[IC] Fire Emblem - The Crisis of Akaneia

[vancexentan]

It has been three years now since the Holy War involving the Plegia Theocracy went to war with the country of Ylisse in a bloody stalemate that saw the shattering of Plegia into different states ruled by high priests or kings. The kingdom of ylisse is slowly starting the progress of reconstructing buildings and villages that were destroyed during the war and go about mourning the loss of life. It had been a hard life for the children especially since then but the new Exalt Emmeryn, a girl of only about twelve years of age, has been throwing all of her efforts behind rebuilding the land despite this however she is still unpopular due in no small part to the Exalted King's failures and of course the aforementioned Holy War. Despite this Emmeryn stands stalwart alongside her advisers in her efforts to rebuild not only Ylisse but bordering Plegian countries as well. However most efforts still are being pooled from debts owed by the Khan of Regna Ferox and the process will take more than just a couple of years to completely fix. Emmeryn however hoping to restore hope to her people has decided to spend a small amount of money to fund a festival to uplift the local peasantry and nobles alike despite protests from her great uncle. The festival will be placed in a small town just south of the capital and all people are welcomed to the festival even Plegians though it was not announced that this was specifically a drawing point. A small group of Pegasus Knights were also dispatched to help keep order alongside some of the soldiers but it seems that they are uninterested in their duty as they have barely gotten involved since the Festival officially started. It is in the afternoon now about 2:50 and the sun is shining down upon the world as if it were blessed by Naga. Monks, mercenaries, merchants, and others have also joined along unexpectedly to add to the peasantry crowding the small town. The mood is somber but still somewhat jovial as people drink and eat food brought from farmers by Emmeryn's own coffers and some of it was donated by a wealthy noble seeking to get in good graces with the Exalt. The Circus was set up at the eastern part of the city in the middle of a small park and were opened almost immediately after they arrived and got set up properly about two hours earlier. Among them is a group of dancers, a wyvern rider whom performs tricks with his steed, and an acrobatic trickster. The western and central parts of the city holds many people as that is where the main setting of the festival is located at with stalls, and artisans selling goods alongside people running various events such as drinking contests. The southern and northern sections of the city are populated by the more rowdy festival goers as the taverns and melees are located there where men of war spar and the young excited children watch mercenaries, and even a few of the Pegasus knights,  fight in duels for the enjoyment of the crowd. It is in the central part of the city where Jiro and Zaku of the Garnet Armbands are strolling around looking at the various stalls much to Zaku's distaste. They had let the third member of their company run around another part of the city at her leisure knowing that she'd come running to find them the moment she inevitably ran into trouble. Jiro had a mug of wine in his hand and was walking next to Zaku as the two men strolled alongside each other walking down the street, "You know drinking is just going to prove problematic Jiro sir why do you always insist on doing this whenever we hit somewhere where there is some sort of event going on?" Zaku commented dourly as he sighed. He was hardly the one for events such as these. Back in Valm he had always chosen to stick to quieter areas where he could hear himself think. Jiro simply continued to smile and took a large gulp of the wine just to spite his friend. "Because it's a freaking party kid you got to live a little! You know at least Isabelle is having fun all your doing is clinging to me like a lost little school boy. What are you afraid you'll be lost in the crowd Zaku?" Jiro said razzing his friend as Zaku chuckled to himself and stuck a sideways glance to his companion, "No I'm more worried that you'll fall in the creek nearby or get yourself into a fight. I'm not going to go back to Valm dragging the fool with me. She'd be the end of me I swear. So yes I am clinging to you because I know you Jiro and I know you like a good fight and being drunk we'll inevitably find that along the way." Zaku said in a casual tone as Jiro belched and laughed, "It's been a couple years now kid I'd have thought you'd have gotten use to Isabelle by now. She's pulled us both out of the fire with that mending skill of hers. If it wasn't for her we'd be covered in more scars than a brigand." Jiro said loudly and patted his friend on the back as onlookers gave them side ways glances. Not one person really spoke up about the duo though...more than likely because one was carrying a two handed iron blade, and the other had a fine looking sword strapped to his hip.

