both for the sheer amount of it that had somehow affixed itself to her person... troll blood was definitely sticky... and because word had gotten out about her identity. Which certainly invited a good amount of gawking by people with nothing better to do and that had no ability to get to the lord's hall.

[TheFake]

— Brennan Woods —

Indrau nodded at the fairy and turned, walking back to his horse. As he remounted he grunted and looked slightly uncomfortable, slouching to one side to hlet his good leg take most of his weight. He made a straight line for the keep, dismounting at the gate and striding through to where the Captain waited, one hand resting lightly on the pommel of his sheathed sword.

@VitaVitaAR

— Brennan —

Salz pushed her way through the crowd surrounding Tyeathe, easy enough considering few of the bystanders had height enough to reach past her elbow. The giants own armor showed the scars of her own ordeals, gouged and dented with some leather fittings ripped entirely away.

"I think that may be a lost cause Dame Radistirin. The cloth certainly is but for the armour I recommend a thorough scrubbing with sand, as we did in the fight pits back home."
@Raineh Daze

[Crimson Paladin]

Fleuri Jodeau

At the gates, Fleuri dismounted and walked into the city. According to the captain's healer cousin, they were to report to the castle, while it was a hassle to navigate through the still-congregated crowds, Fleuri, having visited the city before joining the Iron Roses, had little trouble finding the way leading to the castle.

The city hasn't changed much since I was last here, he mused, looking up at the castle. And thanks to us, it looks like it'll continue to be that way. It was a good feeling to stop and look upon the results of the Iron Roses' handiwork, to remind oneself that what mattered wasn't the corpses and blood-splattered battlefields they left behind them, but the people and settlements that were preserved in the process.

[Crusader Lord]

Cymbeline Lockhart

---

Cymbeline continued her rush to get to the town, after having gotten the captain's message from the golden-haired healer of the group. Perhaps they were needed for formality's sake, though the chances of something going awry in the town were perhaps existent as well to be fair. Or perhaps there was something wrong there, and they needed their forces to handle it? Mmm, or perhaps another thing altogether. Whatever the case, the mage let the thoughts race for a moment before focusing to try to cool her head. The sigil was still active, and by the time the healer got to the others the half-Nem mage was at the town gates. Giving a nod to the guards and such, she dashed inside, just as the sigil ran out of power and a surge of exhaustion hit her body like a great hammer.

Leaning on her knees for a moment, the mage took a few deep breaths, the burn of post-battle fatigue coursing through her veins. It some not incapacitating, but the sigil's effects meant that she needed a moment. A moment to breathe, at least. She looked up, however, at the bit ahead of her, a throng of individuals there as if watching some spectacle before the lord's hall. She then stood back up straight, stretching her arms for a moment, before continuing on to where the rest of the knights would be. She began to push through the throng of Tyaethe's onlookers, albeit a bit of a frustrated frown was on her face. For someone so short, it was hard to get through. Harder so to be mistaken for an even smaller child on occasion.

---

Elissa Lockhart

---

As Elissa looked behind them, having stood around with some of the others waiting and waiting for the wayward mages to arrive, eventually seeing her sister pushing through into where they were standing. Looking her twin in the eyes, Elissa gave a light head gesture towards where they were, as if to encourage her on and tell her to "hurry up". Though whilst this gained a small, exasperated roll of the eyes back at her in turn, it seemed effective as her sister walked up to her somewhat out of breath. Probably using sigils again to run the whole way here without hitching a ride, like an idiot in Elissas's eyes. But all the same, it was progress, and the sword-wielding half-Nem could see other movement as well. Perhaps the others getting here too?

"Sis, what's going on?" Cymbeline asked, Elissa not batting an eye as her sister spoke after doing a quick look-around to see if anything was obviously wrong.

"The Lord of Brennan can't seem to perceive weapons, it seems, much less the danger his own realm was in. Not even his own sword that sits beside his throne. We hoped that a mage would arrive her sooner or later, but you lot seemed to run off where the attack on the Captain came from. I would think there is a reason?" Elissa said, her tone not holding back and her words as blunt as they could be at times. All the same, she kept her tone down, where only but her sister and some of the surrounding knights could hear at most.

"By Mayon, an enchantment on his mind perhaps?" Cymbeline said in response to Elissa's's more blunt words, contrasting her sister's tone with a sort of curiosity and light worry hinted in her own tone of voice, though after a second she shook her head to clear her thoughts for a moment and answer the other question her twin had asked, "To give the short version, there was a sigil on one of the trees, and the faeries in the forest might have a clue as to where the culprit who attacked the captain is."

It wasn't much to say, but Ceymbeline or one of the other mages would end up reporting in full to the Captain. Elissa had no doubt of that. Speaking of which, as Elissa watched on, her sister seemed to realize that and jot off toward the Captain directly without another word.

