"I'll be there! I got it, I'll be careful! I'll delete it! Though be careful! Sakomoto taught me that even if deleted if someone knows how to hack a crystal they can still find the missing data unless it's removed properly. To remove it properly it takes a lot of skill with arcana @~@ I know I can't do it lol. I could ask my brother to do it for my phone.. He's actually good at that kinda thing... If that's okay? All right we'll head over!"
With Zahira knocking on the door, the door began to open on it's own. Inward was a large bugbear sitting across from the principal himself, with his beautiful ornamental tea cup. Many desk and shelves and papers strewn about. WIth a flick of his hand he began to pick up many stray papers into folders as desk and the like began to fling open to make space for such papers.
"What brings you all here? I must admit.. This is perfect timing, I'm afraid I have good news and bad news for you all. Bad news is.. Zim and Trick will need to drop out for awhile due to their home situations. The good news? You'll have a replacement here, Shar is a bit late but he'll be trying out for the Blade Blitz team and he'll make a fine addition to you're party I'm sure!"
That is a good point. Haha, I might need him to check mine as well. Maybe Zahira's too. ...perhaps he can teach Zahira or me how to do that. It would be a good skill to have if this ends up becoming an even bigger issue. Anyways, see you soon.
Zeph is only slightly caught off guard by the door opening on it's own. He lives in a house full of wizards after all, that sort of thing is relatively common. Wait...Zim and Trick leaving? Hopefully there's nothing wrong, or they get their situations figured out soon. Well, at least they should be safe if they get out now. But a replacement? Should they really be dragging another student into this mess? Cerebrum why couldn't the principal be alone? He glances at Zahira, then back at the principal. "Well sir, remember that uh...indecent in the cafeteria? We think we stumbled across who did it. Himari and Arthur also may have found some information, they will be coming soon. We...we think this may be a lot bigger than just a few pranksters." He glances at the bugbear. How can he get him to leave without sounding rude?
Kuro lets out a small sigh when he get's his mother's text. Good, at least he won't be walking home. He texts back, Thanks.
When the enter, he stays at the back of the group so as not to draw attention to himself, even though the principal likely already knew he was there. He doesn't speak up, just waits to see what the others will do. Wait... Zim and Trick are leaving? Well at least he won't have to worry about Zim dying in front of him anymore, but... hmm. He isn't sure how he feels about that. He'd gotten relatively comfortable with the bard and the cat-guy... to throw in a new student? Much less someone who he's never met... this wasn't going to go well. He eyes the bugbear. Blade Blitz? Isn't that something all the tough bullies get into? Zim's little performance at the beginning of the semester was bad enough, but now they've got a sports jock in their group who may or may not be friendly, but who definitely has the ability to squash him flat at will. Not to mention he's going to make this whole thing take longer since now everyone else is going to be trying to figure out how to get him to leave. He huffs internally, outwardly giving nothing more than a blink. The way he sees it, his chances of dying at school (which were already high enough) just went through the roof.
- Excuse us, Mr Forth... oh?- Zahira said upon entering and seeing another student. "Why couldn't he just be alone?? As if speaking to him alone wasn't complicated enough!!" - ... Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear about Zim and Trick! And Nice to meet you, Shar - she awkwardly waved at the bugbear before adding - Hmm, perhaps its too soon to bother our new companion with this. We definitely don't want to trouble you on your first day! Is it better if we speak about this in other moment, Mr Forthright?
It was a fat chance, but the air genasi hoped Mr Forthright would excuse Shar for a moment to allow them to speak privately.
I mean, I know this will not happen, but she had to try. xD
The bugbear has to be big, one can say that by the size of his shoulders and his long arms that almost touch the floor even now that he has the forearms leaning on the arms of the chair, but somehow he has managed to stick all his bulky frame into the chair which seems extremely small for the new student. As if an adult has sat on a kindergarden's chair while speaking with the teacher of the toddlers.
The bugbear has red and orange fur covering his body, a color pattern almost fiery. He has long ears and when he turns to look at his, apparently new companions, they discover that he has big, golden eyes and he squeezes even further into the chair when they enter, if that's possible at all.
His clothes are a little but ragged and outdated at least two seasons, and one of his sneakers lacks the lace. A brown backpack lays half opened at his big feet, and a folder with some stickers of rock music can be spotted inside.
- Hello there - he says when the director introduces him. His voice is surprisingly gentle, yet deep, even melodious - I am Shar... ni.. nice to meet you all. In fact... I do have a scholarship thanks to the Blitz.. -he tries to explain to the others. It is pretty obvious that the bugbear feels that he is not in his place.
When Zahira speaks he looks at the principal
- I do not want to bother you... but.. are we finished Sir? -he asks obviosuly confused by the akward situation. It seems that the director was somehow expecting this students but they came to his office for another porpouse.