[GrandzHelios]

A man knows when to fight and when to laugh. Those words were what was keeping Samuel going at this moment. Only two days prior he was practicing his skills in duels against the follow soldiers back home. After he had finally got bored of knocking other soldiers off their steeds he was summoned to see the king. Out of all the assignments he could get he got this one. He was to attend a festival and report back if he had not been killed. Him and his sister were forced to accept the quest but being a lap dog for a ruler was starting to run its toll on Samuel. Especially when he only lowered himself to a servant because he needed the gold. He removed his helm as he entered the festival ground of this village. "Good grief" he stated out loud. Samantha rode Hiki behind her brother in perfect unison. She was dying or a chance to take a break from fighting battle after battle. It was not that she didn't like her job as much as a girl needed a break every once in a while. She was jumping with good feelings when her brother had told her that they were ordered to attend this party in a foreign land. Samuel was not too enthused but was he ever? "Cheer up. Oh eternal glum one." She chanted at him. "I'm going to scout the area out. I'll fly up if I need anything." She yelled as she turned left at the first chance. There were so many shops in this place. She probably would buy all the new fads of this land if her brother didn't have the money. She supposed she would need to find him before she ate but there were too many things to do first. Honestly Samuel probably would have decked, punted, or sliced anyone else who would have made that comment to him. Samantha was the only exception because if he killed her then he would have nothing. He was sure his sister knew that because she took every chance to do whatever she felt like well it concerned him. Now that she separated from him it gave him a chance to survey the area. If there were some type of fighting event then Samuel would sure spend his time there. On second thought killing a whole lot of locals would give him unwanted attention. "Gar!" He howled out as he abruptly tugged on River's reigns. With that the horse jolted in the direction of the tug. The jolted until it ran into a pair of people. One looked like a middle aged man and the other was a young man. Either way whomever they were River appeared as if it was about to collide with them.

[Constantine]

Silk looked in wide eyed astonishment at the selection of products on the table, as if she had never seen so many beautiful items in one place before. She was clearly in awe and overwhelmed. By now the merchant was confident that he had the simple girl girl in the palm of his hands as he embellished what were otherwise fairly mediocre products. Silk even let him wrap his arm over her shoulders in a far too familiar fashion. On the outside she was everything that she needed to be at that moment. She was the centre of that man’s world, his entire attention focused on her. Which is why he had no idea that she was paying him with his own coin for the vulnerary's that he eventually convinced her to buy. As she walked away from the stall her expression shifted effortlessly from one of naïve wonderment to calm, upbeat composure. It may come as no surprise at this point but Silk was a thief and a pretty good one at that. She had come to the festival rather accidentally having given the slip to a group of overzealous night watchmen the night before. She had been heading to the capital but it turned out that this had been a rather fun, and profitable diversion. Festivals were a virtual bounty of opportunities for the right minded individual. Lots of people crowded together, excited, their attention rapt on the festivities. Silk was not a fan of picking pockets in general, too much risk for minimal rewards but when it was so easy it was hard to refuse the lure. So as to blend in she stopped and paid attention to a troupe of dancers, joining the edge of the crowd and allowing herself to be drawn in. She laughed and cheered at the appropriate moments, while her eyes watched a group of guardsmen patrol the square. They were not looking for her, nor had she given them reason too. But it never hurt to be aware. Silk extracted herself from the crowd with a well timed stumble that saw her daintily fall to the floor. A friendly hand helped her to her feet. She smiled at him bashfully. He blushed in return as their hands touched. She fell into him 'accidentally' as he pulled her to her feet. She bowed apologetically several times before bouncing away into the crowd. The man walked in the other direction, his coin purse no lighter than before. Just because an opportunity created itself did not require that it be abused. That was how a thief gets caught. Arrogance, overconfidence, not paying attention. The man had been dressed as a peasant but smelled clean, a slight hint of perfume or some other scent lingering on his body. His hands had been calloused in the way that all soldiers hands become after years of wielding the same weapon. So he was either a guard playing as bait or an experienced soldier off duty. Either way, too risky. She made her way through the crowd, stopping for a moment to watch a wyvern rider and his charge perform tricks that genuinely amazed her. Then watched a group of soldiers spar off against each other in mock battle to cheers from the crowd. She had to admit that she was having a good time. If the intention behind the festival had been to lift the populations spirits even for a day than it was working. Besides, it was making her quite the profit as well.