@VitaVitaAR

[VitaVitaAR]

"Ah..."

Everyone was already back? She hadn't yet sent for them. Fanilly, needless to say, found herself quite surprised at the swift return. It was a good surprise, of course, but that didn't make it any less surprisingly that her knights had returned on their own so quickly. She nodded to herself. Now was the time to fill everyone in on the situation.

"What is all the fuss about?" questioned the Earl, with a frown, "I may be an old man, but I have bones of steel and the mind of a fox! You needn't spend so much time worrying about me!"

For a few moments, Fanilly glanced back at Earl Achter, before sighing once more. This situation... she could only hope that one of the magi could dispel whatever enchantment had been placed on him. His son looked equally concerned.

Naturally, nearly everyone in the castle had now gathered, either to hope that the Earl could be cured... or to gawk at the immortal knight attempting to clean her armor. It wasn't every day you saw someone like that, after all.

Quickly, Fanilly did her best to explain the situation.

"There's... the Earl's mind has somehow been enchanted," she began, "Around a week ago, a young women in a dark dress suddenly appeared, and since then he's been unable to see weapons or any sign of conflict. He couldn't see the blood on our armor, nor even feel it when Sir Radistirin made him touch her armor. He couldn't even see his own sword. This enchantment must be removed as soon as possible."

The Earl himself simply watched with a frown. After all, he had no idea he had been enchanted in any way. To him, he had simply misplaced his sword, and this was a simple visit from a famed order of knights.

"Dame Lockhart, er... Dame Cymbeline Lockhart," Fanilly corrected herself, in order to avoid any confusion. She had to confess, she still wasn't quite able to tell the twins apart aside from their equipment and clothing, and so she feared misspeaking in relation to them. Now wasn't the time for any confusion. This had to be dealt with quickly. "Sir Yevan, if you have any ways in which you could break through this enchantment, you must try as soon as possible. Sir Indrau, if your sword can help in any way, please do anything you can."

Among those in the crowd that had gathered around Tyaethe was a young girl, no older then nine or ten, green-eyed and pale, with black hair. Her wide-brimmed travelling hat bobbed from side to side as she excitedly approached, swiftly outpacing any of the adults around her.

"So you're the immortal knight?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. She didn't seem particularly deterred by the sticky troll blood caked on Tyaethe's armor. "Did you kill a lot of trolls?"

Really the answer was obvious, there.

@Crusader Lord@Crimson Paladin@TheFake@Raineh Daze@Noodles@PKMNB0Y

[Crimson Paladin]

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri listened closely to what the Captain had learned. He glanced over at the Earl, whom Fanilly had spoken of as if he was not present. I wonder if he is capable of grasping that he has been enchanted. It must be quite a bewildering feeling to have one mind's clouded and be unable to realize it even as others address it in the same room.

From what he had just heard, this Dark Lady didn't just set up trap, but had also cast a spell on the Earl to make him completely unfit to lead the city's defense. In other words, she had meticulously planned this out prior to the siege.

Captain," he spoke up as soon as he had the opportunity, "The local fairies described a "Dark Lady" having scoped the area out for a good vantage point before the battle near where that spell was cast from. They also claimed to have seen her skulking around the Old Falthier ruins. Assuming our information is correct, this must be the same woman.

"And if I may, Captain," he continued, "This reeks of a set-up. If she wanted the orcs to make it into the city, why didn't she blast the gate or cast a spell on a gate guard? It sounds like she set the stage for a stalemate instead, putting as many people as possible in peril so that we- or you, specifically- would show up to save them, and charge right into the range of that magic attack."

The thought that this lady exploiting the Captain's dedication to protecting the people of Thaln made Fleuri's blood boil. They could not- they would not- give up protecting the people regardless of the peril involved, but these vile machinations needed to be stamped out as swiftly and decisively as possible, before more innocents were caught in the middle. Fleuri felt a twinge of helplessness knowing he was of little use against the arcane powers of their adversary. And he still had no idea who this enemy was, beyond the vague description of a dark sorceress.

@VitaVitaAR

[TheFake]

— Brennan Keep —

He drew his sword in a flash of rune engraved steel. His eyes had narrowed at the mention of the Dark Lady, presumed to be the same one that had been spotted by the fairies. And then Another thought struck him.

"We can speak more on this Dark Lady soon. I'll make my attempt to free the earl of this enchantment before any others, It would be unfortunate if I were to disturb their workings. Did this dark Lady leave anything behind? A gift of jewellery perhaps?"

He felt the familiar hunger as it tugged at his meagre reserve of mana. If it was the same person then it was possible that whatever was afflicting the Earl may have a sigil similar to that which was on the tree.

