The Duke looks to the stranger and the guard master. "I want him working with the Sentinel to figure this thing out. If you're able to control it so there are no surprise visits, you can keep it working. If there is any chance another demonic stone can get into my castle, I want every inch of that room bricked over."
The Duke looks to the group feeling more confident than he had earlier knowing it would at least be looked into. "I will station more guards in the area just to make sure nothing passes through. We need to get this resolved as soon as possible. If there are attacks coming from these holy sites, I want to be ready. I'm willing to send scouts if needed, but I really cannot dedicate large resources to this. My funds are already tied up in another project where many more lives are at risk."
He looks to Falaine and says, "Your group may use any resources they need within these walls. I will need an answer to my question after tomorrow morning's obligations are tended to." The slides one of the rings off of his hand and hands it to Falaine. "This will be enough proof should the guards give you any trouble."He reaches into a pocket and withdraws a small coin pouch and also hands that to Falaine.
"An elder of my faith, known as a Warden, spoke to me. I learned these revelations from him." Paren says in a halting voice as he leans more heavily on the yklwa he's been using as a walking stick. "As far as I know there are three functioning circles, yours, the one we came from near Holden Heights, and one at a location name the Frozen Grove, which is where the Warden comes from. I don't know how to turn them off but I do know how to use them. One simply needs to step into the circle and say a colour that stands for the name of the location they want to go. Your's in the Blue Grove. There may be other functioning circles but I was warned that trying to use them without knowing if they are working is a bad idea."
"The last thing I learned is that someone came here before us. That is why we ended up here when we transported, we were simply following the last used path." He leans even more heavily on the yklwa. "Might I borrow a chair, I'm feeling about a third of myself right now and it might be best to sit down if we're going to continue this discussion. I will gladly work with no name here to learn more, though I would like to know if you have a side in this war, just to be sure I don't need to watch my back." He gives a small smile to the newcomer.
Falaine bows to the Duke when she receives the ring and winks at him when she stands back up. "I would request access to your grand library my liege and research students to aid in my endeavors."
The Duke gestures toward one of the seats belonging to a council member for Paren to sit. "Of course. I don't intend to keep you all this evening."
The Duke rubs his brow and says to Falaine, "Of course, of course. The students will be available in the morning. You do not want to do deal with them tired. The librarian will also be available for your queries. I wish I could spend more time in the library myself, but I've been busy," he says with a bit of resentment toward his responsibilities.
Paren takes a seat on the offered chair, letting out a small groan as he does. "Thank you. Might I ask what this other concern is? The one that could be more harmful than a war of the gods?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The Duke sighs and says to Paren, "It boils down to a land dispute. I've staked claim to a new territory and chartered it as such with the King as his vessel. As expected, other lords are attempting to dispute this claim. Instead of handling it through the legal courts as decreed by His Majesty because they know that I have the legal right, they're sending troops and taking it by force. I've petitioned for additional forces to help secure the lands both for my team I've sent there to establish the new castle as well as the locals that we're working with. As with anything dealing with the King, it's going to take longer than I have time to wait to get the support. So, I'm forced to send a portion of my own guard to bolster the guard that's already there."
"As I'm sure you're putting together, this weakens my guard here. Before now, that wouldn't have been a problem. No one has tried to siege this castle or the towns surrounding thanks to its fortifications and natural defenses. Now that this gate operating, I fear an army could arrive among my bottles of wine. While there are plenty of people that would gladly take my seat as Duke, I don't believe there's any large scale assaults of Thousand Steps in the plans. So I'm willing to risk some amount of guards to go to the new lands and provide protection there. "
You see the Duke grow quiet for a moment. "These other lords are taking the natives as captives for cheap labor. I can't let that happen."
At the mention of working together with the stranger, Tanni eyes him suspiciously but stays silent. She then seems to remember something. She draws the sword from her belt and offers it to the guard master. "Here, this belonged to one of the tabaxi guarding the circle. Had to borrow it during the fight."
Paren nods to the duke. "Now that is something that I understand. I will do my best to find a way that we can make your circle safe. It does not seem to me that your people like the gods so they should not be involved in their conflict. People fighting for the freedom of others should not have to make compromises."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The guard master looks at the blade Tanni offers him and says, "You may keep this. We may be short staffed, but we're not under geared. We have a contract with the Hammerstone Smithy that provides us enough blades to arm every citizen if it ever came to that."He pauses for a moment."I'm going to have to start training citizens aren't I, your Grace?"You can see a somewhat tired expression spread across the tabaxi's face at the realization the time has come to expand the forces from the ranks within the castle and towns themselves. "Shall we call the banners while we're at it or will that just signal our plans to your foes?"