[vancexentan]

Isabelle had been watching the show most of the time in order to finally get some lady time away from Jiro and Zaku! Those two were the most annoying guys in the world and they never wanted to go have fun together as a group! It was always an uphill struggle to get them to do anything fun. Isabelle couldn't help but wonder why Jiro wasn't here though he usually was up to do more fun things when he was drunk and knowing him he always was drunk. Probably Zaku...the man who couldn't ever have fun if it involved actually having fun! "Gah boys why do I even try to understand them?" Isabelle said in exasperation as she decided to stop thinking about those two and actually focus on the show. She twisted her mend staff in her hands as she looked at the dancers and let out a disappointed grumble. She could've become a dancer too! Isabelle knew she could dance just as good as any one of those ladies up on stage and she'd be able to do it with just as much style and grace too. "Oh who am I kidding I'm not a dancer!" Isabelle sighed as she grumbled and decided to walk about for a bit more. She moved her way through the crowd her dress blowing whenever a breeze came along. "Man I hope that one trickster guy is still doin' stuff I mean he swallowed a whole sword!" Isabelle said with a pout as she twirled once and then came upon a group of soldiers who where posing for a painting with a beautiful looking pegasus knight. "Aw she's so lucky!" Isabelle grumbled once more as she puffed her cheeks and pushed forward after taking one last look at the gorgeous pegasus knight. "I HOPE I can look like that one day." She said with a sense of longing in her heart. "Who knows maybe I'll find some cool guy and get hitched!" She said aloud as she grinned with a massive smile showing off her white teeth. However it all seemed to come to an end as soon as she came upon the wyvern rider guy she'd heard so much about! She pushed forward past the crowd and accidentally bumped into more than one person. Eventually she got to a spot where she liked and watched happily as the wyvern rider's mount balanced a ball on the tip of it's nose. "Wow! That's so cool! I'd be so scared of doing that myself." Isabelle said focusing her wonder on the dragon. "Hey miss this is pretty cool stuff ain't it huh!?" Isabelle said to a girl net to him as she leaned forward arching her back a little.

[GrandzHelios]

Control is a man's greatest weapon. Samuel tugged River's reigns back sharply to get his horse under control. his actions did not stop it from causing a scene but it did stop him from destroying too much. The horse diverted its path away from the two in middle of the road and slightly brushed against the younger of the two men. With that Samuel pulled in the reigns harder. 'Heave!" He ordered as river slowed down and came to a stop as soon as it could. Samuel did realize it was his fault for getting excited on his horse but it was not something he was willing to admit being at fault for. "Hey you guys know you just blocked off my steed right now." He shouted back at them as he climbed off his horse. It probably was not considered good courtesy to mount his horse in this village so Samuel decided that it would work a bit better if he walked his beast for now on. With that settled he approached the nearest merchant. "Excuse me, do you know were I might find any competitive duels around this place?" he inquired to the elderly women who managed the apple cart on the edge of this road. "Sir yer might want to take the next right so that you would head towards the southern part of town. That's were you will find what yer lookin' for." She said with a smile on her face. She looked as if she wanted Samuel to buy something for her kindness but he just wasn't in the mood for apples at the moment. "Wait sonny, your accent. Your not local are you?" The old women spited at him. Samuel not only did not turn around to respond but he hastened his walk. It should not be an issue but he didn't want everyone to know where he was from. Especially since he very short of ran someone over only a moment ago.

