Eisenhorn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

The overall reaction of the Moonlit Queen reminded him why most stories suggested simply not dealing with the Fae whenever possible, as two of their number were, well, cursed was a tad strong of a word to use in the situation. Garishly bright pink hair for one of them, and another turned into a walking, glowing replacement for a torch. That would have been useful not too long ago with the damned Gannek and its attempts at blinding them with darkness, but such was life. What usefulness that came from a spiteful being's decisions were often too little, too late, though he knew better than to even bother saying it out loud. Still, the combined efforts of, well, mostly Tyaethe given the look that the Moonlit Queen had furnished her with before moving on to at least acknowledge his little speech said enough. It was enough, combined as it was by the far more impressive presentations of the other Knights, to bring some form of wager to mind after all. One that, had it offered just a year ago, he'd have balked openly at and fled at all reasonable, and likely unreasonable, speed. He still balked, mentally though, at the task.

Hunt the Hunt, a task that was absurd at the face of it, something that Lord Arken openly questioned to no serious rebuke, just a simple, by Fae terms, confirmation. Boasting about combat seemed to have come around to haunt them already, but it wasn't strictly speaking impossible. Anything could die with enough effort, and if he was going to pick any band of knights to pull it off he'd have chosen the present company without hesitation, but that didn't mean he was eager for the matter. Doubly so since it would cost him his freedom should he fail, and he would inevitably have to break his oath to the Order to serve another if they failed, which was perhaps more important to him than freedom. Of course that same thing kept him where he stood, and he focused on what he could at least attempt to control, and that was the prize required for her Sister. They were being allowed to set the terms of the contest, for the most part barring the Moonlit Queen's prize, and he was going to take advantage of that.

"If we are to set the terms, my personal participation in the matter comes with a humble request should we complete your task. A simple trinket of your own collection to add to my own, I am sure a powerful and capable Queen such as yourself has quite the selection to choose from." Rolan focused on accomplishing what they owed to others, to allow the others of the Order to focus on other possible boons or rewards that would aid them in the future should it suit them. Or at the very least, he could shoulder the ire that may come with requesting such a thing, and doubly so having to fulfill such a request. On the face of it, one could naturally assume a hunter would want a trophy of a successful hunt, even one playing at knight, and if questioned it would be the defense he took. He would not be exactly lying either, no hunter alive could claim to not have taken at least one trophy in their life to commemorate a worthwhile hunt. To face down the Midnight Hunt and win, not merely survive, would be a story none would believe without proof.

Of course, actually accomplishing this was another matter completely. Rolan knew the stories, though Tyaethe was practically eager given her inhuman grin, in spite of the odds. It was easy to forget the monster that hid beneath the child like form, much of which could be said of the Moonlit Queen as well. For that matter, what was it with impossibly powerful beings galivanting about in the form of children? He refocused himself, putting that question away for another time as he wasn't going to get an answer anytime soon. His attention was squarely on the Moonlit Queen and her response in the interim, while considering how to fell the Hunt. Maybe not fell, defeat and death did not mean the same thing, if they could be broken and routed it would be as slaying them to the last. If the opportunity arose to make that happen it would be worth considering, especially since none of them would be granted the luxury of death should they fail after agreeing to such an undertaking.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan wasn't too keen on how things were progressing currently. Some discreet chatter between a few of the Order, but otherwise giving the Moonlit Queen a chance to respond to the defeat of her guardian, and apparently that response was cheerful. Right, this was probably all a game to her, sitting in this little pocket of Fae warped space, simply creating what suited her mood and leaving it for people to stumble across. He had to wonder, however briefly, how many people might have been killed stumbling across the guardian by sheer accident, but that wasn't a line of thinking he wanted to pursue right now. Rather, he focused on the rather abrupt No and what, for a lack of better terms, he would count as a temper tantrum over a big, stupid idiot not having time anymore. That...gave him some inclination as to the why the Duke was robbed of his wits and mind, and also confirmed it was the Moonlit Queen as well. Then she turned on the gathered knights and asked a simple question, what could they even do.