The Duke lets out a groan and replies, "Surely we can save that conversation for the morning. Is there anything else you all need from me this evening? I have appointments tomorrow that I'd like to not look terrible at."
Paren nods to the duke. "Now that is something that I understand. I will do my best to find a way that we can make your circle safe. It does not seem to me that your people like the gods so they should not be involved in their conflict. People fighting for the freedom of others should not have to make compromises."
The Duke frowns and says to Paren, "It's not that we don't like the gods. It's that I prefer we not let the people claiming to speak for the gods decide how things are ruled. Gods are just like regular people in some regards. They always have some goal to achieve and I'd prefer to not be a disposable piece of that plan if I can avoid it. There's just something about The Family that seems off to me. The more you explore outside of this region, the more you realize what we know about the gods is being limited here in Koresica."
Tanni looks at the blade, shrugs, and sheats it. "I'm fine. But you..." She walks right in front of the stranger, crosses her arms on her chest and asks with a sharp tone, "Bad manners to not introduce yourself. What's your name, baldy?"
"Yes, that's something we've discovered in our travels. It seems that any reference to gods who are not Shamara and her family has been erased. It's most unfortunate, I would like to be able to learn more about the god I serve, for now I'm struggling around blindly."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Tanni looks at the blade, shrugs, and sheats it. "I'm fine. But you..." She walks right in front of the stranger, crosses her arms on her chest and asks with a sharp tone, "Bad manners to not introduce yourself. What's your name, baldy?"
The sullen eyes of the bald man glance at Tanni, a sparkle of golden light hidden deep in the dreary look. "Names are just an enforced convention that you did not have a choice of. It can also be lost or changed over time." His tone is as dry as his complexion. "If there were such things as manners, one introduces themselves before asking such things. What you should really ask is 'what should we call you?' And to that I would answer 'You may call me Jay'."
Jay shifts his shoulders, as a clink of chain shifts on his shoulders. It appears that strapped to his back is a chest, wrapped in iron chains to keep it in place. The dull glare turns to Paren. "You are a fool if you think the world is nice enough to offer compromise and be as simple as you have stated. The old gods may have connected those three places, but it is definitely not all the locations that circle can reach." He brushes the tips of his charred withered fingers on his face, the greyish skin unsettling in his visage. "You just need the knowledge of how to cause it to react to unlock the other pathways, like strands on a spider's web, or the veins channelling blood through the body. There is also the chance it will require a key, and one of which could by that shard of the obelisk that you described before."
Surprise! I'm back, but with a different character, mwahahahaha!
"Closer friends than you have called me a fool so I expect that's true. Where did you knowledge of this web come from then Jay." Paren sits forward, intrigued by this newcomers sudden boldness.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
"Experience and prior theorising about arcane ways." Jethro replies, his voice still monotonous. "The way many things of this nature are learnt. It was not my intention to come here through that means, but I have somewhat accepted to investigate the other potential paths and will perhaps use one once finished here to return to somewhere more familiar."
Tanni glares at Jay, familiar signs of irritation clear on her face. "We already introduced ourselves during the trial. Seems your looks mirror your memory" She harrumphs. "...but I'm ready to be the bigger man here and let it slide. This time."
"You announced yourself to an open court." Jay responds flatly. "As I stated, I am not one of the parties involved in that... trial that happened, so you introduced yourself to a duke and court, but not to an individual. This is a separate social contract." His facial expression doesn't change at all, a mixture of lost and deadpan. There is a flicker in his dark eyes again, the glimmer of gold showing once more. He turns slightly and carefully raises his hand to nurse his right temple. After a few seconds, he lowers it again. "I assume you grow weary of this. I would prefer to complete this work as soon as possible, but given I will not have access unless I co-operate with this one," He gestures to Paren with the dead-looking fingertips. "I will abide by when you are required to rest."
Good to be back, even if in a different way. Hopefully this guy might prove useful in the future. He's got some utility for bits and bobs, so we'll see...