[vancexentan]

Jiro slowly turned around as he took a slow sip and raised a eyebrow towards the boy shouting at him from blocking the road. Zaku's smile turned into a neutral expression as he wondered if this person was just an ass or perhaps one of those pompous blue bloods. "Last time I checked this place was a public place and you're not wearing any military gear. Besides it's not a good idea to ride around town on your literal high horse bub." Jiro said plainly as he took a another long sip of his beverage. Zaku however decided to walk over to the stranger and cleared his voice, "You know it's rude to simply shout at people and walk away. Especially two people who are armed. I'd suggest you apologize to my companion and I for raising you voice." Zaku said with his typical cold yet smooth voice. However before he knew it Jiro went over and clapped him on the shoulder, "Look I'm not looking for a fight Zaku." Jiro said pointing out silently to Zaku the crowd forming around them and the nearby soldier in steel armor staring at them, "So look how about this to please Zaku apologize to us and then I'll apologize for getting in your way and we can both get on with our day. This is a festival after all and no one wants to ruin the fun right? Jiro said with a disgruntled tone as his buzz just suddenly and unexpectedly was tossed out the window.

[Constantine]

“Why yes, it is, isn't it,” Silk responded as she turned to face the girl who she assumed was addressing her and smiled warmly as she appraised the girl with the same careful consideration that she applied to any potential mark. She was a pretty enough young thing, with blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to shine like jewels. Her clothes looked fancy and elegant, though that alone was no indication of personal wealth. She had a staff as well. A mage? Maybe a healer? Silk was not well versed in magic so she couldn't be sure but it was clearly no walking stick. Suddenly curious Silk leaned in closer, much like the girl had done and made a show of taking in her scent. She smelled nice.

Around them the crowd roared with approval as the wyvern rider performed another deft trick of skill. Despite this Silk maintained eye contact with the young lady, finally deciding not to rob her at the present moment. This was decided not out of any good will you have to understand, it was simply that she detected intelligence in those eyes and that increased the risk involved. And with the number of guards around due to the festival, no matter how lacklustre their attitude toward their duty might be, the chance of getting caught was again increased. Besides, she had already made quite the killing today. There was no point in pushing her luck. She turned back toward the show and made a point of looking thoughtful yet engaged. “I wonder how long it takes to learn a trick like that? It must be hard. I couldn't possibly imagine,” she said conversationally.

Her ears twitched, focusing on the sound of the crowd rather than the festival itself. Rhythmic footsteps, moving in time. It was hard to tell how many but they were getting closer, though not directly in her direction. Guards? Had the merchant realized already? That was bad luck all round if it was the case. Then again it could have nothing to do with her, or be something else entirely. She made no attempt to remove herself from the throng of people. As it was she was hidden pretty well from sight. She turned back toward the curious young lady. “Are you here by yourself?” she asked curiously, not entirely sure of her own intentions. “My name is Silk, I'm a travelling merchant of sorts. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss?”

[vancexentan]

Isabelle was taken a back as she awkwardly had herself sniffed of all things by the stranger but she giggled it off with a forced smile despite being creeped out. However once she stopped she moved back a bit from the girl with a quick side step, "Well you know Wyvern Riders are very in tune with their mounts. The thing probably saw war and fighting as a waste of it's time. Or perhaps it felt that it's rider was sick of war and decided to suggest it find something more fun to do. One way or another these people are no joke. They've trained well I can see it by the way they move. I've fought with people like them...well not exactly fought more like saw fight. I'm no slouch when it comes to studying people it's a part of my line of work you see. Not that I particularly enjoy it but ugh why am I saying this? You don't care about what I have to say. I'm just some random stranger." Isabelle said with a giggle as she arched her body forward a little and rocked back and forth as much as she could in the space allotted to her by the crowd. "Me? By myself? That's a good laugh. Nope I'm here with my buddies Zaku and Jiro! I'm actually from these parts. Yep born and raised her in Ylisse alright! I'm Isabelle and I'm the girl who cleans up after two of the biggest idiots ever. Don't get me wrong they may be jerks but they're my jerks." Isabelle said with a happy smile. The girl seemed to have a perpetual smile on her face be it. She radiated the area around her with her beauty and her charm but she didn't seem like she took herself too seriously at all.

[Apollosarcher]

Matthew ducked as the axe blow nearly took of his head, giving the man a swift kick he rolled out of the way of a mage throwing a fire towards him. "I love this festival!" He shouted returning to the fray. Matthew had spent the night in the inn and come out the following morning to a shallow pit, this ring was home to a first blood tournament of fighting where four combatants hopped in and one came out unscathed.

