Randomguy

Danyel In The Den Of Lions

_{^D.O.B. Dec 13 | ^Age 20 ^y.o | ^Sato Konoha [Formerly Kiri] | ^Region Mainland | ^Rank Chūnin}

N A M E
Yuki Akane

C O R P
ANBU

G R A D E
A

Y O R E
Yuki Akane was born in Kirigakure into the Yuki Clan as the granddaughter of Yuki Samanosuke, the Fifth Mizukage. As part of a clan that traditionally is counted among the highest caste in Kiri, the Aokiri, prior to the reform, she would be born into a high noble family in the Land of Water. Since she was born after the reform, her first memory was not of a mansion in the upper-class Mizuhana District in Kirigakure, but of the gilded walls of the Enclave, the name given to the residential district in Shiomori Island—formerly the Land of Whirlpool—specifically for Kekkans, those that submitted, in any case.

When the rebellion over the Enclave project broke out, like many in the Yuki Clan, Akane’s parents chose to stay loyal to Kiri in order to honour the Fifth Mizukage's wishes. As a result, Akane grew up as part of the Kekkanjutsu users who remained loyal to Kirigakure, sequestered away from the rest of the population, marked by a cursed seal that can be activated to kill her. While serving as a ninja is not required for the Kekkan, there was little else to do in the Enclave, and so, just like all the other children within the Enclave, Akane enrolled in the academy, before participating in the infamous Brood Feast graduation exam, where she had to kill one of her fellow students, a boy from a civilian family she was sure had a crush on her.

As a genin, Akane started doing missions. Unlike the D-ranks missions given to genins in more ‘peaceful’ villages such as Konoha, for instance, Kiri genins see combat and are expected to kill or be killed. A talented genin with a Kekkei Genkai like Akane, even more so. One day, in a C-rank mission, a group of masked shinobi ambushed her team, killing everyone except for her. Rather than finishing her off, however, the group deactivated her cursed seal and brought her to the Land of Fire, specifically, Konoha.

She later found out that this was due to her father’s request. Her father had secretly been in contact with the former Third Hokage of Konoha, Shimura Danzo whom he had known in the war due to the former Hokage and his father, the Fifth Mizukage worked together as allies. Her father's request to Danzo was to take Akane away from Kiri and allow her to live in Konoha. Even back then, Akane already expected that Konoha would have her serve as their kunoichi, what she did not realize, however, was that her cursed seal was not deactivated but merely transferred ownership to Danzo.

Fulfilling the agreement only in technicality, now being the one holding Akane’s proverbial leash, Danzo conscripted Akane into his personal black ops unit, the Root under the codename of Yui. Under Root, Akane was sent on many missions, typically assassinations, her ice release made it convenient to blame the assassination on Kirigakure rather than Konoha. After Uchiha Sasuke killed Danzo, like many Root agents, Akane was reassigned to ANBU under the mask of an owl, where she remained until today.

S E L F
As a member of the Yuki Clan in post-reformation Kiri, Akane is used to having a stigma. In order to offset it, she has long since learned how to adopt a specific persona to fit in better. A social chameleon, so to speak. This does not necessarily mean that Akane would actively try to deceive people outside of missions, but her first instinct in social situations was to fit in the best she could. Her real personality is the quiet, introverted sort, preferring reading books at home rather than going out on to drink.

Likes: Books, Kenjutsu training, debating
Dislikes: Unprofessionalism, people who just moan about how bad their lives are without doing anything.
Dreams: None in specific, but if pressed...Killing Yagura, the Sixth Mizukage

P O W E R S
_Class
ANBU

^Specialty
Silent Killing

_Affinities
Water, Wind, Ice
_Fukajutsu
• Henso • Inpei • Shunshin • Kawarimi • Raiken

_{Kekkei Genkai}
Ice Release
^Kekkanjutsu
•Earthen Consecutive Chains of Ice
•Shattering Ice Spear
•Glacial Void Dome
_Hiden
Demonic Reflection
By entering a chakra-infused reflective surface, the user can move between mirrors almost instantaneously, creating the illusion that they are present in all of them at once. This allows them to launch attacks from any reflective surface, overwhelming their opponents with strikes that appear to come from every direction simultaneously. Technically can be used on any reflective surface, but entering reflective surfaces that are not mirrors created through the user's ice release takes too much chakra and is useless in almost all scenario.