This was where things got tricky, because for all the progress Rolan had made in the recent past, he considered his relative skill and capabilities the least potent of the Captain's chosen retinue of knights. That being said, he had an idea how to proceed, at least in a way that was more than rattling off what he was capable of and pretending it held a candle to the rest of the Order. He would have to do so, he suspected, but he could at least try and set up the others to follow up on what he had to say next. He considered the Moonlit Queen and her stance, as Dame Tyaethe spoke on her own capabilities, mostly as a fighter, but including a mention in liturgy. Hopefully the Queen didn't get her started on that, he wasn't sure he could stomach preaching at this particular moment in time on top of everything else that had passed so far. However, he wasn't going to let the silence stand so he spoke up next, standing his ground where he was among the knights.

"If we are rattling off what we can do, I suppose I have a few to add to the list. Capable crossbowman, competent alchemist, hunter of man and beast, tracker and survivor to name the more relevant. Though one thing does puzzle me, is why you would pass up on a wager so readily in this case. Of all the plainly visible proof and spoken word of your capabilities and talent, it would seem almost counter to all of that that you would pass up a chance to add further to your regalia and proof of such power and prestige. Especially if you think we have so little to offer that it wouldn't be worth the challenge, it'd be the easiest thing for you to take all we're fool enough to offer up, would it not?" Rolan had not been wanting to, or planning to, speak at such length but once he started he found himself continuing, seemingly as naturally as one breathed. He had done similar before, goading the Witch's Apprentice in the past, so perhaps it was something he could make good use of. If not, well, he'd have to apologize to the Captain if they survived this mess intact.

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

"Heads up ground crew, sending the initial diagnostics your way, good chunk of the additional armor needs replaced."

Johann was already in contact with the ground crew who helped repair and maintain the Secutor, moving to dock with the Roanoke in the reverse pattern to their launch routine, the mauled state of the Blackout a somber reminder that all the skill, armor, and equipment in the universe didn't mean a damn thing if you caught incoming fire the wrong way. Hex had been hauled off to medical, probably pushed herself just as hard as her frame, and he made a mental note to buy her a drink for the cover. Feeling the Secutor lock in place, a scissor lift met him as he opened the hatch, entire head assembly lifting into a 'buttoned up' position that allowed him to embark and disembark easier. That, and when not in hard vacuum it was another layer of visuals that didn't rely on sensors or systems. The technician operating the lift gave him a hand from the cockpit to the lift with a jab at the heavy damage his layers of armor had taken.

"Keep it up like that sir, and we'll be able to build another Secutor from all the parts we've had to strip to replace and repair."

"Good thing I can't be cloned like that as well, we'd overwhelm armor production if we had to uparmor multiple Secutors. How's she look?"

"Shot to hell sir, mostly armor, some nonvital systems got fried as well. Turns out plasma talons aren't exactly healthy to take on frontally. You really should let the computer handle power control, this isn't the test range anymore."

"Not enough pay in the galaxy to get me to stop doing that, computer'll get it wrong, do what you do best and first round's on me."

With the lift reaching the ground level, Johann dropped himself down to the deckplate, deftly moving out of the way as the service and repair crew got underway proper, being handed a requisition form to begin tailoring the Secutor for the next sortie. First things first was tailoring the 170mm shell load for the next mission. He chose several proximity fuse shells, he could afford to bring a few less APFSDS shells for a bit more flexibility, though more than half was still just that type so he could engage most targets effectively. HESH and Proxy Fuse were more niche, but given the nasty little surprise that had tried to interfere with the space operations having something that didn't need a square on hit would work nicely. Moving to meet the rest of the 7th, he was just in time to see Sabine take off, skimping on her pushups but he didn't have the heart to call her out on it, as well as the Roanoke's own Captain coming down to meet them herself. A rare surprise to be sure, but from the sounds of things it was as much a direct debrief as it was anything else. He glanced at Rook, who had been told to pack several cases of beer, and shrugged.