(About Shar voice if you have seen the willow season you know what I mean ;) )
Silas had intertwined his hands over the desk laying his elbows against the mahogany desk as he looked to Zephyro and his newfound proclamation. It was than Zahira had tried to subtly hint for Shar's absence for just a moment. Shar had stood up ready to leave at that motion. Silas had removed had poured a cup of tea handing it over to Shar.
"Ahh, I see worried to involve even more I see? Very wise and very sneaky lady Zahira I do believe that cunning is very important for an adventurer. As for that claim Zephyro I must say.. A proper adult would tell you that you should have reported it to the authorities instead of approaching the situation yourself. That being said.. had you done that it'd be clear where you're adventurous spirit lies. As Giovanni would say, I am no proper adult! Hahaha! Although if you are worried about Shar I would not. His parents are old drinki- I mean old colleagues of mine. They are strong starkwood hunters and can be trusted in fact.. I think they moved her due to the troubles at hand. Though I doubt they told Shar, despite his large size his parents are rather protective of him."
He had poured another cup of tea taking a sip for a moment before wincing and his left eye twitching.
"I need to stop allowing Giovanni to make my tea... Ahh yes the matter at hand. Himari and Arthur you say? We have many valorous first years it would seem!"
He had glanced back over at Shar with a light smile.
"If you wish to wait outside the room you may Shar but by no means you are forced too. In fact.. I think you will serve a fine guardian for these wild children.
Zephyro fights back a wave of frustration at the principal's words. They WOULD have taken this to the authorities, but apparently the authorities were in on whatever this is. Ugh, and the guy doesn't even seem to be taking this seriously. Wait...'wild children'?! Is that how Forthright sees them?! Sweet Cerebrum he can't let his parents get wind of that. The young elf glances back at the large boy in the chair. Why do they have to be meeting like this? He hopes he hasn't made his future party member feel unwelcome. The bugbear doesn't appear to be a magic user and if that is the case then he should be safe for now, but looks can be deceiving. "Hopefully he's someone who can help me out on the frontlines, then maybe I won't miss half the battle."He thinks to himself. Taking a deep breath, he looks back to Forthright, "Sir, we would have taken this to the authorities, but we have reason to believe that some of them may be in on the kidnappings. If you think it's ok to get uh..Shar..in on what's going on, then I suppose we could use the help. Though, I think we should wait for Arthur and Himari before going into detail."
Then he turns to address Shar, holding out a hand for the larger boy to shake. "Hi, I'm really sorry if my friends and I seem a bit rude right now. We've had a long day. Anyway, my name is Zephyro, Zephyro Aethylmir. Welcome to the team." He offers a tired, yet friendly smile.
Zephyro is a young high elf, with short light brown, almost blond hair, and blue eyes, though his eyes are partly obscured by the light reflecting off his glasses. He is wearing rather fine clothing, though it looks like they were recently torn, and even has a bit of relatively fresh blood on them. The only weapon he carries is a sickle, which he keeps sheathed on his lower back, under his fine cobalt blue overcoat.
Well at least the guy doesn't act threatening, Kuro thinks as Shar introduces himself. Still, that doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. Hopefully though, he'll save whatever strength he has for keeping everyone else alive. Still, it's unfortunate that Forthright wasn't encouraging the bugbear to leave. That...complicates things.
He gave a small start at the word 'wild' as if that somehow struck a nerve with him. He quickly resumes his usual demeanor, but pointedly keeps his eyes downcast. It wasn't as if the principle was just talking about him, he was talking about all of them...but still. Valorous? As if. They'd broken in, and then stuck their noses where they didn't belong. Perhaps that might be 'valor' but in his book it was also stupidity.
Kuro has black hair, emerald green eyes, and a look of perpetual boredom. He's also wearing an oversized hoodie, and tends to keep the hood up even indoors as if to hide under it. He isn't carrying any weapons that are visible, so they are either hidden under his clothes...or nonexistent.
(I'd post a pic but its not letting me for some reason lol)
Well, it had been a nice try, but Forthright had read so easily through Zahira's attempt that the girl's cheeks had turned purplish for a long moment, during which she decided it was best to say quiet and let Zephyro do the talking.
Taking a look at Shar, she realized one of his sneakers didn't have the lace, and this gave her an idea. While Zephyro was still speaking, she took out her lockpick and pointed it to their new companion, while muttering a few words. She fixed things, didn't she? What better introduction than that? When she finished mending the sneaker, she spoke again:
- I'm very sorry, Mr Forthright - she said to the principal. And then turned to Shar - And I'm very sorry, Shar. This is a delicate matter and I thought it was better to speak about it privately. But since you are going to be in our party ... well, maybe it's best that you hear about it. I'm Zahira, by the way. I'm studying to be an artificer. What will you be studying here? Oh! By the way, I've mended your sneaker! We don't want you spraining your ankle while training, right? - she said, with a smile.
