Psyker Landshark

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

"I agree. Of course this isn't over. There's too much left unresolved." Was all Iraleth managed to get out in response to Chloe before the latter stopped talking when Ciara entered the carriage with Alto in tow. Although the last bit did catch the paladin's attention. The conditions were right? What conditions? She hadn't forgottten the little stunt her fellow half-elf had pulled during the entrance exam, not at all. Chloe was still someone to be watched carefully, but they seemed to be on the same side and of the same mind for the moment.

As Alto began explaining her home city's legal system, Iraleth kept her sword in her lap, only paying enough attention as politeness dictated. After all, she knew this already. Though one bit at the end forced her to speak.

"Professor, if I may, as a local? To be a corsair is no blessing. Unrestrained judgment with no guiding framework to work off of is a terrible burden and a solemn duty. No oversight and no accountability means that every choice a corsair makes must be correct, lest they squander the responsibility and privileges granted to them."

Would that the burden never fell to her. Should it ever happen, Iraleth would fulfill it as best she was able, as any respectable Nereite would. But there would be no joy in it, and little satisfaction. Only a hope and a prayer that any judgment she made would be the correct one in the end. After all, she couldn't even come to a solid decision about Ciara. What sort of pathetic corsair would that make?

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

soon

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

With a herculean force of effort, Izayoi very calmly resisted the urge to snap at Miina for avoiding the intent of the question. Clearly, Miina was hesitant to return home for some reason. Based on what she'd said before, likely because she hadn't found her brother yet. Still, there was little to be gained from hesitation at this moment.

"Miina. If you've a better idea of where we can find shelter nearby without alerting the Dranan authorities, I am sure we would be more than happy to oblige you. That begs the question: do you?"

That line of argumentation seemed to have Miina give in, and plans were made to set out by the next day.

___

Fortunately, Miina's tribe hadn't moved much from her last memory of the area, and it only took two days to track them down. Unfortunately, Robin decided to take her leave at this point, leaving the Kirins down yet another party member. Still, there was little that could be done about it now, and they pressed onward.

The Malina tribe was camped close to a river within the rainforest, the canopy serving as a natural barrier against intruders. Nonetheless, the party was halted at the entrace of the settlement by two scouts on patrol, who instantly recognized Miina and made to call for the chief.

"Miina!" An older, redheaded Mystel on the cusp of leaving middle-age pushed his way forward, his eyes confirming his daughter's safety. "You live. Gods be praised. It's been months since you left on that quest to find that brother of yours." His gaze spread around. "And I see you've not found him. That does save this reunion from becoming more awkward..." His gaze fell over Izayoi in the back, and his eyes bulged out as a hand went up to clutch his chest. "...Mithra?!"

Izayoi narrowed her eyes, not liking the implications of this man mistaking her for a name she only vaguely remembered from her youngest years.

"No. As I recall, that was my mother's name. If you would care to, perhaps we would all be better served by a proper explanation. From both of our parties."

___

They sat in the chieftain's tent, and two expositions later, both the Kirins and Miina's father were more or less caught up on what was going on. Izayoi raised a hand to pinch her brow from where she sat, cross-legged and scowling.

"So. To summarize, you are my mother's younger brother. She eloped with an Osprean tribesman over thirty-five years ago, which would have resulted in my birth, making yourself my uncle and Miina my cousin?"

"Aye." The Malina chief, who had introduced himself as Madis, nodded, working through his own thoughts. "In honor of your mother, know that you'll always have a place-" Izayoi held a hand up to forestall him, her scowl deepening.

"Stop. I have accepted that we are most likely kin in truth. But I am Osprean by birth, blood, and blade. Your offer is kind, but I am not one of you." Izayoi rose to her feet, turning her back as she made to leave the tent. "Do not let the memory of a woman twenty-five years dead color your perception."

After a brief moment of awkward silence as Izayoi took her leave, Madis recovered, clearing his throat.