"Up to you if you want to humor her or not kid. You'll never hear the end of it from her either way you go though."

The Captain's response to Sabine and her antics was understandable, as far as Johann was concerned, though he didn't exactly comment any further on her behavior. She was off chasing Hex now anyways, and he was content to conserve his energy for the next leg of the operation. Three hours instead of one, gave them time to get everyone squared away and functional again, especially since some of the frames needed a lot more repair than others. First diagnostics on Secutor were promising, he'd have been ready in the original one hour time table but having three would let the team not work themselves to an extreme and make sure everything was done officially correct instead of combat correct.

"Just doing what we do best out here, ma'am. I'll see if I can't keep my requests within the reasonable realm of possibility."

Johann turned to the Commander, continuing to fill out the paperwork he had been handed after disembarking, having reset to his usual off duty demeanor. Well, more his off combat demeanor but it was not much different from beyond there. Vulture had the command of this little band of pilots of all skills and frames, so he got the lion's share of Johann's focus.

"So, got anything for us boss?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

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.

---

"Should have known better, really..."

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 wasn't 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.

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

"WARNING: Armor Integrity dropping, estimated effectiveness at..."

Johann silenced the alarm as he pushed the thrusters to near their redline limits, though he was not attempting to directly pursue the Fafnir. In close he could keep up, but chasing it would be futile, so he didn't plan to, rather he was playing to the strengths of the current forces in play. Rook was moving fast towards him, Commie having eliminated the two funnels and made sure they couldn't bracket in Rook or try to bracket him in either. which left him open to make for Rook at all available speed. He shifted the position of the Secutor as the incoming fire tried to drive him out of position, taking the brunt of the next burst of HKP shells on the right half of his frame. Most of the impacts so far had been center and left, and one of the earliest lessons he learned piloting something as large a target as Secutor was, quite simply, distributing incoming fire as best he could. Enough focused fire could bore through armor, but spreading it out gave him staying power that most frames could only dream of. Moving to rendezvous with the incoming Rook proved to be wise, given the sudden decision towards blaze of glory by the Fafnir.

"Rook, Rhino: Steady on current course, I have the priority target."

Rhino was all calm confidence as he opened up with his own 30mm Rotary Autocannon, barrels spinning up into a veritable wall of armor piercing incendiary, walking the fire onto the encroaching Fafnir, deliberately focusing on the remaining thrusters to slow it down, however slightly. Putting himself on an intercept course, he retracted the M81 RAC as he pushed towards melee range again, braving the Plasma Talons once more, but this time he took advantage of the mounting combat damage. Reaching past the talons not receiving proper power, he gripped down with enough force to completely sever power to the left talon, firing every thruster he had opposite of the momentum of the Fafnir, wrenching it back and away from Rook by the leg, fortunately not simply ripping the leg clean off. Fortunate for Rhino, not so much for the Fafnir as at that moment...

"PG-01 at 100% Charge."

Wasting no time, Rhino activated the Plasma Gauntlet and unleashed a left hook, slamming the plasma clad gauntlet straight into the opening that had been venting atmosphere, and coincidentally advertising the exact spot where the Fafnir's cockpit was on top of an already weakened spot from the 170mm HESH impact. The Fafnir pilot, fast as they were, likely would not have time to perceive the Gauntlet turning cockpit, pilot, and internals into little more than scrap as the blow bisected the already heavily damaged hostile Heavy. A follow up backwards elbow strike sending the remains of the upper half hurtling away, throwing away the lower half that he had retained a grip on right up until the impact, and Rhino finally exhaled, a held breath that he had not noticed started the moment he told Rook to keep steady on. Another day, another rude surprise sorted out, and he reported the KIA priority target as he arrested his momentum and normalized power distribution across the Secutor.

"7th, Rhino: Priority Target KIA, assuming screening duties as we RTB."