^Hijutsu
• Demonic Ice Mirror

_Tokuchūwaza

Ice Clone
_{B-rank • Shortrange}
The analogue for the various bunshin techniques using Ice Release. The created clone is made out of ice and can be moulded by the user into various other Ice Release jutsu.

Hiding in the Mist Technique
_{D-rank • AOE}
The signature technique of Kirigakure ninja. The User fills the air with mist and control its thickness with their chakra, reducing visibility. A variant of the technique, Hiding in the Frost can also be used, the chilling atmosphere making the enemies more susceptible to Ice Releases and freezing water in the area.

Water Severing Slash
_{A-rank • midrange}
The user kneads chakra in their stomach and converts it into water before expelling it as a jet of high-pressure stream of water. The intensity of the pressure can be controlled by the user, ranging from just enough to knock the target down or to slice through the target.

Vacuum Blade
_{B-rank • shortrange}
An advanced form of chakra flow using the wind element, the user exhales wind-infused chakra onto a weapon in order to increase its sharpness, range and lethality.

Hair Needle Senbon
_{B-rank • short to midrange}
The user hardens their hair into sharpened point of senbon. The technique can be used as a projectile, by shooting the hardened hair or as spear-like implements using the derived jutsu of Sharp Hair Spear Technique.

Frostbloom Cascade
_{S-rank • AOE}
The user infuses water molecule in the air with their chakra, freezing them and creating hail. The icicle falling on an enemy will then latches into the flesh of the target, sapping their chakra before blooming into icy flowers. The icy flowers continuously sap chakra as it grows bigger, encumbering the target and freezing them until they die.

_Jukuren
•Kenjutsu
A skill rather common for shinobi in Kiri, popularized by the Third Mizukage as well as the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. After joining Konoha, Akane continued to hone the Kenjutsu technique she learned in Kiri.

•One-handed seal
The ability to form seals with one hand, allowing the user to keep the other hand free while casting jutsu. A vital skill for any shinobi who wants to seriously pursue Kenjutsu without forgoing other shinobi skills.

•Corpse Manipulation
Various techniques and skills used to manipulate corpses to obfuscate the circumstances around their death. As an assassin, this is a vital skill to make the death looks accidental or even to make the corpse died from certain jutsu.

Tales Of Endoroth (A Slice Of Life MMO Roleplay)

Robert/Claudia

---

Now that Spirit Guardian was active, slowing the enemies speed, Claudia could afford to cast another buff on herself. Ideally, a buff should be cast before the fight, but this was not the type of buff that could be cast for long term, as the duration was pretty short. Technically, Robert could have cast the buff back when they were entering the room, since from a meta-design perspective, it looked like a boss room or at least a special room where the developers would put strong enemies, but that was metagaming, a knowledge Claudia wouldn't have, so Robert refrained.

Activating Tendrils of Protection, black shadowy tendrils sprouted from his avatar, giving a buff to defences. The evil aesthetic-coded tentacles create a stark contrast with Claudia's angelic wings and noble visage.

Robert then cast the spell eldritch blast. Four dark beams, crackling with otherworldly energy left Claudia's hand, each aimed at the summoned enemies Goibnu was shooting at.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

The cook, a young man with afro hair winked. His voice was smooth. "I can make your order, miss, but the preparation would take a while."

@Mas Bagus

Carnatia nodded, "Certainly. I shall wait with bated breath."