His current fight was between a blonde well studied boy of a mage, a large axe wielding idiot with a mop of mud caked brown hair, and a auburn haired mercenary girl who was cahrge right at him. Drawing his blade he parried and drew his spell book, throwing a spell between her and the mage. She managed to roll free yet the mage became slightly burnt, thus the bouncers near the edge pulled him out.

The brute with the axe went for the girl next which gave him a perfect opening on his blind spot. One sword blow across the back later he was crying like a babe as they hauled him out. Now it came down to the the girl with the sword and him. She smirked and pressed the attack, he had to drop his spell book just to keep up blocking. However he crumpled to a knee and that's when he saw the opening, rolling around her he cut the back of her leg lightly and got up, exhausted.

He collected his spell book and then a cheering crowd pulled him out, some booed while others whine as they forked over money they had lost in bets. Yet Matthew just smiled as the man in charge handed him a bag of gold. "eight-hundred-fifty gold pieces young man, that fight has seen some of the heaviest betting in years! You were the wild card in that match ey lad, but you made me quite a rich man." The bookie laughed as Matthew nodded and walked away, waving goodbye to the man.

His mind moved back to the fight as he walked northward these guys were good, better than the bandits back home in sleepy Valm. People there had grown soft and happy, here war had ended only a few years back and they were still sharp, still tough. He smiled as he walked back towards the center of town, the next fight wouldn't be for a few hours. So he could see the sites and visit the shops in this amazing little town, he loved Ylisse what he had seen so far at least, the people here were friendly enough and they loved to hear his stories or a song or two.

As he neared the stalls he stopped just outside the crowd that was admiring the Wyvern Rider, he stopped watching it himself. Tying the bag of gold on to his belt he watched smiling, it reminded him Rosanne, of home. It was impressive to see tricks like this on a Wyvern as they were more stubborn than pegasi. He smiled and clapped as it did tricks, when the crowd dispersed he would go tip the man.

[vancexentan]

"My word this guy is pretty good isn't he?" said a young girl with long blue hair as she approached Matthew. Her hair waved in the wind as a breeze broke past them. "Hey there my name's Nicole and I'm one of the guards for the group making the performance over there. I'm going around seeing if anyone needs help with anything or is enjoying the show. May I ask if you're enjoying the show?" The girl said as she looked at the tactician with her big wide green eyes. She didn't carry any weapons but it seemed like the girl was telling the truth as she had a badge on her chest that matched the carnival's one.

[Apollosarcher]

Matthew, turned surprised at the girl's arrival, let alone her speaking to him. "Me? Oh I'm nobody special just a traveling tactician and soldier of fortune." He said looking her over, she genuine and very friendly, he decided it couldn't hurt to talk with her. "I do enjoy the show, I'm from Valm actually, my home had quite a Wyvern Riders so to see one in the air makes me little homesick. The names Matthew." He smiled and gave a half bow to the Nicole. "I was actually going to tip the rider, I just took home a nice prize from the arena on the south end figured I should spread the money around it's a festival after all and I don't need this much money making me a target of some thief." He said smiling at the girl, he scratched at his thick red hair before looking back at the crowd. "So can you tell me about your act?"

[vancexentan]

"Oh really? I bet that monk group could take a smack at you. They beat the enemy team, a group of armed brigands from Plegia, with ease. But what do I know I'm just a guard." Nicole stated shrugging with a giggle. "Well if you want to tip Dominic and Dovar then just go to the stand over there by the tent and tell the person attending it that your willing to donate to the group. After that you can either talk to someone there or go on watching the show. Or alternatively just give it to Dom and he'll take it in stride. But he has a bit of an ego and his dragon loves to show boat so if you know how to talk to Wyverns I'd recommend not stroking it's ego too much." Nicole informed Matthew as a group of kids walked over and demanded to know when the trickster was on, "He's taking a break don't worry he'll be back soon. Jeez I didn't think Conner would get this much attention." Nicole said chuckling.