Zahira is a fifteen year old air genasi, with blue grayish skin, light blue eyes and long white hair tied in a pony tail, which is probably messier than usual, as it has been a rough day that has included looking for a missing student, fighting a bunch of older guys and then finding the missing student. INSIDE. A. CRYSTAL. What the hell were they going to do about it? And what if the Principal was involved. He couldn't be, could he? A funny man like him, that had called her "sneaky lady Zahira" and drank from that nice cup of tea she had laughed about during his speech on their first day at Rising Dawn couldn't possibly be a bad guy. RIGHT?
She clutched her bag, which contained the empty crystals that she was supposed to show Forthright so they could study his reaction, but then Zephyro said to wait for Arthur and Himari. So, though she was about to open the bag and show the crystals, she stopped and waited.
Shar takes the cup of tea from the principal hands, still processing what he has said about his parents. He is still on that train of thought when Zephiro introduces himself.
He motions his hand to shake the elf's but he has the cup of tea, so he retract it, almost spoilling the tea and offer his left hand, realizing that wouldn't be appropiate he changes the cup of tea of hands and now he is finally able to respond to Zephiro's handshake. Inside the bugbear's hand, Zephiro looks small in comparasion.
"Ni..nice to meet you... I am Shar Darkwood. It's.. it's ok I understand but... if Mister Forthright thinks I could be of any help to you... I will do my best... if that's ok with all of you... "
he replies.
When Zahira adress him he raise one hand
"It's ok I do understand... and it seem to be an important matter... " he says wishing that the spotlight turns away from him. " My sneaker?" he says in low voice "oh!" he says looking don to it "Thanks.. that's really helpful and toughtful... "
- No problem! If you have any other thing that needs mending do not hesitate to ask! It literally costs me nothing, except perhaps a minute of my time, hehe! - Then she remembers something - Oh. Another thing... We have a party Crystal group, it would be great to add you so we can communicate easily. You do have a crystal right?
When she says this she scratches her forehead, thinking, and mutters "Mmmm, now that Zim and Trick won't be with us, should we rename the group to KZZZTS? Or KZZS?"
Crystals are mobile phones in this world, so we are talking about adding Shar to our party whatsapp chat, which is named after the member's initials 😂 So the current name is KZZZT.
Realizing that Kuro hasn't still said a word to the newcomer, the genasi looks at the sorcerer and tilts her head slightly towards Shar, like saying "For gods sakes, Kuro, say something to him, will you?". She will probably earn a bored stare for this, but...
Kuro blinks, his expression not changing. It's pretty obvious Zahira wants him to introduce himself, but he just doesn't really feel like it. If this guy is going to be in their group then he'll figure out his name soon enough. Kuro's not going to offer it up, instead turning his attention back to the principle in hopes of speeding this up. Now wasn't the time for introductions, they needed answers. Why bother waiting for the Arthur and Himari if they aren't even sure that they can trust Forthright. Wouldn't it make more sense to possibly provoke him while there are still others out there who know what's going on and could help if things went south?
He continues on in silence, giving nothing but his blank, bored stare...
Kuro's response (or better said, lack of it) makes Zahira sigh while slightly rolling her eyes. She wishes for Arthur and Hima to arrive quickly so they can finish with this, or she'll probably have to pull out the empty crystals without them being present.
Meanwhile she takes a look at Shar again. So he comes from Starkwood, same as Trick? And his parents had decided to come here to help in whatever is happening in Crystal Meadows? She hopes that means that Forthright is on the right side of all this mess...
Shar moves awkwardly, his massive body somehow encroached in the chair, it’s hard to really measure him. He looks back and forth between the principal and the other students. They came in with an urgent and pressing mattter but for some reason now they remain silent. That didn’t make much sense to him but it wouldn’t the first time he didn’t fully understand a social encounter.
Then he realizes the young woman request.
A girl was asking him for his crystal?
"Oh the cristal.." he mutters and if they thought it wouldn't be impossible for him to shrink even more in the space of the chair he, somehow did.
"Ye.. yes.. I have one.. " he somehow forgets that he had a cup of tea in one hand and almost drop it, spilling the hot beverage on his trousers but he doesn't seem to even notice it as he pats his pockets in search for the requested object. After leaving the cup at the principal's desk he finally finds the cristal in one pocket, struggles to take it out and he offers it to Zhaida. He finally dares to look at her and realizes that she is looking back at him half confused half amused.
"Oh you mean the crystal to join the group not the actual crytal... hehehe.. of course... youstupiddumb " he mumbles to himself If his orange and red fur could change color it would be all red now " Please... " he says offering her the connection so she can add him to the group.
As Kuro laid in silence and Zahira had waited for Hima and Arthur the principal had made them all a cup of tea. He seemed to be examining Kuro rather closely. As time went on there was a knock on the door. With a whip of his hand the door had begun to open with the use of mage hand.
"O-Oh.. Hey! My name's Arthur!"