She did not truly expect them to actually serve her order. She mostly asked because Carmen had mentioned the possibility of a custom order and that she might as well ask.

That they would actually go out of their way to serve her order though, merit at least a token of appreciation. Yes, she would tip generously, if nothing else, especially if the food turned out to be delicious.

As from what she heard from Carnatia. Linceleste shook her head gently and slowly and said, "Don't worry about it. I can cover it." and gave the baroness a smile.

@Soldat Elf

"I will leave it to you then," Carnatia remarked.

No sense in arguing. Decorum dictate it would be rude to reject such an offer, in any case. Perhaps if she were another noble, Carnatia might have insisted. After all, among nobles such gesture was part of a 'game' of the sort that they play in high society, as a 'battle of status', and so, if one were to maintain respect in high society, easily relenting would be seen as a sign of weakness, perhaps even inviting gossip and rumours regarding one's financial status—or lack thereof.

It was not a game Carnatia enjoyed playing, but nevertheless a necessary one to play. Linceleste, while coming from an affluent family, was not a noble nor was this a high-society soiree. Therefore, at this moment playing such a game was—fortunately—unnecessary.

『 Ludvig 』 "Even now, I can still feel this growing mass of selfish desires inside of me, and all it wants to do right now is to know everything about you... and that's just not what either of us need right now.
You need to earn your freedom, I need to protect you all from harm, the team collectively has this... mission, we don't need distractions.
Although it seems a bit late for that."
^{『 Ludvig 』} "Mm... Yep.
By the way I'm alright, as you can see... so.
Thanks for... repeatedly asking the others to check up on me.
Honestly I'll be fine if you did stab me intentionally, even a hundred times.
And you can take that as an invitation."

Glances at Amaris and winks.

@Cale Henituse

'Was that supposed to be his idea of courting?' Carnatia thought.

How droll.

It was such sappy exaggerated lines one might find in lowbrow smutty literature designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator...which her sister enjoyed—and made Carnatia read, recently.

In any case, perhaps Ludwig was the type to coast by merely on his looks alone, which was fair enough, he definitely had the look for it. His romantic lines...not so much.

Though she probably best keep that to herself. Hardly proper to nitpick such a thing, especially when the subject in question was a teammate.

"I shan't judge you over your choice of breakfast," The W word was at the tip of her tongue, but she switched it seamlessly enough. "Miss Amaris. But there is wisdom in avoiding overindulgence."

@A5G

"But life is full of wonders, shouldn't we try and appreciate them as much as possible?"

@Deide

"Very true. Lady Mirielle, temperance is a virtue, alas, it is not quite abstinence, no? Temperance meant moderation in action after all, which means it should be all right as long as we do not go overboard. While we are in this area, it would be a shame to miss out on dunkel based on what my brother had told me. Apparently, it is made with a technique called decoction mashing, which involves taking a portion of the grains, boiling them, and then adding them back into the mash to increase the overall temperature. This boiling process helps extract more starches from the grains, giving it a malty aroma, with notes of caramel, toasted bread, and a touch of chocolate or coffee. Its flavour profile is supposed to be smooth and mellow, accentuating the sweetness from toasted malt mixed with a slight bitterness from the noble hops used. Are you sure you do not wish to indulge?

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia arrived in the tavern in a rather good mood. The establishment was, of course, not completely up to her usual standard, but she had seen worse during her time as an adventurer.

She only hoped that the chef here could serve the local dish she desired.

"Oy mate! We've got beer, and if yew ain't want beer you ain't buying!"

@Mas Bagus

"Beer? This early in the day? Then again I've heard that it would pair well with some of the dishes served in this region.

Specifically, she heard from her older brother that Schweinshaxe paired well with Dunkel, a type of lager created through a technique called decoction mashing. And she would be remiss if she did not take the chance to taste the infamous black lager of the region

"Very well, a mug of your finest dunkel, then. As for the dish, I would like sauerkraut as the appetizer, Schweinshaxe as the main dish, knödel as a side dish, and apfelstrudel as dessert."