True to his word, Rhino positioned himself in a screening position for the two lighter frames he had moved to support when the Fafnir made itself known. Any visual sweeps of the Secutor would find it difficult to miss the number of impact marks, odd hole in the additional armor, and shallow talon marks along the left shoulder from where the Fafnir had gotten through the Class 3. Rhino considered having those painted back on once the damage was patched, the plasma talons were a nasty trick that could have done a lot more damage if he hadn't held his Class 3 in reserve for as long as he had. He multitasked while screening the return to the Roanoke, finally going through and acknowledging the alerts and warnings that had built up over the course of the engagement, while making a log of the damage from most to least severe before forwarding the information to the team responsible for helping refit and rearm the Secutor. It would give them some extra time to get replacement plating and munitions loaded, and he made a note to prepare several Canister shells to make it significantly harder to evade shots from the 170mm.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

There was what Rolan could say was expected from a fae, even one that had proven to be overtly amicable and willing to be helpful to the assembled knights currently present. Wanting to make the Moonlit Queen suffer a bit extra, minor as it might appear on the surface of things, for possible transgressions already made fit the stereotype of the dangers in dealing with Fae. The silence itself was practically deafening, no natural place should be completely and utterly devoid of noise, but devoid it was while Fae Lady mused and considered what she would ultimately ask of them. Rather than let instinct get the better of him and follow the only motion in his field of view, that being the swaying of the Lady as she shifted her posture once again, he made sure the two Aessyr were as comfortable as they could be given the circumstances. Finally, the Lady began to speak her terms, having finally decided on them.

Add a trinket of perceived personal power to the eventual wager to return the Duke's mind, and hand it over to her. Deceptively simple to say out loud, but from the sounds of this Moonlit Queen and her demeanor it would not be the most dangerous task to perform. Adding a trinket of personal power to what would be, if his suspicion was correct, an already dangerous gamble was not something that struck him as unreasonable. Even if, arguably speaking, it was petty to acquire something of little applicable power for the sake of chipping away at the Moonlit Queen's perceived power and, by extension, authority. Small steps on the road to overthrowing her, perhaps, or simple sibling bickering. He wouldn't speculate out loud either way, instead breaking the silence before it hung too long after the Lady spoke her terms.

"Very well, ensuring your prize is won will be part of my mission." Rolan knew agreeing bound him to seeing it through, but he specifically made sure that his agreement was his alone. The others could speak up if they so desired, but he would not bind them through his own words, he was in no position to do so even if he wanted to. If they chose not to speak up, at the very least it would be on him and him alone that such failure would be punished. While theft was unlikely to be necessary, he didn't discount it as an option. Better a thief than an oath breaker, in this particular circumstance, though the mention of the 'little sisters' staying here until a suitable tree could be found focused him again.

"A relief to hear, may fortune find them a suitable tree in good time." Rolan had little else to add currently, though he made no moves to set the Aessyr aside or otherwise try to hand them off. When it was time to depart such would likely occur, but until then he would not unduly jostle them by simply passing them off at the earliest convenience. Losing one's home was bad enough, let alone to a wretched abomination that personified famine and dire hunger. It had been far too long a day for them, no need to make it any more uncomfortable than it already was.

@VitaVitaAR@HereComesTheSnow

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan could feel the mental tension slowly building in the back of his head, waiting moment by moment for the fae lady's response to their combined words, though the lion's share of the work was all Ser Gerard's doing. What broke the silence, tense as it was, was the woman's laughter, quite literally bent over from how much she was laughing. That was not the expected response, though he supposed it was not a bad one, given he had to suppress the recognition of her already impressive beauty being amplified by the charm that came with her laughing fit. It brought an otherwise aloof being's stature just a bit closer, however slight, and he could not afford to allow himself to be distracted by a beautiful fae lady and her enchanting laughter. Fortunately he was not the one doing the negotiation, and would continue doing what little he could to support in that endeavor.