Arthur had entered, he was a spitting image of a white knight. A white suit that appeared to had doubled as armor not unusual in this world of spiral. A green haired blonde young man with a gentle smile he looked to Shar and offered a slight bow. Himari, was a woman with a kimono at his side she offered a curtsy her skin was pale.. Almost inhumanly so.
"I-I'm Himari!"
She looked to Zephyro and offered a wave. Arthur had waved over to the whole party smiling at Zahira brightly, though he was well built he wasn't exactly tall. Five foot six maybe five foot seven the girl beside him probably even had an inch or two over him.
"So umm... Principal Silas.. Uhhh.. Err.. Well.. We have to talk!"
"It appears so! However, you're party has been rather quiet till now! Haha, kids these days seem a little on the shy side. Except for Zahira and Zephyro too they seem outgoing enough!"
"Heh.. Well.. We had a bit of a run in.. With more gremlins and found some notes... Study's on transmutation and necromancy. Runes... but we weren't sure what the group was. I think.. Zephyro's group ended up finding more details on that than us."
OOC For our new player here is pictures of them both ^~^
Shar mechanically responds to Arthur's bow with another one. When he hears about runes his attention is inmediatly focused on that.
"Ru... runes?" he asks "What kind? Do you have a copy?" inmediatly he regret having opened his mouth for they were looking at him again. "I mean... if you don't mind..."
- .... okaaay .... - Zahiramutters to herself after Shar doesn't respond to the crystal group suggestion. Guess their newest member is going to join Kuro's club of "not-talking-all-that-much", too. But a moment later the bugbear finally reacts and gives her his contact. Feeling relieved, and also a little amused by his initial confusion that led him to believe she was actually asking for the physical device, the genasi adds him to the group - Nice! There you are, Shar. You can add the names later. I'm sure you'll identify who's who quickly enough. I will surely be the one using too many amajis - she says, with a slight laugh.
For Frandal: Amaji = emoji :D
She then approaches the table to get the tea the Principal has offered them, and when she drinks it she too twitches her eyes a little. "Hell, isn't this tea a little bit strong? How many spoonfuls has Giovanni used? More like a thousand, instead of just one". She gives a slight smile to Forthrightbefore puting the teacup on the table again, with no intention of drinking anymore from it.
When Arthurand Himarifinally arrive she waves and smiles at them, resting her eyes on Arthurand smiling at him perhaps for several seconds longer than necessary, before coming back down to Spiral again and remembering that they are here on serious business.
- Gremlins, you say? And notes on transmutation and necromancy? That can't be a coincidence. It's just the same at what we saw in the cafeteria - she eyes Shar when he asks about the runes. Well, it's nice that he shows interest on this. Nodding at him she asks too - A copy, a crystal photo ... Anything will do. I would like to examine that too, if possible. And where did you find these gremlins?
At that moment, she glances at Zephyroand Kuro. That was the time to show what they had come here to show. So, in a silent communication with them and awaiting their nods, she proceeds:
- In any case, now that we are all togheter, there's something we need to show you all. As Zephyro said, today we went out to look for clues on Len Pencross' dissapearance, and this lead us to enter a builiding just in front of Flurry's where there was a monstrously loud music playing there. We met a bunch of older kids that were guarding the place - she doesn't mention Ethan- and had to fight them, as they wouldn't just let us go. We knocked them out, stabilized and tied them and while investigating the rest of the building we found this - and she takes the four empty crystals and puts them on Forthright's table - in a cellar that looked to have been used to do some experiments. This crystals have traces of Transmutation and Necromancy, same as the gremlins scene at the cafeteria. Though, in that case, there was also some traces of Celestial magic involved, too.
She stops for a moment, and Zahiralooks directly to Forthright:
- Sir, we believe someone has been doing experiments on kids on that cellar, using these crystals somehow.
She doesn't say anything else just yet. Not about those Purists, and of course not about the crystal containing Len's soul that Zephyrohas in his backpack. They'll have to check Forthright's reaction before saying anything else.
(ooc: Insight check on Forthright: 12. Bleh! Not great. I hope you guys are luckier).
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kuro shifts slightly on his feet, not liking how the principle was eyeing him. Is he really an enemy? Could he be assessing whether or not to make Kuro the next target? Or did this just have something to do with him knowing Father? Either way, Kuro doesn't like it. He blinks, and lowers his head slightly in attempt to hide his gaze in the shadow of his hood. He doesn't really react when the door opens and Arthur and Himari come in. All he cares about is that the two of them are finally there and they can get on with this. He listens and watches carefully, ready to pull out his phone (which is in his hand in his pocket).