Paren stands up from the chair, putting his weight back on the yklwa before pointing to Tanni. "That's Tanni, our resident heavy hitter. That's Falaine, our brains, and bird when need be. And I'm Paren, judging by the last fight I'm our punching bag. If you don't mind I would like to rest now. I'm sure the duke would like an answer as early as possible and the sooner I rest and commune the sooner I can help with that. If you would like we can begin in 4 hours."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
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The Duke looks to the stranger and the guard master. "I want him working with the Sentinel to figure this thing out. If you're able to control it so there are no surprise visits, you can keep it working. If there is any chance another demonic stone can get into my castle, I want every inch of that room bricked over."
The Duke looks to the group feeling more confident than he had earlier knowing it would at least be looked into. "I will station more guards in the area just to make sure nothing passes through. We need to get this resolved as soon as possible. If there are attacks coming from these holy sites, I want to be ready. I'm willing to send scouts if needed, but I really cannot dedicate large resources to this. My funds are already tied up in another project where many more lives are at risk."
He looks to Falaine and says, "Your group may use any resources they need within these walls. I will need an answer to my question after tomorrow morning's obligations are tended to." The slides one of the rings off of his hand and hands it to Falaine. "This will be enough proof should the guards give you any trouble." He reaches into a pocket and withdraws a small coin pouch and also hands that to Falaine.
"An elder of my faith, known as a Warden, spoke to me. I learned these revelations from him." Paren says in a halting voice as he leans more heavily on the yklwa he's been using as a walking stick. "As far as I know there are three functioning circles, yours, the one we came from near Holden Heights, and one at a location name the Frozen Grove, which is where the Warden comes from. I don't know how to turn them off but I do know how to use them. One simply needs to step into the circle and say a colour that stands for the name of the location they want to go. Your's in the Blue Grove. There may be other functioning circles but I was warned that trying to use them without knowing if they are working is a bad idea."
"The last thing I learned is that someone came here before us. That is why we ended up here when we transported, we were simply following the last used path." He leans even more heavily on the yklwa. "Might I borrow a chair, I'm feeling about a third of myself right now and it might be best to sit down if we're going to continue this discussion. I will gladly work with no name here to learn more, though I would like to know if you have a side in this war, just to be sure I don't need to watch my back." He gives a small smile to the newcomer.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Falaine bows to the Duke when she receives the ring and winks at him when she stands back up. "I would request access to your grand library my liege and research students to aid in my endeavors."
The Duke gestures toward one of the seats belonging to a council member for Paren to sit. "Of course. I don't intend to keep you all this evening."
The Duke rubs his brow and says to Falaine, "Of course, of course. The students will be available in the morning. You do not want to do deal with them tired. The librarian will also be available for your queries. I wish I could spend more time in the library myself, but I've been busy," he says with a bit of resentment toward his responsibilities.
Falaine does a curt bow and takes a step away from the dais.
Paren takes a seat on the offered chair, letting out a small groan as he does. "Thank you. Might I ask what this other concern is? The one that could be more harmful than a war of the gods?"
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The Duke sighs and says to Paren, "It boils down to a land dispute. I've staked claim to a new territory and chartered it as such with the King as his vessel. As expected, other lords are attempting to dispute this claim. Instead of handling it through the legal courts as decreed by His Majesty because they know that I have the legal right, they're sending troops and taking it by force. I've petitioned for additional forces to help secure the lands both for my team I've sent there to establish the new castle as well as the locals that we're working with. As with anything dealing with the King, it's going to take longer than I have time to wait to get the support. So, I'm forced to send a portion of my own guard to bolster the guard that's already there."
"As I'm sure you're putting together, this weakens my guard here. Before now, that wouldn't have been a problem. No one has tried to siege this castle or the towns surrounding thanks to its fortifications and natural defenses. Now that this gate operating, I fear an army could arrive among my bottles of wine. While there are plenty of people that would gladly take my seat as Duke, I don't believe there's any large scale assaults of Thousand Steps in the plans. So I'm willing to risk some amount of guards to go to the new lands and provide protection there. "
You see the Duke grow quiet for a moment. "These other lords are taking the natives as captives for cheap labor. I can't let that happen."
At the mention of working together with the stranger, Tanni eyes him suspiciously but stays silent. She then seems to remember something. She draws the sword from her belt and offers it to the guard master. "Here, this belonged to one of the tabaxi guarding the circle. Had to borrow it during the fight."