Largesse was probably one of the more eloquent words Rolan had heard from any of the knights in recent memory, and Ser Gerard was putting in a good effort in keeping himself eloquent in the face of the laughter, though it seemed to be good news all around currently. From scouting for the border of Fae territory, to hunting down a wretched thing he did not keenly recall, to now currying favor from the sister of the likely culprit of the Duke's madness, it seemed that they had lucked into the right approach to solving the matter of the Duke's condition. At least that was how it appeared so far, it seemed to be going far too well, but he wasn't going to say that out loud and invite things get complicated. All that being considered, Ser Gerard seemed more capable than the rest of them combined in continuing to navigate the negotiations with the Fae lady seated before them, continuing onto what was likely inevitable.

Repayment for this act of seeming kindness. Part of Rolan would not have wanted to bring it up, and simply hoped that aiding the Aessyr carried enough weight to cover assistance and meeting, but coasting on hope alone wouldn't have gotten them this far, let alone further still. Ser Gerard did bring up a good point, however, is that none of them had authority to make agreements on behalf of the Order, but they could at least speak for themselves. Depending on the request they need not involve the entire Order and its resources, assuming one was to be made at all, and simply fulfill the terms of their own capabilities and volition. Also worth considering were the two Aessyr he still held, who had been silent after the initial confirmation of their efforts in saving Enfys, and how it would not exactly be fitting to bring them along as well.

"Something else to consider, as an aside, but given the condition of the Aessyr's home when we found it, these two will likely need some help with a new place to call home. I would not want to unwittingly carry them into more trouble than they already found, I suspect they have had enough for one day."

@HereComesTheSnow@VitaVitaAR

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

"Solid copy Vulture, breaking off to engage priority target."

Johann throttled the thrusters to max, the one useful thing about space being able to get even a brick like the Secutor up and moving at high speed, and maintaining it, was far easier than in a gravity well. The situation was turning quite decisively in their favor overall, even with the Fafnir unit still highly operational and dangerous. Moving at maximum thrust, he was already calculating what his plan would be when comms lit up once again, Hex confirming that she was going on overwatch for him as he created the most overt signature out of the entire team, throttling the reactor to full power in the process to gain just that little extra bit of energy as he continued fine tuning power distribution. He had a plan building in mind, and that meant getting close enough to Fafnir to make a play, and fortunately he had some overwatch to help make that happen.

"Solid copy Hex, take your time. Secutor can take anything Fafnir thinks it can throw my way."

Throttle fully open, Johann continued burning towards the Fafnir, not even slowing down to attempt to line up a shot with his MAC-011, even as it pinged that loading sequence for HESH was completed and awaiting targeting sequence, which he toggled to manual as he continued burning headlong towards Fafnir. Alarms blared as the energy signature built, but Rhino put full faith in his fellow pilot to prevent the shot from going off, and when Hex sounded off, he felt an almost feral grin flash across his face, locking into a dueling mindset as he continued his approach. Undeterred by the energy signature, his faith was rewarded by the solid impact from Hex's Blackout, 90mm round tearing clean through the ESR Beam Cannon and disabling the building flare on view, and silencing at least a few of the alarms. Rhino kept pushing, alerts notifying of the drone deployments, though none of them pivoted to engage him fortunately. Unfortunately that meant the two pilots he was moving to support were the targets instead.

"WARNING: Entering minimum safe distance for MAC-011 operations, recommend securing weapon platform."

"Good guns Hex, I'm on him. Rook, Commie, watch those drones."