[Apollosarcher]

"I'll take a look at them, sadly I'm just one so I'd need a team if I to wanted compete." He said sighing, sometimes it was burden to travel alone. "Thanks for all the help Nicole, it's my first time Ylisse so I am a little lost and mesmerized by it all." He gave a laugh at the kids throwing them each a gold coin. "Go get yourself a treat kids, on me." With that he walked over to the tent. "Give this to Dominic that artist of a Wyvern Rider." He said before walking back out. "Hey Nicole, have you been in the city long I would like to know a few of the places I should check out before I leave. So do you know any place worth my time?" He said with a soft innocent smile.

[vancexentan]

"Well I can only tell you what I've heard big guy I've been too busy getting stuff together here. Sorry." Nicole said rubbing the back of her heard. However she did point out that the group of monks she'd mentioned before were off in the western side of the city somewhere giving out pamplets of their temple, and or performing various holy rites. The south side of the city had an exotic dealer of silks, a group of pegasus knights whom fought in the war, and various other stalls and games. The north part of the city had one of the Ylisse's Exalt's Captain, a famed woman who fought in the war with her falcon, guarding the northern entrance alongside her troop. The Exalt had ordered her to go personally saying she wanted her to relax apparently according to a pegasus knight whom was off duty. Besides the dueling the taverns were holding drinking competitions. "Hope that helps. Sorry can't be of any more help than that."

[Apollosarcher]

"Thanks so much Nicole, I'll hang around here and watch for awhile, but how about next time your on break I buy you a drink and we can talk. I'm a big fan of stories and I'm sure you've got a few to share." He said with a wave and smile. He walked back towards the crowd and continued to enjoy the show, planning his day. After the show he would go check out the exotic goods, then over to the monks, and lastly visit the esteemed Pegasus knights, they were less common in Valm and he had always found the Pegasus a much more beautiful creature than a Wyvern, however Wyverns had always seemed more intelligent, able to understand commands and human speech, he didn't know if Pegasi could do that but he did doubt it.

[Constantine]

Silk smiled warmly as she listened to the girl talk while paying equal attention to the footfalls that had her so curious, trying to count them, gauge their direction, their intention. Pretty impossible considering the occasion but still, old habits and all. A solitary fox-like ear tracked the noise while her other focused entirely on the sound of the girls voice, who either liked the sound of her own voice. Or was possessed of a tendency toward rambling. Which was fine either way. Silk liked the sound of her voice. Plus her reaction to being sniffed had been absolutely adorable. It made Silk want to tease her.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Getting to know random strangers is how people eventually become friends. No one is born knowing their friends after all,” Silk responded conversationally. She looked at the girl curiously. “Your friends sound like good people, even if they are idiots and jerks. But tell me something, call it curiosity. I noticed that you carry a staff. Are you a mage? A healer perhaps? Forgive me but I don’t know all that much about magic or fighting or things like that. I'm just a merchant of sorts after all,” Silk said with feigned but genuine sounding curiosity. The footfalls were going in the wrong direction now. Silk relaxed internally, her outward expression having not changed from one of friendly curiosity.

[vancexentan]

Isabelle could tell that this woman was a nice person immediately by the way she talked. But as she knew all too well even nice people had dangerous parts too. "You know that's a question that comes with an answer that involves a lot of twists and turns not all of them good." Isabelle said as she notice the crowd clapping loudly as the wyvern rider make his way off the stage and the crowd started to disperse. She clapped too and put two fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle and a wave to the rider shouting "GOOD JOB BUDDY!" as she waved her staff at the two. However she came back to her senses relatively quickly. "You know I wouldn't give up those two bozos I travel with for almost anything in the world. So you've got a point about them." Isabelle confided in the stranger named Silk when suddenly she blushed deep red and laughed, "WELL I suppose the first step to answering that question is to give you my named first. My name is Isabelle of Ylisse. Or just Isabelle...preferably just Isabelle. Depending on who you ask differs. I am a mage but I specialize in the healing arts meaning I don't fight. I let my buddies do that job for me. This staff is called a stave of mending. It's use is to quickly heal physical wounds but it doesn't do as well as it could in moving poisons. In that case I have to do the hard and thankless job of making anti-venom by hand. In other words I'm a cleric in case you couldn't tell by my job description. I couldn't tell you much about magical fighting. I don't really know much about it." Isabelle said chuckling awkwardly as she tapped her staff on the floor.

"And are you sure you're a merchant? Most merchants I've seen have red hair and are called Anna. Weird that they're all somehow related too." Isabelle said as her mouth contorted in remembering just how many of those girls she'd met in her life time. About ten if she remembered right. Jiro was a regular customer of one Anna. "Well if you're interested in meeting my friends we can go and find them. I'm sure they're around the stalls somewhere or are off fighting. Maybe we could get a drink together or something. I mean if you don't mind having a drink with a mercenary band. We're called The Garnet Armbands. Though I don't exactly wear the armband correctly hehehe." She pulled up the dress she wore a little to reveal the red armband snugly tucked around one of her stocking covered legs. "I hope I'm not being too forward. I just tend to go on tangents when I meet new people."

[Apollosarcher]

Matthew left the square walking through the streets, he had spotted many a great things and even a Levin sword here at the festival. He sighed and pushed on, stopping near the pegasus knights he bowed and managed to even make pleasant conversation with one who had watched his match earlier. Humming he pressed on through the fair wandering now as time went on, he hoped to find someone to share a drink and stories with. Ah stories, if he wasn't a talented strategist he would have no doubt been a bard wandering and plying his trade at inn's. He would probably play he violin tonight at the inn and sing a few songs for the locals maybe even learn a few new ones.

Stopping at a trinket shop he browsed the goods, he was always picking up little mementos of the places he visited for his younger sister back home. Looking them over he saw one, a symbol of the Exalt engraved on a necklace. He purchased it and tucked it in to his bag turning back towards the crowds he looked for a way back to the inn he was staying at.

[vancexentan]

"You two disperse! We don't need any fights starting up!" commented a soldier in Ylisse's blue armor. Jiro and Zaku each grunted and backed off. The two of them didn't even bother to acknowledge the man who shouted too them on top of the horse. "You know you really shouldn't try and pick fights like that Zaku." Jiro commented as Zaku frowned at him as the two walked side by side, "And let him get away with bossing us around like we're ordinary peasants? Hardly. We are anything but ordinary." Zaku said indignantly to his friend. "Heh you know what forget about it let's just...aww man my drinks gone damn it." Jiro said groaning as he kicked a rock forward sending it rocketing forward. "Heh maybe you shouldn't drink so much then Jiro." Zaku said dryly as he looked at his partner, "Hey screw you kid!" Jiro said laughing at how Zaku was so quickly able to throw that back in his face. "Alright you got me Zaku...not very often I get back talk like that from you so I'll let it slide." Jiro said as they came upon a small stall where a man in a long robe was standing. That gave him an idea..."Hey let's get something nice for Isabelle." Jiro said as Zaku shrugged, "You're the one who is paying for this little escapade Jiro. Do as you like." Zaku said simply as Jiro approached the stall, "Hey there shop keep you got anything for clerics? Maybe some sort of holy symbol or something? Preferably something flashy. What about you bub? See anything you recommend? I'm getting something for a friend of mine. She's picky so I need something nice." Jiro asked the stranger.

[Apollosarcher]

Matthew looked at the two men beside him, sighing he turned back to the shop looking over the goods once more. "How about that one? It's a sapphire craved in the shape of pegasus, it's a little more expense compared to the others but it's very well done and it seem rather quaint. However if your set on a holy symbol they do have have silver trimmed symbol of Naga, through since it's a girl I think should prefer the pegasus." He chuckled after showing them the two objects. "Hey wait, I know that accent, your from Valm are you not? I'm Rosanne myself, I'm Matthew a traveling tactician and story teller." He said extending a hand for a shake, he was glad to meet these two them seemed nice enough however the clothes and weapons told him they were mercenaries. He decided he would talk with them perhaps invite them back to the inn for a drink, if he could get them to fight with him they might go a round against the monks and win, he heard betting was heavily against all challengers, good profits.