Paren nods to the duke. "Now that is something that I understand. I will do my best to find a way that we can make your circle safe. It does not seem to me that your people like the gods so they should not be involved in their conflict. People fighting for the freedom of others should not have to make compromises."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The guard master looks at the blade Tanni offers him and says, "You may keep this. We may be short staffed, but we're not under geared. We have a contract with the Hammerstone Smithy that provides us enough blades to arm every citizen if it ever came to that." He pauses for a moment. "I'm going to have to start training citizens aren't I, your Grace?" You can see a somewhat tired expression spread across the tabaxi's face at the realization the time has come to expand the forces from the ranks within the castle and towns themselves. "Shall we call the banners while we're at it or will that just signal our plans to your foes?"
The Duke lets out a groan and replies, "Surely we can save that conversation for the morning. Is there anything else you all need from me this evening? I have appointments tomorrow that I'd like to not look terrible at."
The Duke frowns and says to Paren, "It's not that we don't like the gods. It's that I prefer we not let the people claiming to speak for the gods decide how things are ruled. Gods are just like regular people in some regards. They always have some goal to achieve and I'd prefer to not be a disposable piece of that plan if I can avoid it. There's just something about The Family that seems off to me. The more you explore outside of this region, the more you realize what we know about the gods is being limited here in Koresica."
Tanni looks at the blade, shrugs, and sheats it. "I'm fine. But you..." She walks right in front of the stranger, crosses her arms on her chest and asks with a sharp tone, "Bad manners to not introduce yourself. What's your name, baldy?"
"Yes, that's something we've discovered in our travels. It seems that any reference to gods who are not Shamara and her family has been erased. It's most unfortunate, I would like to be able to learn more about the god I serve, for now I'm struggling around blindly."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
To theDuke's last request. "An escort to the library your grace"
The sullen eyes of the bald man glance at Tanni, a sparkle of golden light hidden deep in the dreary look. "Names are just an enforced convention that you did not have a choice of. It can also be lost or changed over time." His tone is as dry as his complexion. "If there were such things as manners, one introduces themselves before asking such things. What you should really ask is 'what should we call you?' And to that I would answer 'You may call me Jay'."
Jay shifts his shoulders, as a clink of chain shifts on his shoulders. It appears that strapped to his back is a chest, wrapped in iron chains to keep it in place. The dull glare turns to Paren. "You are a fool if you think the world is nice enough to offer compromise and be as simple as you have stated. The old gods may have connected those three places, but it is definitely not all the locations that circle can reach." He brushes the tips of his charred withered fingers on his face, the greyish skin unsettling in his visage. "You just need the knowledge of how to cause it to react to unlock the other pathways, like strands on a spider's web, or the veins channelling blood through the body. There is also the chance it will require a key, and one of which could by that shard of the obelisk that you described before."
Surprise! I'm back, but with a different character, mwahahahaha!
https://gph.is/g/EqbDxna Welcome back!!
"Closer friends than you have called me a fool so I expect that's true. Where did you knowledge of this web come from then Jay." Paren sits forward, intrigued by this newcomers sudden boldness.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
"Experience and prior theorising about arcane ways." Jethro replies, his voice still monotonous. "The way many things of this nature are learnt. It was not my intention to come here through that means, but I have somewhat accepted to investigate the other potential paths and will perhaps use one once finished here to return to somewhere more familiar."
Gah, he's alive! Welcome back, Pokepaladdy!
Tanni glares at Jay, familiar signs of irritation clear on her face. "We already introduced ourselves during the trial. Seems your looks mirror your memory" She harrumphs. "...but I'm ready to be the bigger man here and let it slide. This time."
"You announced yourself to an open court." Jay responds flatly. "As I stated, I am not one of the parties involved in that... trial that happened, so you introduced yourself to a duke and court, but not to an individual. This is a separate social contract." His facial expression doesn't change at all, a mixture of lost and deadpan. There is a flicker in his dark eyes again, the glimmer of gold showing once more. He turns slightly and carefully raises his hand to nurse his right temple. After a few seconds, he lowers it again. "I assume you grow weary of this. I would prefer to complete this work as soon as possible, but given I will not have access unless I co-operate with this one," He gestures to Paren with the dead-looking fingertips. "I will abide by when you are required to rest."
Good to be back, even if in a different way. Hopefully this guy might prove useful in the future. He's got some utility for bits and bobs, so we'll see...
Paren stands up from the chair, putting his weight back on the yklwa before pointing to Tanni. "That's Tanni, our resident heavy hitter. That's Falaine, our brains, and bird when need be. And I'm Paren, judging by the last fight I'm our punching bag. If you don't mind I would like to rest now. I'm sure the duke would like an answer as early as possible and the sooner I rest and commune the sooner I can help with that. If you would like we can begin in 4 hours."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne