[ It's the second hour after noon, and you're still at the Angry Porcupine inn. Nebrinel and Fyril are out casing Friyas' place, or so they claim. ^_~ ] ( They're really off in the woods... alone... playing checkers! ) (*snerk*) (I like checkers. c.c;) ( *snerks* ) (See? He's right!) [ As for the rest of you, you're waiting to hear back from them. Could be a while. ] [ It's still pleasant outside; seems this area gets that kind of weather a lot. The lunch crowd is gone, for the most part, and so the lower floor of the inn is sparcely populated. ] [ Session start. Lemme know if I forgot anything. ;P ] * Sei yawns, and consumes more coffee. * Ethan stretches out in his chair. "Waiting for recon to get back always stinks." * Ada wanders in, rubbing at the back of her neck and humming to herself. She takes a seat next to Ethan. Never was great at the recon drills... instuctor always said I was as subtle as a mace to the head. Your instructor would be right. Subtlety is for people without big sticks to hit people with. ^_^ * Ada rolls her eyes. "Or people who don't want other people to hit them, right?" True. Subtlety has it's place; it's just not really my style. I've always worked on the "They can't hurt me if I beat them unconcious" theory. * Ada eyes Ethan. Right. Hey, remember I was raised and trained as a soldier. Poor though my military discipline may be, that's how I was brought up to think. And though a soldier can use surprise, flanking maneuvers, and such... in the end, our job always involves running up to people and hitting them. Not the most subtle of callings, I think you'd agree. ^_^ I agree. Completely. I assume you prefer subtlety? * Ada sighs and folds her arms. "If I didn't, I'd probably be dead by now." * Sei nods. Life as a mage is that tough? I wouldn't know. ... huh? * Ada grins at Ethan. "I wouldn't know. Ask Sei." * Sei grins. * Ethan blinks, then nods in recognition. "Yeah, right. I was talking to Sei. Why the heck did you answer?" =P Because you were looking at me. * Sei sighs. "The problem is that, even if you're not doing anything to hurt people, they'll still try to kill you." ... no I wasn't. I was looking at that... er... flying cat. Right behind your head. Yeah, that's the ticket... ... So mages are kind of distrusted by the general populace? * Ada ignores the 'flying cat' behind her head. Not really...it's just that the non-general populace tends to notice them more, if you know what I mean. Aah, I gotcha. You're a mage, which means you're powerful, which means that you might have stuff others want. * Sei nods. "Or, you might heal their enemies." * Ethan nods. "We had something like that back home... the best warriors often couldn't go anywhere without getting challenged by someone wanting to prove themselves by 'beating the best'." Ah, yes. * Ada nods. You have no idea how annoying it is to have a date interrupted by a guy hefting a big wooden club demanding a duel. Sounds normal to me. That actually happened to you, Ethan? Three times. Guy was really stubborn... third time, the girl I was with got so pissed off, she broke the club over his head. * Sei grins. * Ethan chuckles lightly, leaning back in his chair. * Ada snickers. "So what happened to him? And her, for that matter?" He got the idea, and didn't bother us anymore. Good thing for him... Marika probably would've ripped out his heart if he'd bothered us again. * Sei blinks. ( Ethan grew up in a tough neighborhood. ^_~ ) * Ethan pauses for a moment. "So anyway, I was asking Sei about what it's like to be a mage..." * Ada blinks. * Sei shrugs. "It's pretty much like being in whatever your field is, except with magic. I'm a healer for the most part, and it's just like being a doctor." * Sei grins. "And if you think most mage's guild researchers are insane, you've never been at college faculty meetings." Healer would've been handy back home. With all the training, there were a fair amount of injuries, which we had to deal with the old fashioned way. =P * Sei nods. Then again, pain tolerance can be important. That is true. Big part of training was getting used to getting hit. Obviously, one of the not-so-fun parts. * Sei nods. Ah, is *that* how you take it so well? Yup. Don't be fooled by my wussy-looking exterior... pain is no match for me! YOSH! * Ada snerks. "Right, Ethan." ... okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But I'm tougher than I look. Really. * Ada studies Ethan for a moment. I imagine you'd have to be. ... Ada, you wound me. * Ada smiles prettily. "That's the idea." Hey, being pathetically skinny does have its advantages. I present a smaller target, for one. I didn't say it was a bad thing, did I? Nope... *chuckles* I'm not exactly an intimidating presence, admittedly. =P Not exactly, no. * Ethan hrms. "You don't see too many ass-kickers with goatees..." If you're talking about elves... well, I'm sure Sei can explain it to you. Hm? Why there aren't many ass-kickers with goatees. Well, elves don't generally grow facial hair. ( can't, even. ^_~ ) ... must save a ton of money on shaving kits, then. Indeed. ... so sad. An entire race, never to know the joy of stroking a goatee, deep in thought. * Ada facepalms. * Ethan strokes his goatee. "Such is life, however." ( somewhere, a gong sounds. ) (Gongy!) ... maybe that's why the elves and humans keep on fighting. The elves want the secret of growing full, bushy facial hair! ... * Ada stops