[Noodles]

Klaus

"So, the Earl is under a spell I see," Klaus muttered in a low undertone, letting out a frown. She backed away from the Earl, leaning her back against the wall, "Don't mind me but, I still don't know about the damned magic on him, I don't want to be caught under another exploding trap." She snarled, the informal demeanor of speech made it hard to tell whether she was just being snarky or wary.

"Also, that lady in dark dress can talk to the goblinkind face-to-face without getting eaten, but whether she could give orders is something I'm not sure about."

[Raineh Daze]

Sir Tyaethe Radistirin

"Only a few today," the paladin responded, straightening from her task. Hm, it didn't seem like she was going to be able to wash any more off with just water... burn it? She could only do candle flames, but her armour would endure that fine and the blood would burn off sooner or later... that would be entirely too time consuming. Maybe she should ask for directions to somewhere more appropriate to do this; with some peace and a wire brush she could stop it getting all glued together easily enough. Why did trolls have to go and bleed so much? It was inconvenient; she needed to get back to the captain soon. "They die as easily as anything else if you have a sharp enough blade."

---

Lilianna Belwiss

This whole scenario was proving to be another black mark on the knights' current state of organisation... though in fairness, the blame for this had nothing to do with its original founders or even its deviation from the church over time. Why, of all things, did they still not have normal mages amongst their number? Even if not formally part of the order, it could hardly hurt to have more focused spellcasters for situations exactly such as this... instead, they had battlemages and, throughout the past, the odd healer. It would have to be brought up when they got back to Aimlenn; whether that was successful or to seek more assistance for the Earl.

It would be unfathomable to leave the order's ability to contend with curses up to the whims of those who wanted to mix their swordplay with magic or vice versa.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Tiral took the Captain's words and paused for a moment as he ran through his mind for a possible response. If the Earl was not responding to any sign of bloodshed or combat, then whatever had him in its grasp would likely necessitate some more... Definitive measures. To that end, the mage-knight calmly drew his dagger and, seeing that it would likely cause issues if he created anything permanent on the floor, quickly crafted a magic circle of ice in front of him before taking a few steps back and pointing at the Earl.

After a few moment, a crystal of ice—translucent, of course—rose from the center of the sigil and pointed itself at Tiral's target. Magical energy seemed to pulsate from it as it seemed to oscillate, pointing up and down the man's body as it slowly began to change color.

"If it is an enchant, Captain, then we shall see from this spell's outcome. The origin should also become clear, though if the location of whatever is causing this is situated elsewhere, then we may have some issues at hand," he stated as he waited for the spell to complete its work.

[VitaVitaAR]

So the local fairies had appeared, and spoken of a dark woman? Fanilly had encountered fairies a few times as a child. They were harmless pranksters in most situations, though they had a fondness for theft when it came to anything remotely shiny or interesting. Thankfully, given their size, it was difficult for them to make off with anything larger then a thimble on their own. Though this had lead to a rather... amusing incident where a pair of fairies stole her father's coinpurse. They hadn't made it far, but she recalled her father's chastisement of the tiny creatures somewhat fondly due to how ridiculous the situation was. Now, however, wasn't the time for such stories.

"If she's made herself a base in the ruins of Old Falthier..." she paused. Old Falthier was known to have once been owned by a mage, though little remained. Perhaps there was more to it then simple convenience? Moreover, the possibility that this had been some kind of trick was seeming more and more likely the more that the knight-captain learned of the situation. "... We should be wary, there could be more to her choice of location. Especially given how she has seemed to have planned for this so far..."

As for speaking to the orcs... it wasn't unheard of. Fanilly knew of unsavory folk, slavers and bandits, who at times made dealings with the savage race. But working so closely with them on a raid was strange.

"As far as I'm aware, nothing has been left behind to the Earl, but-"

The blonde girl cut herself off when she caught sight of the ice crystal that Tiral had created began to change. It was filling with ptch black, an almost impenetrable darkness that immediately dyed this ice in midnight. As it did, something slowly began to appear on the bewildered Earl's forehead.

"My, that crystal seems foreboding..." he commented, unaware of the dark sigil that was appearing. "All of this over a kind visitor, too..."

Much of the court had fallen silent at the sight of the now-black ice crystal, and the symbol that had appeared on the Earl's forehead. It was a magic sigil, of course, branded there in order to seal the curse and then hidden with an illusion, one that had been pierced by Tiral's analysis.

Moments earlier, however...

"Only a few is still a lot, when it comes to trolls. I bet you saved a lot of people from them!" the young girl said, with a smile, attempting to reach up and pat Tyaethe on the head in a congratulatory fashion. Only to realize this was much more difficult then she may have expected, hopping futilely a few times before giving up entirely.

"... Well... well... thank you!" she declared, and was about to say something else... until she, too, caught sight of the black crystal. For a moment she watched it silently.

@Crusader Lord@Crimson Paladin@TheFake@Raineh Daze@Noodles@PKMNB0Y