Then turning to Linceleste, she added "Lady York, I realize that a full-course meal might not what you have in mind when you offered, but I am willing to pay for myself if it's too much trouble, no offence intended, of course. I did not wish to slight your gracious offer, merely making a clarification on my own end.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia sighed as they approached Dragon's Maw.

They had stopped by here and there along the road, but it was mostly to resupply and a large chunk of their time was spent on the road, Dragon's Maw was definitely the more thriving and developed settlement they had stopped by en route to Tretagor. Finally, maybe she could have some decent accommodation, Carnatia thought.

It wasn't as if Carnatia was entirely unfamiliar with life on the road, eating from rations or what makeshift cuisine—if campfire meals can be called that—and her body did not reject it as much as when she first struck out on her own, where she had a visceral reaction eating ration food, but it was still a conscious effort to eat them.

And that's not to mention sleeping on the ground, and other facets of life on the road. Truly, the lack of proper accommodations that were at least adequate to her standard was the thing she dreaded the most, but duty was duty. At least before they head into Tretagor proper, she could take the chance to have a decent rest and maybe taste some local gourmet delicacies.

Yes, she heard that in these parts of Westernant, there are several local recipes that had been refined for splendid fine dining experiences. In particular, she had been interested in Schweinshaxe with sauerkraut and knödel. It's supposedly a quintessential dish around these parts.

"Amigos, we will replace our horses here and resupply. Accommodations for you have been booked in the inn we passed earlier. Feel free to check it out, or stroll around the city if you please. But don't forget to get enough rest. We will leave tomorrow morning by horse. The carriage will have to stay here for security reasons. Any questions?"

"I've known of Dragon's Maw but this is the first time I've visited. You seem to know quite a bit about this place, what are the places of interest? Some good restaurant for fine dining before we depart to Sielse, for instance? I've been meaning to try some pork knuckle, namely Schweinshaxe with sauerkraut and knödel."

Tales Of Endoroth (A Slice Of Life MMO Roleplay)

Robert/Claudia

---

The creature's shadow could be seen against the wall of the room. As the creature moved closer, it made a wet squishing sound. The group could see long tentacles gripping the room's floor and walls as it came around the corner. The creature made another loud screech as it fully came into view. The beast was huge, and its head seemed to touch the ceiling. It was coming towards them, baring its many open mouths at the players. Flinging some lumps of flesh that landed on the floor, spawning little copies of the monster. Coming closer while trying to crush them with its tentacles.

@Eviledd1984

Summoning minions was a common enough mechanic in a boss fight, enough that Robert felt it would not be a 'meta-knowledge' for Claudia to have enough experience in order to surmise that the minions of the bosses usually shared a similar 'theme', meaning most likely they were also undead, especially since they spawned from the creature's lumps of flesh. Also, there were times that killing the minions haphazardly resulted in the boss gaining buffs, meaning, rather than an AoE to kill all of them, activating all the buffs on the boss, crowd control was the optimal choice.

Besides, casting an AoE nuke before the tanks draw the aggro was looking for trouble. So instead of activating the Flame Strike spell, he cast Spirit Guardians once more, as the same angelic spirits manifested around Claudia in a 15-foot radius, bestowing the same defensive buffs to the party as before while dealing radiant damage to the enemies as well as slowing their speed.

Claudia then shouted, "Let us focus our attack on one of the monsters that spawned from the creature, so we may test whether we can kill them safely without benefitting our quarry!"

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

"You brought an interesting perspective there, Baronesa De Valmot. Seeing Helvetia break free from its thousand years of neutrality would be a novel sight. But if that happens, they are the least of my worries compared to the elves, who incessantly scheming behind their mask of nonchalance."

@Mas Bagus

"Well, I brought up Helvetia as an example, but their closest ties IS with Varenheim..." Carnatia trailed off. She then shook her head, "I digress, we should probably stop here. It wouldn't do for us to sour the atmosphere with political talks."

She then refilled her cup of wine, before moving to take a plate of a dessert that would pair well with the wine. Panna Cotta, a traditional Helvetica dessert served with fresh fruit ought to complement the sweet wine.

Eventually, the Archbishop returned, introducing a newcomer by the name of Amaris that would be joining their group. She felt like she had heard that name before.

"I am sure that there are some between you who do know me. To those I assure you I that the successful completion of this mission is as important to you as it is for me, as I am quite sure you might know, and that you will have my full cooperation to ensure that it goes well." Amaris completed giving a quick glance towards a certain white haired woman, who was rather infamous even among the Order's clergy, or famous depending on who you asked, due to her extreme... passion... for her job and observing her reaction, before turning her attention to the rest of the group again.

"Should any of you have any question, please don't be afraid to ask." Amaris said, taking a moment to carefully watch every member's reaction before she gently took a dish for herself together with a glass of wine and started to eat, apparently greatly appreciating every bite and sip.

@13org

Considering her words, then as Carnatia thought, she must be someone of renown.

Before long, Mirielle's shout of 'A Penitent' helped Carnatia put things together. Back when she was but a teenager, she remembered an incident that had caused an uproar that even made its way to her Father's desk. A massacre of a border town that was committed by a Sarkaz witch, they said. Of course, the true cause of uproar was the fear that the 'secret' of the dealings between the slavery ring in that town at the government be made public.

Carnatia could understand the rationale behind the deal. Slavery ring was hard to root out and eradicate, thus making one 'pseudo-legal', with the benefits it brought to the ring making it the prominent slave trade in Westernant's underground. That way the largest and most prominent slave trade could was at least known and can be somewhat regulated through their agreement. The government found it preferable than the absolute chaos of the slave trade without that particular ring where most slave trade was funneled into.

Carnatia understood the rationale. As a ruler, it was also one's obligation to consider the greater good and see the big picture, and speaking of big picture, admitting that the town was a cover for a slave trade would result in chaos and public unrest, weakening the social fabric, and thus, so it was that the Sarkaz was charged with slaughter of innocent civilians.

The entire debacle was not ideal, but Carnatia couldn't say whether what was done by the Westernant Government at the time was the wrong choice or a dereliction of their duty. It would in an ideal world, but sadly this was not a world of black and white.

Still, at the very least, Carnatia now was certain that for a 'Penitent' this Amaris woman was not as dangerous nor guilty as her status would suggest.

She then spoke, addressing Mirielle, Carnatia spoke, "A word, Inquisitor. A Penitent, as the name suggest, is someone undergoing a penance, no? I think it's hardly become of you to speak of Miss Amaris with such vehemence and alarm. The fact that she is here presumably meant that this mission is part of her penance."

Carnatia might think that what happened to Amaris was 'correct' in the grand scheme of thing, but she also recognized that she was innocent and a scapegoat, therefore as part of the government who was benefitted by promulgating the narrative of a Sarkaz witch massacring an innocent town, making sure she was treated fairly was the least she could do as compensation, as per her station dictated she ought to do as a noble of Westernant.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

"I did not use grapes. With enough sugar,yeast and umami, i can make wine directly out of Champignon mushrooms,which is the reason for your seeming familiarity with it. It's far sweeter than most wines i have tried,and the distinct mushroom taste gets covered by the manifacturing process,while still keeping it's syrupy and sweet flavour."

@Deide

"No grapes...?"

Cultivation of premium wine grapes were one of the main things that drive up production cost for wines. If she was able to make wine of such quality without grapes...well, making it strictly from mushroom was a bit too out there for it to be marketable, people wanted something 'authentic' after all, but if she could bring out the flavour to this extent without premium grapes, then it would be possible to manufacture botrytised wines of high enough quality without using the premium grapes, thus allowing the wine to be competitive in prices especially for low to middle-income consumers, which was a market segment hitherto untouched by botrytised wines because of its high price due to production cost. That was not to count the possibility that since this much flavour had been brought out without the premium grapes if she were using the premium grapes, the flavour of the wine might be even richer, which would be a competitive advantage even for higher-income consumers.

"Miss Amanita, I find myself intrigued by these wines you manufactured. I think they would make for a promising business venture in Westernant. As you may have heard, I own a Barony in Westernant. After this expedition is over, I would be delighted to welcome you to my land and be your patron, if you are interested."

Leaving Amanita with the proposition, Carnatia excused herself with a small curtsy before mingling with the rest of the room's occupants.

"It is because of The Council." Carmen's expression, a bit somber just a moment ago, now changed to disgust. "They are afraid of making any significant action concerning anything related to Tretagor, and would rather urge everyone to stay their hands. It is for the good of all, they said. What a bull! How could you say it is for the good of all if you let ordinary people be murdered, their homes burned and their wives and children sold off to distant lands? Paladin Thomas was the only one who saw beyond their shortsightedness, but what do they do to award his sacrifice? They branded him as an illegal trespasser, peace breaker, and risk maker." He thumped the table and shook his head. "And worse, most of our cardinals bow down to their so-called wise recommendation!"

@Mas Bagus

Carnatia chimed in, "Well...to give the Council the benefit of the doubt, International Politics are rarely that black and white. Being a remnant of a once mighty empire, Tretagor's provinces that are now fighting among themselves are prime target for their neighbouring nations to absorb as part of their own territory. I presume their reasons for preventing interventions from other nations is to avoid circumstances such as the one we now face with Paladin Thomas and his entourage. If it turns out that the cause of Paladin Thomas' disappearance is the local of Sielse, in the worst-case scenario, it would be held against the local authorities to make them culpable, in the worst case depending how involved they are, it could be casus belli to declare war on the local authorities of Sielse.

It's definitely something Carnatia could see Westernant do. Of course, at first, Westernant would try the diplomatic approach of sending troops in from Dragon's Maw as a peacekeeping troop. But should the local authorities reject the proposal, she imagined that Westernant would declare the local authorities in Sielse to be despot and send their troops to 'liberate the people of Sielse from their despot rulers'.

She continues, "Of course, if say, Westernant were to do that, Helvetia would not simply stay put and allow Westernant to expand our sphere of influence by annexing Sielse and thus the conflict will turn into a proxy war with Helvetia backing the local authorities, which could potentially lead to a larger war breaking out in the future. Which is why I do agree that rather than preventing any interventions whatsoever, the Council should have declared Tretagor a failed state and facilitated multilateral talks among the nations as to how its provinces ought to be distributed as protectorates among the other nations under the supervision of the Council. It is not ideal, of course, but pragmatically speaking taking into account the realpolitik tendencies of the nations, that is the best-case scenario for all. It would return order to Tretagor and prevented the rest of the nations from fighting each other in open conflict for Tretagor provinces."

It would, of course, be a bitter pill to swallow for the rulers of Tretagor, especially those who seek to uphold the monarchy. But in Carnatia's opinion, those who were charged to rule had the obligations to do what was best for their people, and sometimes that meant swallowing their pride and knowing when to capitulate and bend the knee, pursuing diplomatic avenues to keep their autonomy as much as possible.

@Mas Bagus@Deide

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia then watched the others start introducing themselves. Some of them, like Mirielle and Ludvig seem dedicated to the mission. She had expected as much from Mirielle, being a member of the Church, but she was under the impression that Ludvig was more lackadaisical. Though in the end, even if it were lip service, that boded well for the mission, he'll keep up the appearance, if nothing else. Carnatia noted that Ludvig might be a good potential negotiator with the locale. He seemed approachable enough and was—if nothing else—willing to keep up the appearance of virtuous pontificals on a humanitarian mission, that might be effective in gaining the trust of the locales. Furthermore, a pretty face always helped in negotiations. Perhaps not the most egalitarian concept to be kept in mind, but that was the reality of things.

Linceleste York, meanwhile, turned out to be the niece of Paladin Thomas Wayne. Carnatia was even more unsure of bringing her along, given the potential conflict of interest. On one hand, that meant she would be even more dedicated to saving her uncle, on the other hand...that might also make her emotionally compromised, prone to making rash decisions. Well, in the end choosing the personnel for the mission was not her responsibility, that was outside her jurisdiction, so to speak. So she would respect the decision to include York in the mission. At the very least, if her words could be trusted, her skillset could prove to be useful.

"Ah, Baronesa Carnatia. It is a rare occurrence indeed to meet a fellow noble in a foreign land. I suppose I should say congratulations to you first. And a heartfelt apology that I was not present during your appointment ceremony."

@Mas Bagus

"Oh, no, it's quite all right, sir. I'm sure you had your own duties to consider. In any case, it was a ceremony to confer a noble title for a Barony, nothing a Count Household such as yours have to concern themselves with. I do appreciate the gifts from your Household, though. In particular, the exotic coffee beans grown in your fief...Earth Almond, I think they were called? Made for an interesting gift. I admit, I am more familiar with tea than I am with coffee, but coffee is not bad at all. The Horchata de Chufa made from those beans are quite the treat during summer when served ice cold."

Carnatia had never interacted much with the Friston Household, who governed the Servielle Province in the Southwest, even when she was part of the de Luson Household, given that their lands were somewhat opposite of each other. The de Luson House, being a Ducal family had deep ties to the original families that first made up Westernant and culturally the land they govern was what one would think of quintessential Westernants in demographic and culture. the Servielle Province, meanwhile was a vassal state annexed at one point during Westernant's expansion and was culturally somewhat different from the native of Westernant. They were given a relative degree of autonomy and today, Servielle maintains its own cultural identity under the umbrella of the Kingdom.

Finally, Carnatia approached Amanita, who had hitherto been silent.

"Pardon me, Miss Amanita? You were the one that supplied tonight's wine, I believe? They seemed to be somewhat similar to botrytized wines such as Sauternes. Were they manufactured through a similar process? I noticed that the wine grapes weren't premium grapes typically used for botrytized wines, nevertheless, the flavour was quite excellent still, if you do not mind me asking, were the grapes specially treated or were special fungi used to induce the noble rot?"

@Deide

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia strode into the Glory Hall, briefly observing the guests that had been gathered there. With the exception of the familiar knight with black hair who had been a fellow hired adventurer in the 'Land of Twilight Expedition,' she was famous for, Carnatia had not met the rest of the occupants in the room.

Giving a nod to Sten, Carnatia took her seat as she continued to take stock of her companions for the search and rescue mission on behalf of the Synodus.

Some, such as Osric Griswall the famed gun for hire and Mirielle, a veteran inquisitor she knew by reputation. But the rest were more of an unknown, albeit with their own peculiarities. Such as the man with streaks of platinum blonde, or the girl who looked to be too young to be here—then again, she was about that young when she started adventuring after being exiled, so she did not have room to speak—and perhaps the most bizarre of them all, a girl wearing what appeared to be an oversized mushroom head.

Before long, the Archbishop arrived with the final member of their group in tow, who appeared like Mirielle, was also a member of the Church. As the two took their seats, the Archbishop gave a small speech before uttering a prayer.

"...Amen," Carnatia uttered as per the proper responsorial to the prayer. She wasn't particularly pious, at least not more than the average Westernant citizens. But in this hall, she was a guest of the Church, and especially as a noble representing Westernant, therefore proper etiquette needed to be observed.

The party then commenced, with the Archbishop making some more small talks. A peculiar thing that Carnatia noted was how the wine served came from one of the members of the group, introduced as Amanita Mycellia. She had been curious of the wine. It felt somewhat similar to a particular type of wine manufactured in some parts of Westernant called the Sauternes. Sauternes was a type of dessert wine, or sweet wine, with gold colour. What was unique of Sauternes was that it was made not from mere grapes, but grapes that had undergone what was referred to as 'noble rot', which was an euphemism to say that the grapes had been infected by a particular fungi. The fungi shrivelled the grape and gave its own characteristic, which end up concentrating the sugars, acidity, and flavours, resulting in rich, syrupy juice, full of honeyed and floral aromas.

The wine served here was like that, but not quite. The quality was not bad. The ageing aside, Carnatia could tell the grape wine used were not the premium horticulture specimen such as Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, or Furmint that was ideal for noble rot and instead were using cheaper, more common, variety. But it was somehow still passable for her palate, which was saying something. If she were to infer, then it must be the fungi that were special rather than the grape.

An interesting approach from Amanita, to be sure. It was quite novel, to her knowledge, as the conventional wisdom was to disregard the fungi quality and be more peculiar with the grapes. Amanita did the opposite.

A novel wine manufacturer certainly wasn't someone she expected to join her in this mission, but then again, neither were the rest of the group.

When Carnatia received the mandate from Casterdiar to join the expedition to find Paladin Thomas and his entourage as Pontificials, she certainly did not imagine these would be the fellows who would join her on the mission, the two members of the Church aside. While Pontificials were technically mercenaries, the word had...specific implications for the type of people who were hired as Pontificials. Typically they were the virtuous type. Not that Carnatia claimed to be a paragon of virtues, but she, at least could reasonably claim that she looked the part. It was not even that Carnatia condemned the manner of clothing by which these people chose to comport themselves, but pragmatically speaking—especially in a war-torn land like Tretagor—it would be easier to interact with the locale if they could lean into the reputation of Pontificial. Instead, with this group, Carnatia feared that the locale would treat them with suspicion wariness instead.

Which would not be ideal to their objective. Since the first step to bringing back home Paladin Thomas Sanders and his group was finding out what exactly happened, she imagined information gathering from the locale would be paramount.

She hoped that either of the Church members would be able to coax said information. Carnatia was no stranger to diplomacy, but in the end, she was a known figure from Westernant, and considering the history between Tretagor and Westernant, Carnatia doubted that the people of Sielse would be open to sharing information and whatnot with her. If anything they would probably be more suspicious of her,

...Not that it was unwarranted in this case. After all, she was representing Westernant as sort of a...propaganda piece, or rather, a justification piece would be more apt. Without being involved in resolving the incident, it would be hard for Westernant to portray themselves as the 'good guys' when they used this incident with the Paladin and his group to declare that Tretagor can no longer be trusted to keep order in Sielse and thus Westernant would be sending in a 'peacekeeping troops' to restore order in a 'humanitarian mission'. Annexation of the province, was, of course, the goal.

None of this was in the official mandate Carnatia was given, of course, for plausible deniability, but the writing was clear on the wall to Carnatia. Though to be honest, Carnatia was of the opinion that none of that concerned her. She was a noble of Westernant, and thus when a noble was given a mandate from the King, it was their duty to fulfil the mandate. The mandate was to help with the search and rescue mission of the missing Order of the Golden Sun's personnel. And that was what she would do. Political ramifications that came about after was...frankly, the domain of Tretagor's and Westernant's officials, not hers.

Prompted by Carmen introducing himself, Carnatia followed suit, pinching the tip of her skirt for a curtsy, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Sir Carmen, while addressing the rest of the group, she continued, "I am Baroness Carnatia de Valmont, here to represent Westernant in the Kingdom's support for the Church and the Order of the Golden Sun. I look forward to work with all of you."