"Yes. Well. In any case, we have no love for the laws of the Grovemasters or any other seated lord in any land. You are free to recover and resupply here so long as you have coin or goods to barter. I doubt the Dranans will find you here, but on the off chance they do, you're free to do as you wish to them so long as my people don't get caught in the crossfire. Am I clear? Good. Miina," He looked aside to his daughter, sighing. "We can speak later. Go get cleaned up."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

Even as the Moonlit Queen decided to tamper with Fionn and Gerard in the same way she had Fanilly for whatever inane perceived wronghood that passed for logic in her shrunken fae brain, Renar couldn't help but crack a gleeful smirk underneath his helmet as she dismissed Fleuri entirely. Completely deserved, in his humble opinion. Just for that, Renar's view of the fae queen eased up ever so slightly. Enough to take what she was saying into account.

Defeating the Midnight Hunt? With the wager being, presumably, their souls? A rigged bet, most likely. Renar had heard the stories growing up, as everyone else had. One could defeat individuals within the Hunt, but the entire, endless, tireless raiding party? And yet...

Renar glanced aside to Tyaethe, who was showing signs of actual life for once. Others might be perturbed by the increasingly monstrous grin she was giving. Him? He was just glad to see there was literally anything that could turn the Roses' most revered member into something resembling a functioning person. Parvan's words passed through his mind briefly, but Renar dismissed them just as quickly. He wasn't her minder. Nonetheless, Renar did spot Tyaethe a brief nod of approval.

"That's a good expression on your face, there. Would that you showed signs of life like that more often." He murmured quietly to the vampire before stepping forward, bowing his head as he spoke to the Moonlit Queen.

"Majesty. A clarification before we begin, if you would be so gracious. What, in your view, would constitute 'defeat' of the Midnight Hunt on this task? Felling Rozenalt? A given number of their members brought low? Virtually none among our number have ever heard of outright defeating the Hunt, merely surviving them. If we are to take this wager, fairness would dictate that we are aware of our exact condition for victory as well as defeat, no?"

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Salvator Rasch

Multiple intruders. Two separate groups of potential hostiles: worms and whatever cybernetic horror was waking up. Compared to this, Salvator almost missed the days where all he was doing was planting dirty bombs and carrying out hits on Conglomerate civilian officials. At least the mundane's horrors were well-known. Sentient rationale was easier to comprehend and process than ethereal horrors from beyond the rift.

King's suggestion had Salvator nodding. Unbeknowst to the former, Salvator's thoughts had been going the exact same way from the moment he felt the corpse booting up. Quick haptic typing on his AR display relayed the approximate location of the worms and their movement paths across the squad's HUDs for the ethereal-blind in the room.

"Squad, go to ground. Corpse is giving off signals, going to try to lure the worms to it using the shroud. Do not engage unless any of us are targeted directly. If the three worms outside come in, stay out of their way and sneak past. Let's try not to go hot unless we absolutely have to."

The voidhanger concentrated, manipulating the etheric shroud he'd thrown up so that the space the corpse was occupying suddenly spiked with power. With the accumulated ether concentrated in one place, it would hopefully draw the attention of the worms while still keeping the squad concealed with the greater signature constantly pulsing to those nearby.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

"Dispel."

While nowhere near as powerful as Isolde's own fourth-tier dispel, Miina nonetheless managed to strip the white mage's barriers entirely, leaving a split-second of shocked silence in her wake. While her regeneration was still active, the bar to inflict fatal, unhealable damage against the woman was suddenly severely lowered.

Isolde desperately tried to evade Galahad's halberd, trying to create enough distance to put her barriers back up. It was at this point that Eos's Bio found purchase during the mage's moment of distraction, causing her to double over as vomit dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. Unable to dodge any further, Galahad's downward swing caught Isolde from the shoulder down, rending through her robes and staining them crimson. While the strike healed almost instantly, the sight of Isolde under attack had the templars quick to act.

"Regroup! Protect the Grovemaster!"

The knights broke formation, hurriedly trying to cover their leader as Galahad leapt away back towards the Kirins' ranks in response, extracting Miina along with him. No few of their number intercepted Eliane, raising shields to guard against her explosions and parry her blows before forcing her back with a concerted effort.