Rhino ignored the minimum range safety on the MAC-011, turning to take the brunt of the incoming plasma enhanced 35mm on non vital parts of his frame, armor registering damage and several non vital systems flashing alarms on his HUD. Nothing worth writing home about, he treated most of his non vitals as fodder for wasting enemy ammunition and baiting them into less advantageous positions anyways. Sure enough Fafnir was closing in, plasma talons flaring to life as the Secutor's own Plasma Gauntlet lit up, glowing as it spooled up, and to all onlookers it looked like the Secutor would be too slow to catch the incoming blender of talons, but at the last possible moment the Class 3 shield flared to life, deflecting the incoming dive and Johann fired his maneuvering thrusters, putting the entire momentum of his Mech into a deceptively fast backhanded hammer blow aimed directly for the core of the Fafnir. A blow like that would be highly damaging even to a Heavy, and Rhino was gambling on the Fafnir taking the bait and using its own Class 3 to blunt the blow, though the impact would still create a narrow opening between the two of them.

"WARNING: Within minimum safe distance for MAC-011 operations..."

"MAC-011 safeties overridden, HESH on deck, standby."

Rhino kept the momentum of his backhanded swing going, cutting off the automated warning with an override, taking advantage of the momentum carrying him past the Fafnir and using the maneuvering thrusters to control his spin, positioning himself naturally to point blank the Fafnir with the MAC-011 as he snapped into a firing stance, hurtling backwards but still far too close for comfort for any official doctrinal use of his superheavy weapon. The moment the targeting reticule swung onto Fafnir the entire frame shuddered as the HESH shell launched, both energy signatures on sensors and visuals of the magnetic accelerators crackling to life as they caught the conventionally launched shell, sending the HESH shell straight for the core of the Fafnir. At this range he wouldn't waste time recharging another shot in the MAC-011, instead shunting all power from its charging systems to refreshing the Class 3 Shield as fast as he could, MAC-011 swinging back into its mounting on his back as the Rotary Autocannon deployed from his right hand instead, watching power steadily build on the Plasma Gauntlet as well.

"HESH away, standby for effect on target."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan waited as the Fae woman considered their words. Ser Caulder and Dame Yael were probably gauging how well Ser Gerard was doing in discussing matters with the Fae woman who held sway over this particular holding, however large or small it may truly be. The only response that could be even gleaned from the woman was a narrowing of the eyes, however slight, at the mention of the title the Duke prattled on about, and he silently wondered whether or not he should be ready to move. Fortunately for all of them she was not going to simply take open offense to the mention, though he was concerned by the explanation as it went on. He wouldn't call himself faithful of any sort, but that was quibbling over details that would not benefit the explanation at hand so he kept his mouth shut in that regard. The more they learned the less ideal the situation seemed to be, especially since any good faith they might have earned here would be unlikely to aid them in actually aiding the Duke beyond gathering a bit more information.

An Unseelie fae, elder sister of the woman in front of him, and was the only Fae of these woods that had both power and interest in controlling such a title for herself. That...was problematic, though he was starting to piece together a rather broad strokes possibility of what happened. The late night party that he never got an answer on the location of, the one prompting this little foray into the woods to find actual answers, likely trespassed on the Moonlit Queen's domain in the process, and offended her far more fickle sensibilities. Being struck mad for a perceived attempt at usurping her title as Moonlit would explain his state of being, an example for any who attempted to take her place, which meant to restore his mind it would take some sort of way of making matters right in her mind, which he could not come up with a good offering currently.

Ser Gerard was careful in how he broached the subject of parlaying with the Moonlit Queen, risky as that endeavor would no doubt be, and played to the rules of hospitality, at least as best as Rolan understood them. Perhaps the best they could learn here was the location of the Moonlit Queen and depart for her from there, or perhaps reconvene with the rest of the Order. Though given the circumstances, the longer the Duke remained mad, the worse the damage, mostly reputation and metaphorical, but he was no master of magic and there was a possibility it was doing real damage to the man. Either way it needed resolved sooner rather than later, but he couldn't go trying to rush anyone present, he knew that was unwise. "We would not want to cause any undue conflicts, and ideally resolve the matter that occurred between the Duke and your elder sister amicably."

@VitaVitaAR@HereComesTheSnow

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

With holidays over, I'm hoping to reconvene, assuming everyone is still about it.

@mickilennial

I'm still on board, sure as sure.