facepalming long enough to smack Ethan upside the head. I can see it now... "Forget it, my elven adversaries! If you want my goatee, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead... er... face, I supp- OW!" * Ethan rubs the back of his head. * Ethan grins loopily at Ada. "Responding to humor with violence. The first sign that you're trying to hide your laughter." ^_^ * Ada eyes Ethan. "I'm sure." What, you don't find the concept of a war over the secret of the Perfect Mustache to be funny? Hmm. * Ada thinks about that. It's ridiculous. Wars have been fought over far sillier things... All war is silly. It's large groups of people trying to poke each other with sticks and pointy pieces of metal. Just four thousand years ago, six thousand soldiers died in a two-year war over a muffin recipe. ( Wow. That's even worse than the Butter Battle. ) ( Their battlecry was "Here we come, the Muffin Men! The Muffin Men! The Muffin Men!" ) (What have I done? ;_;) * Nebrinel comes along the road in the distance. She looks much like she did when she left, although angrier. * Fyril walks alongside her, still in the livery of the old mage. He doesn't look any angrier, but does look more concerned. * Ada drums her fingers. This can't be good. * Nebrinel falls down into a chair, and waves for somethign to drink. Definitely alcoholic. "Well. That could have gone worse." It didn't go well, I take it? A waiter brings by a bottle of ale for Nebrinel, and more coffee for Sei. Thanks. The waiter mutters something and walks off. * Fyril eases down into a seat next to Nebrinel. "We got in and out OK. Everything around it went wrong." * Nebrinel nods towards him the waiter, and then nods at Fyril's statement, pouring the ale into a cup. "Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself." * Ada nods. * Nebrinel takes a sip of her ale. "For one, Friyas was dead before we got there. Slain by an assassin. Most likely the curious human that was asking about him earlier." * Fyril looks back towards the retreating waiter, and calls for some nice refreshing lemonade. He's dead? Wonderful. The assassin certainly looked human when we saw him on the road. ... ... that's some badass human to be able to take down a powerful mage by himself. ( It's Togo! ) That or he's very charismatic... * Ada blinks. "You saw the assassin?" * Fyril nods. "Him and his lizard. He was really good. Stabbed me on his way down the mountain." Charisma doesn't cause puncture wounds. Yes, but it could cause poisoning. ...lizard? * Ethan frowns. "Nebrinel, how good would you say the guy was, from what you saw? ... and are you okay, Fyril? Skilled. Very accurate blind dagger throwing, for someone with a cloud of blackness around his head. * Fyril runs a hand over his torso, and nods. "I'm fine." He looks at Nebrinel gratefully. "She helped me out after." ... He hit Fyril blind? * Nebrinel half-smiles. * Ada frowns. I dodged, but Fyril didn't. They were excellent throws. * Ethan rubs his temples. "Glad you're alright, Fyril... where'd you get hit?" Oh, this isn't good. The only way he could have been better is if he had thrown for the neck. * Ada winces. * Fyril moves his hand a couple inches under his ribs. "Around here. If Nebrinel hadn't been there..." Be glad she was, then. Guy's good, then. Know's where to aim to hit vital organs, avoid the rib cage which could prevent major internal damage... * Sei nods. And a ranged fighter, to boot. ... why doesn't anyone around here just use a freaking sword? Believe me, I'm glad she was. Archers, knife throwers... Old things becoming new again. People are too used to swords. * Ada nods. * Nebrinel takes another sip. "That aside, I have worse information. He most likely stole the Great Weapon as well." * Ada groans. "Wonderful." * Ethan mutters. "If I see one catapault... just one..." Any idea what the piece was? I believe it was a Dagger, as he seemed to be using a magic Dagger in his experiments. A dagger? Huh. It was probably a dagger in the sense that Hunger is a dagger, to us. Do you think we could, ah, salvage anything else useful? * Ada nods. "A match, then?" So now the guy with the ridiculous throwing dagger skills has a magic dagger. Perfect. * Nebrinel shrugs. "From the tower? We'd certaintly be able to get in again, although Fyril and I spent a while there." * Sei nods. Otherwise, we would do well to either check with Morrolan again, or search for the assassin. * Nebrinel says softly, "For one, what's the likelyhood he's doing this for himself?" ( Slim to zero. ) (Agreed.) * Ada shrugs. "There isn't one. This dagger, if it is a piece, doesn't sound like part of Hunger. I suggest looking through the tower before we leave, quickly." ( ^_^ It's unheard of for an assassin to kill anyone for personal reasons, here, unless they're attacked or something. ) * Sei nods. Well, I at least know how to get in, and there are no mages there. It's purely teleportation. * Fyril looks back up towards the tower, and cocks his head. "But I don't know how we would all manage to get in, if the guards are still around. They know us already." Well, I haven't been there. But I imagine we could think of something. I note that there is nothing holding them to the tower. No money, and no way to get in. * Fyril nods. "But they won't all run off right away. Let's wait a few hours, then go up and look again." He smiles lazily to himself. * Nebrinel chuckles softly. [ SESSION END, YO. ]