With the templars's ranks disrupted and the Kirins regrouped, they were all but poised to make one last, concerted push towards escape...

"Blackest treachery! Face the sea's fury!"

Newly returned from the aether, Leviathan rose from the deep, a jet of water already charged in her mouth. To her credit, she ignored the Kirins entirely as her entire focus was on Isolde, launching the spray of high-pressure water straight towards Isolde as soon as the Eidolon had her in her sights. The Grovemaster, aided by what magic her templars had, hurriedly threw up a massive Shell barrier to just barely deflect the attack. Unfortunately, the backwash from the water splashing against the shield swept the Kirins up, waves of water cascading and sending them plunging off the plateau the ruins were held on. Carried into the sea, the Kirins were swept away by high waves, created from the force of Leviathan's fury towards the Grovemaster...

___

Two days later...

They'd washed ashore a day and a half ago, soaking, half-drowned, and exhausted, but all still alive. In the wake of such a battle, it was quietly agreed upon that they'd take some time to recover their strength and regroup. Plus, very few of them had any idea where they were at the moment.

Only Miina would possibly recognize this specific shoreline as being close enough to her tribe's grounds, within a day's travel at best, but that would put them far north of Costa del Sol, well on the way back towards Osprey.

Bereft of supplies and still in recovery, the best they could do for was hunt, fish, and lick their wounds-

"Oiiii! I finally found you, kupo!"

Goug's voice was unmistakeable. Somehow, coming up the beach towards the cove they were camped out in, was their ever-trusty moogle, driving the caravan and chocobos along.

"Took me forever to map out where those currents would've carried you, kupo! What the bloody kupo happened up in those ruins?!"

Izayoi stared incredulously at the sight pulling up to the mouth of the cave for a moment before she proceeded to help Goug down from his position driving the wagon.

"We were set up for a fall. The Grovemaster proved as untrustworthy as the other two. What happened between her and Leviathan after we were washed out to sea?"

"Mass teleport of her and her knights once she realized you were gone. She's been working quick, kupo. Half the villages and trading posts I passed through on the way up here already have wanted posters out on the whole lot of you."

Izayoi bit back a sulfurous curse at that.

"So...what's the plan, kupo?"

"A very good question." Izayoi ran a hand through the top of her hair, sighing in frustration. "No matter how we choose to proceed from here, the path to Drana's crystal still runs straight through the Grovemasters. And if they already declared us enemies of the state, I doubt retreat will be a viable option."

The line of thought was obvious. Osprey didn't have forces to spare. Skael was still half in the dark about the entire mess. And it was doubtful any of them were willing to start a war on their word. Izayoi led Goug into the cave, sitting down with the rest of the Kirins around a fire.

"Regardless, it seems we're at an impasse. For now, I nominate that we ought to find safer ground to rest before coming up with a more concrete plan." Her ears and tail perked up after a moment, a thought coming to her mind.

"Miina, where exactly are your tribe's grounds? I doubt that any edict by the settled peoples would be heard, much less followed."

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

At least Hildegunde was alive. A small, cold comfort, but one nonetheless. Iraleth nodded mutely to the professor and the doctor as she processed that information. Depending on how one looked at it, that was either a strike off of Ciara's ledger or another, lesser one. Rio's words had Iraleth biting her lip and looking away. How many times had she considered that already? It all looped back around to that. If Iraleth had taken the duel completely seriously from the beginning. If she hadn't given Ciara one last chance too many.

And yet...was it right to consider mercy when it came at the risk of others? Not knowing Ciara was capable of the rampage she went on wasn't an excuse. Not for the guards' sake. Not for Hildegunde's. All of this was still on Ciara's head, of course. But Iraleth had indirectly enabled it.

Compared to that, the mention of classes being adjusted was hardly worth mentioning. That was a given, considering the rings restricting their Essence usage at the moment. Well, her father always said she needed to be less dependent on her Ethos. Perhaps some time of hard training without having the Inheritor in her back pocket would do some good, if Alto resorted to self-study.

She gave Michael a glare for his words, trying to see what reaction that would elict out of him. Don't trust him. Whatever was going on, if he would make a move, it would have to be before the trial. This would be easier if she could at least share a carriage with the janitor during the trip. Damn Professor Alto's consideration.

And speaking of, Iraleth wordlessly entered the carriage after Chloe once Ciara inquired as to Vaal Nero's judicial system, despite being the likely best person to answer that query. She had no desire to explain, not to her.

Sitting across from the other half-elf, Iraleth reached to her sword belt and unslung her bastard sword's scabbard, drawing it slowly so as not to draw alarm, and proceeding to start to oil and whet it. If nothing was going to be taught during the carriage ride, she may as well do something productive with her time. And after everything yesterday, being around Ciara with a naked sword in hand wasn't the worst idea.

"And here I thought you'd be more energetic." Iraleth muttered across to Chloe, her tone stoic. Neutral. Controlled. "Between yesterday and the day before. Before more people join us, what's your take on all of this?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

Oh, Renar could see where this was going a mile away. As alien as the fae were in mindset, genuine emotional reactions were still a tell. And this was just blatant. Still, that just meant it was possible to accomplish what they set out here to begin with. All they had to do was indulge her nonsense and gently string her along to the conclusion that returning the Duke's wits was the only way to even have a chance of getting what she wanted. Which wasn't untrue, of course.

As for the question...well, it wasn't something Renar would have preferred to answer with the whole truth. After all, admitting to being a manipulative bastard (figurative in this case) was rather unpalatable. That, and it would likely be answered with the demand to do so at this very moment. And for obvious reasons, that wasn't exactly something that could simply be accomplished on the fly. Still, with the right phrasing, he could likely spin this in a way where he likely wouldn't have to. And in a way that could get this whole ordeal back on track.

"What can I do?" Renar folded his arms, giving off the impression of only considering this now. "To begin with, everyone within our party is skilled in their own right when it comes to battle. They wouldn't be knights of the Iron Rose, otherwise. As for what would differentiate me..." He let the question hang for a moment before continuing on.

"I'd say I have something of a small talent in getting human nobility to act in my benefit. Little nudges here, some pointed reminders there, that sort of thing."

What? He wasn't going to admit to outright bribery and blackmail in front of the bloody Court Mage, thank you very much.

Iris Ascendis

probably ETA Monday I think, got another post to do and the super bowl's tomorrow

Falling Skies

CMDR SAGAN "VULTURE" KODOS

The captain wasn't wrong. In their current situation, three hours worked better than one. All the more time to get Hex and the Blackout back in fighting shape. Still, at least they all made it out of that one alive and relatively unharmed. One banged-up soldier was better than six. At least it left enough time to get some food down his pie hole and maybe some shuteye, if he was lucky.

"Right, dismissed." Sagan grunted, folding his arms. "Reconvene here in three hours, and I'll give you your briefing. Oh, and Rook? He fixed his eyes on the new meat. "I ain't gonna stop you from drinking. Could probably use it, after that first fight of yours. But go overboard, and I'll make damn sure you throw it all back up. Am I understood? Since there ain't no chaplain on board, come to me if you got any internal problems of that sort that need sorting out. Anyways, all of you, go catch some rack time."

__

Three hours later, Sagan convened the 7th in the hangar once more, a projection glaring off the wall behind him as he clapsed his hands behind his back, pacing as he gave the briefing.

"Right, 7th. Here's our mission: we're participating in the mass drop and planetfall, if only to maintain cover for our actual assignment. We're to break off from the main force and rendevous with our supply convoy before we set up a FOB for our own secret squirrel shit."

A wave of Sagan's hand moved the presentation along, little dots representing the 7th moving forward.

"We'll be deploying near landing point Delta. Rocky craglands and forests near the equator, so crank up the AC. Our landing site'll be outside the city of Gelcastre: heavily defended, and intel suggests the nanoforge we're after is inside. Help the 5th in taking the city as best you can, but securing the nanoforge takes priority over any allied unit, this one's straight from the top brass. Questions at this time?"