OOC
Waiting to post cause PM'd Shar's PC a way to introduce him here in this scene ^~^
Kuro had received from his mother "Of course hun"
Himari had texted back Zephyro
"I'll be there! I got it, I'll be careful! I'll delete it! Though be careful! Sakomoto taught me that even if deleted if someone knows how to hack a crystal they can still find the missing data unless it's removed properly. To remove it properly it takes a lot of skill with arcana @~@ I know I can't do it lol. I could ask my brother to do it for my phone.. He's actually good at that kinda thing... If that's okay? All right we'll head over!"
With Zahira knocking on the door, the door began to open on it's own. Inward was a large bugbear sitting across from the principal himself, with his beautiful ornamental tea cup. Many desk and shelves and papers strewn about. WIth a flick of his hand he began to pick up many stray papers into folders as desk and the like began to fling open to make space for such papers.
"What brings you all here? I must admit.. This is perfect timing, I'm afraid I have good news and bad news for you all. Bad news is.. Zim and Trick will need to drop out for awhile due to their home situations. The good news? You'll have a replacement here, Shar is a bit late but he'll be trying out for the Blade Blitz team and he'll make a fine addition to you're party I'm sure!"
Himari:
That is a good point. Haha, I might need him to check mine as well. Maybe Zahira's too. ...perhaps he can teach Zahira or me how to do that. It would be a good skill to have if this ends up becoming an even bigger issue. Anyways, see you soon.
Zeph is only slightly caught off guard by the door opening on it's own. He lives in a house full of wizards after all, that sort of thing is relatively common. Wait...Zim and Trick leaving? Hopefully there's nothing wrong, or they get their situations figured out soon. Well, at least they should be safe if they get out now. But a replacement? Should they really be dragging another student into this mess? Cerebrum why couldn't the principal be alone? He glances at Zahira, then back at the principal. "Well sir, remember that uh...indecent in the cafeteria? We think we stumbled across who did it. Himari and Arthur also may have found some information, they will be coming soon. We...we think this may be a lot bigger than just a few pranksters." He glances at the bugbear. How can he get him to leave without sounding rude?
Kuro lets out a small sigh when he get's his mother's text. Good, at least he won't be walking home. He texts back, Thanks.
When the enter, he stays at the back of the group so as not to draw attention to himself, even though the principal likely already knew he was there. He doesn't speak up, just waits to see what the others will do. Wait... Zim and Trick are leaving? Well at least he won't have to worry about Zim dying in front of him anymore, but... hmm. He isn't sure how he feels about that. He'd gotten relatively comfortable with the bard and the cat-guy... to throw in a new student? Much less someone who he's never met... this wasn't going to go well. He eyes the bugbear. Blade Blitz? Isn't that something all the tough bullies get into? Zim's little performance at the beginning of the semester was bad enough, but now they've got a sports jock in their group who may or may not be friendly, but who definitely has the ability to squash him flat at will. Not to mention he's going to make this whole thing take longer since now everyone else is going to be trying to figure out how to get him to leave. He huffs internally, outwardly giving nothing more than a blink. The way he sees it, his chances of dying at school (which were already high enough) just went through the roof.
- Excuse us, Mr Forth... oh? - Zahira said upon entering and seeing another student. "Why couldn't he just be alone?? As if speaking to him alone wasn't complicated enough!!" - ... Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear about Zim and Trick! And Nice to meet you, Shar - she awkwardly waved at the bugbear before adding - Hmm, perhaps its too soon to bother our new companion with this. We definitely don't want to trouble you on your first day! Is it better if we speak about this in other moment, Mr Forthright?
It was a fat chance, but the air genasi hoped Mr Forthright would excuse Shar for a moment to allow them to speak privately.
I mean, I know this will not happen, but she had to try. xD
Persuasion = 14
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
The bugbear has to be big, one can say that by the size of his shoulders and his long arms that almost touch the floor even now that he has the forearms leaning on the arms of the chair, but somehow he has managed to stick all his bulky frame into the chair which seems extremely small for the new student. As if an adult has sat on a kindergarden's chair while speaking with the teacher of the toddlers.
The bugbear has red and orange fur covering his body, a color pattern almost fiery. He has long ears and when he turns to look at his, apparently new companions, they discover that he has big, golden eyes and he squeezes even further into the chair when they enter, if that's possible at all.
His clothes are a little but ragged and outdated at least two seasons, and one of his sneakers lacks the lace. A brown backpack lays half opened at his big feet, and a folder with some stickers of rock music can be spotted inside.
- Hello there - he says when the director introduces him. His voice is surprisingly gentle, yet deep, even melodious - I am Shar... ni.. nice to meet you all. In fact... I do have a scholarship thanks to the Blitz.. - he tries to explain to the others. It is pretty obvious that the bugbear feels that he is not in his place.
When Zahira speaks he looks at the principal
- I do not want to bother you... but.. are we finished Sir? - he asks obviosuly confused by the akward situation. It seems that the director was somehow expecting this students but they came to his office for another porpouse.
(About Shar voice if you have seen the willow season you know what I mean ;) )
PbP Character: A few ;)
Silas had intertwined his hands over the desk laying his elbows against the mahogany desk as he looked to Zephyro and his newfound proclamation. It was than Zahira had tried to subtly hint for Shar's absence for just a moment. Shar had stood up ready to leave at that motion. Silas had removed had poured a cup of tea handing it over to Shar.
"Ahh, I see worried to involve even more I see? Very wise and very sneaky lady Zahira I do believe that cunning is very important for an adventurer. As for that claim Zephyro I must say.. A proper adult would tell you that you should have reported it to the authorities instead of approaching the situation yourself. That being said.. had you done that it'd be clear where you're adventurous spirit lies. As Giovanni would say, I am no proper adult! Hahaha! Although if you are worried about Shar I would not. His parents are old drinki- I mean old colleagues of mine. They are strong starkwood hunters and can be trusted in fact.. I think they moved her due to the troubles at hand. Though I doubt they told Shar, despite his large size his parents are rather protective of him."
He had poured another cup of tea taking a sip for a moment before wincing and his left eye twitching.
"I need to stop allowing Giovanni to make my tea... Ahh yes the matter at hand. Himari and Arthur you say? We have many valorous first years it would seem!"
He had glanced back over at Shar with a light smile.
"If you wish to wait outside the room you may Shar but by no means you are forced too. In fact.. I think you will serve a fine guardian for these wild children.
Zephyro fights back a wave of frustration at the principal's words. They WOULD have taken this to the authorities, but apparently the authorities were in on whatever this is. Ugh, and the guy doesn't even seem to be taking this seriously. Wait...'wild children'?! Is that how Forthright sees them?! Sweet Cerebrum he can't let his parents get wind of that. The young elf glances back at the large boy in the chair. Why do they have to be meeting like this? He hopes he hasn't made his future party member feel unwelcome. The bugbear doesn't appear to be a magic user and if that is the case then he should be safe for now, but looks can be deceiving. "Hopefully he's someone who can help me out on the frontlines, then maybe I won't miss half the battle." He thinks to himself. Taking a deep breath, he looks back to Forthright, "Sir, we would have taken this to the authorities, but we have reason to believe that some of them may be in on the kidnappings. If you think it's ok to get uh..Shar..in on what's going on, then I suppose we could use the help. Though, I think we should wait for Arthur and Himari before going into detail."
Then he turns to address Shar, holding out a hand for the larger boy to shake. "Hi, I'm really sorry if my friends and I seem a bit rude right now. We've had a long day. Anyway, my name is Zephyro, Zephyro Aethylmir. Welcome to the team." He offers a tired, yet friendly smile.
Zephyro is a young high elf, with short light brown, almost blond hair, and blue eyes, though his eyes are partly obscured by the light reflecting off his glasses. He is wearing rather fine clothing, though it looks like they were recently torn, and even has a bit of relatively fresh blood on them. The only weapon he carries is a sickle, which he keeps sheathed on his lower back, under his fine cobalt blue overcoat.
Zephyro:
Well at least the guy doesn't act threatening, Kuro thinks as Shar introduces himself. Still, that doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. Hopefully though, he'll save whatever strength he has for keeping everyone else alive. Still, it's unfortunate that Forthright wasn't encouraging the bugbear to leave. That...complicates things.
He gave a small start at the word 'wild' as if that somehow struck a nerve with him. He quickly resumes his usual demeanor, but pointedly keeps his eyes downcast. It wasn't as if the principle was just talking about him, he was talking about all of them...but still. Valorous? As if. They'd broken in, and then stuck their noses where they didn't belong. Perhaps that might be 'valor' but in his book it was also stupidity.
Kuro has black hair, emerald green eyes, and a look of perpetual boredom. He's also wearing an oversized hoodie, and tends to keep the hood up even indoors as if to hide under it. He isn't carrying any weapons that are visible, so they are either hidden under his clothes...or nonexistent.
(I'd post a pic but its not letting me for some reason lol)
Well, it had been a nice try, but Forthright had read so easily through Zahira's attempt that the girl's cheeks had turned purplish for a long moment, during which she decided it was best to say quiet and let Zephyro do the talking.
Taking a look at Shar, she realized one of his sneakers didn't have the lace, and this gave her an idea. While Zephyro was still speaking, she took out her lockpick and pointed it to their new companion, while muttering a few words. She fixed things, didn't she? What better introduction than that? When she finished mending the sneaker, she spoke again:
- I'm very sorry, Mr Forthright - she said to the principal. And then turned to Shar - And I'm very sorry, Shar. This is a delicate matter and I thought it was better to speak about it privately. But since you are going to be in our party ... well, maybe it's best that you hear about it. I'm Zahira, by the way. I'm studying to be an artificer. What will you be studying here? Oh! By the way, I've mended your sneaker! We don't want you spraining your ankle while training, right? - she said, with a smile.
Zahira is a fifteen year old air genasi, with blue grayish skin, light blue eyes and long white hair tied in a pony tail, which is probably messier than usual, as it has been a rough day that has included looking for a missing student, fighting a bunch of older guys and then finding the missing student. INSIDE. A. CRYSTAL. What the hell were they going to do about it? And what if the Principal was involved. He couldn't be, could he? A funny man like him, that had called her "sneaky lady Zahira" and drank from that nice cup of tea she had laughed about during his speech on their first day at Rising Dawn couldn't possibly be a bad guy. RIGHT?
Art by Clarisse Magand https://www.artstation.com/artwork/68Nzl6
She clutched her bag, which contained the empty crystals that she was supposed to show Forthright so they could study his reaction, but then Zephyro said to wait for Arthur and Himari. So, though she was about to open the bag and show the crystals, she stopped and waited.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Shar takes the cup of tea from the principal hands, still processing what he has said about his parents. He is still on that train of thought when Zephiro introduces himself.
He motions his hand to shake the elf's but he has the cup of tea, so he retract it, almost spoilling the tea and offer his left hand, realizing that wouldn't be appropiate he changes the cup of tea of hands and now he is finally able to respond to Zephiro's handshake. Inside the bugbear's hand, Zephiro looks small in comparasion.
"Ni..nice to meet you... I am Shar Darkwood. It's.. it's ok I understand but... if Mister Forthright thinks I could be of any help to you... I will do my best... if that's ok with all of you... "
he replies.
When Zahira adress him he raise one hand
"It's ok I do understand... and it seem to be an important matter... " he says wishing that the spotlight turns away from him. " My sneaker?" he says in low voice "oh!" he says looking don to it "Thanks.. that's really helpful and toughtful... "
PbP Character: A few ;)
- No problem! If you have any other thing that needs mending do not hesitate to ask! It literally costs me nothing, except perhaps a minute of my time, hehe! - Then she remembers something - Oh. Another thing... We have a party Crystal group, it would be great to add you so we can communicate easily. You do have a crystal right?
When she says this she scratches her forehead, thinking, and mutters "Mmmm, now that Zim and Trick won't be with us, should we rename the group to KZZZTS? Or KZZS?"
Crystals are mobile phones in this world, so we are talking about adding Shar to our party whatsapp chat, which is named after the member's initials 😂 So the current name is KZZZT.
Realizing that Kuro hasn't still said a word to the newcomer, the genasi looks at the sorcerer and tilts her head slightly towards Shar, like saying "For gods sakes, Kuro, say something to him, will you?". She will probably earn a bored stare for this, but...
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Kuro blinks, his expression not changing. It's pretty obvious Zahira wants him to introduce himself, but he just doesn't really feel like it. If this guy is going to be in their group then he'll figure out his name soon enough. Kuro's not going to offer it up, instead turning his attention back to the principle in hopes of speeding this up. Now wasn't the time for introductions, they needed answers. Why bother waiting for the Arthur and Himari if they aren't even sure that they can trust Forthright. Wouldn't it make more sense to possibly provoke him while there are still others out there who know what's going on and could help if things went south?
He continues on in silence, giving nothing but his blank, bored stare...
Kuro's response (or better said, lack of it) makes Zahira sigh while slightly rolling her eyes. She wishes for Arthur and Hima to arrive quickly so they can finish with this, or she'll probably have to pull out the empty crystals without them being present.
Meanwhile she takes a look at Shar again. So he comes from Starkwood, same as Trick? And his parents had decided to come here to help in whatever is happening in Crystal Meadows? She hopes that means that Forthright is on the right side of all this mess...
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Shar moves awkwardly, his massive body somehow encroached in the chair, it’s hard to really measure him.
He looks back and forth between the principal and the other students.
They came in with an urgent and pressing mattter but for some reason now they remain silent. That didn’t make much sense to him but it wouldn’t the first time he didn’t fully understand a social encounter.
Then he realizes the young woman request.
A girl was asking him for his crystal?
"Oh the cristal.." he mutters and if they thought it wouldn't be impossible for him to shrink even more in the space of the chair he, somehow did.
"Ye.. yes.. I have one.. " he somehow forgets that he had a cup of tea in one hand and almost drop it, spilling the hot beverage on his trousers but he doesn't seem to even notice it as he pats his pockets in search for the requested object. After leaving the cup at the principal's desk he finally finds the cristal in one pocket, struggles to take it out and he offers it to Zhaida. He finally dares to look at her and realizes that she is looking back at him half confused half amused.
"Oh you mean the crystal to join the group not the actual crytal... hehehe.. of course... youstupiddumb " he mumbles to himself If his orange and red fur could change color it would be all red now " Please... " he says offering her the connection so she can add him to the group.
PbP Character: A few ;)
As Kuro laid in silence and Zahira had waited for Hima and Arthur the principal had made them all a cup of tea. He seemed to be examining Kuro rather closely. As time went on there was a knock on the door. With a whip of his hand the door had begun to open with the use of mage hand.
"O-Oh.. Hey! My name's Arthur!"
Arthur had entered, he was a spitting image of a white knight. A white suit that appeared to had doubled as armor not unusual in this world of spiral. A green haired blonde young man with a gentle smile he looked to Shar and offered a slight bow. Himari, was a woman with a kimono at his side she offered a curtsy her skin was pale.. Almost inhumanly so.
"I-I'm Himari!"
She looked to Zephyro and offered a wave. Arthur had waved over to the whole party smiling at Zahira brightly, though he was well built he wasn't exactly tall. Five foot six maybe five foot seven the girl beside him probably even had an inch or two over him.
"So umm... Principal Silas.. Uhhh.. Err.. Well.. We have to talk!"
"It appears so! However, you're party has been rather quiet till now! Haha, kids these days seem a little on the shy side. Except for Zahira and Zephyro too they seem outgoing enough!"
"Heh.. Well.. We had a bit of a run in.. With more gremlins and found some notes... Study's on transmutation and necromancy. Runes... but we weren't sure what the group was. I think.. Zephyro's group ended up finding more details on that than us."
OOC
For our new player here is pictures of them both ^~^
Himari
Arthur
Shar mechanically responds to Arthur's bow with another one. When he hears about runes his attention is inmediatly focused on that.
"Ru... runes?" he asks "What kind? Do you have a copy?" inmediatly he regret having opened his mouth for they were looking at him again. "I mean... if you don't mind..."
PbP Character: A few ;)
- .... okaaay .... - Zahira mutters to herself after Shar doesn't respond to the crystal group suggestion. Guess their newest member is going to join Kuro's club of "not-talking-all-that-much", too. But a moment later the bugbear finally reacts and gives her his contact. Feeling relieved, and also a little amused by his initial confusion that led him to believe she was actually asking for the physical device, the genasi adds him to the group - Nice! There you are, Shar. You can add the names later. I'm sure you'll identify who's who quickly enough. I will surely be the one using too many amajis - she says, with a slight laugh.
For Frandal: Amaji = emoji :D
She then approaches the table to get the tea the Principal has offered them, and when she drinks it she too twitches her eyes a little. "Hell, isn't this tea a little bit strong? How many spoonfuls has Giovanni used? More like a thousand, instead of just one". She gives a slight smile to Forthright before puting the teacup on the table again, with no intention of drinking anymore from it.
When Arthur and Himari finally arrive she waves and smiles at them, resting her eyes on Arthur and smiling at him perhaps for several seconds longer than necessary, before coming back down to Spiral again and remembering that they are here on serious business.
- Gremlins, you say? And notes on transmutation and necromancy? That can't be a coincidence. It's just the same at what we saw in the cafeteria - she eyes Shar when he asks about the runes. Well, it's nice that he shows interest on this. Nodding at him she asks too - A copy, a crystal photo ... Anything will do. I would like to examine that too, if possible. And where did you find these gremlins?
At that moment, she glances at Zephyro and Kuro. That was the time to show what they had come here to show. So, in a silent communication with them and awaiting their nods, she proceeds:
- In any case, now that we are all togheter, there's something we need to show you all. As Zephyro said, today we went out to look for clues on Len Pencross' dissapearance, and this lead us to enter a builiding just in front of Flurry's where there was a monstrously loud music playing there. We met a bunch of older kids that were guarding the place - she doesn't mention Ethan - and had to fight them, as they wouldn't just let us go. We knocked them out, stabilized and tied them and while investigating the rest of the building we found this - and she takes the four empty crystals and puts them on Forthright's table - in a cellar that looked to have been used to do some experiments. This crystals have traces of Transmutation and Necromancy, same as the gremlins scene at the cafeteria. Though, in that case, there was also some traces of Celestial magic involved, too.
She stops for a moment, and Zahira looks directly to Forthright:
- Sir, we believe someone has been doing experiments on kids on that cellar, using these crystals somehow.
She doesn't say anything else just yet. Not about those Purists, and of course not about the crystal containing Len's soul that Zephyro has in his backpack. They'll have to check Forthright's reaction before saying anything else.
(ooc: Insight check on Forthright: 12. Bleh! Not great. I hope you guys are luckier).
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Kuro shifts slightly on his feet, not liking how the principle was eyeing him. Is he really an enemy? Could he be assessing whether or not to make Kuro the next target? Or did this just have something to do with him knowing Father? Either way, Kuro doesn't like it. He blinks, and lowers his head slightly in attempt to hide his gaze in the shadow of his hood. He doesn't really react when the door opens and Arthur and Himari come in. All he cares about is that the two of them are finally there and they can get on with this. He listens and watches carefully, ready to pull out his phone (which is in his hand in his pocket).
Insight: 18
Grrr
Insight: 18