[ The scene; The Angry Porcupine Inn. The time; one hour after your battle with the Elf in Black. ] [ The downstairs are still being cleaned up by Elfiran, and his staff/Sei's fanclub. You guys (most of you, anyway), are sitting at one of the tables that wasn't overturned or blown up, no doubt discussing minor trivialities, like what needs to be done next. ] [ *roll* Much to Ethan's enternal delight, Sadira is nowhere in sight (or, for that matter, earshot). ] (I was about to ask. Hoo-hah.) [ SESSION START. ] * Sei sips coffee. (The session always starts with Sei sipping coffee.) ( Phew. ) (Yup. ^_^) (Is the Grey Man with us too? How did Ada get here? Argle! ^_^;) (I'm not there, and he isn't. :P) ( No, he... right. ) (Fyril? ^_^;) [ Fyril is there! Yay! ] * Nebrinel is tapping her finger on the table. Her arm and clothes don't look much like she almost got cleaved in two an hour beforehand. "So, Fyril, what happened while Ada was slumming around over here?" * Ethan sits, noticably neither grinning nor eating. * Fyril looks from side to side at the repair effort, then at Nebrinel. He runs a hand through his hair. "I went ahead and looked through Mario's lair at that rundown inn. There wasn't too much of interest there, but I thought I should look." ( ... if this guy tries to jump on our heads... ) * Nebrinel nods, and taps her finger some more, saying to nobody in particular, "Where in the hell is Ada. She's with this Mario guy, for some reason or another." (It's a-me, Mario!) (...) And whoever sent that elf after us probably knows where we are. And it looks like they want the weapons. * Sei nods... * Nebrinel brushes her sword with her other hand, and a frown spreads across her face. * Fyril shrugs. "I haven't seen her since I walked off." He furrows his brow, and turns to face Nebrinel. "There was this magic circle in his room, and another outside it. But I couldn't recognize it. So I memorized the shape. Think that could be a clue?" * Ethan mutters. "They can get 'em like that bastard got 'em." Magic circles...hmm, yes. Can you sketch it for us? * Fyril nods, and looks around for something to write with. And on. * Ada walks down the stairs, now in her usual clothes, and over to the table. She has a seat without a word. Ah, you're back! * Ethan notices Ada, sighs, and slumps down in his chair. I was here the entire time. We need to leave. * Sei nods... * Nebrinel smiles faintly. "I completely agree." Do you have time to explain, or do you want to do it on the road? * Ethan nods. "Where to?" * Ada runs her hand through her hair. She lowers her voice. "Before the elf attacked us, he got a great weapon from the man I was talking to. And, it turns out, he also has at least four more." He's going to hunt us down, and I don't want to be around when he starts again. I- we can take him. But yeah, best fight is the one you don't gotta fight, and all. * Nebrinel has a larger grin on her face. "5 great weapons in the same place..." * Ada eyes Nebrinel. "One isn't enough?" * Fyril looks from Ada to Nebrinel, his face creasing slightly with worry. "Yeah. How much power do you need?" * Nebrinel sighs softly. "Depends what you need to do." She stands. "Going sounds good right now, though." * Sei stands up, and picks up his bag and staff. * Ada nods and gets to her feet. She heads upstairs to gather her belongings. * Nebrinel moves to the stairs, to go up to her room and grab a few things as well. * Ethan slips on his pack and unstraps his glaive, laying it on a shoulder. * Fyril heads upstairs to grab his satchel. * Ada returns, ready for travel. She walks over to Ethan and taps him on the arm. Hmm? * Ada says, quietly, "Is everything okay?" * Ethan nods. "Just pissed off at myself. Nebrinel got hurt, and you almost did too because I was stuck hiding under a damn table." * Nebrinel comes down the stairs, and frowns at Ethan. Her pack looks awfully damn heavy, and she's actually checking/cleaning a crossbow. * Ada thinks back. "Ah. Because of the woman with the axe?" Yeah, her. One of the other reasons I left home. * Ada nods. (Not that many people know what a crossbow IS...) * Fyril comes back downstairs. He walks over next to Nebrinel, and looks at her pack. "Need any help?" Long story short... parents decided to engage me to her in the hopes she'd straighten out my lack of 'proper military discipline'. I was less than thrilled... * Ada frowns. "I can imagine." And for... various reasons, I made a strategic retreat. * Nebrinel does some crossbow winding, eyes down the bow length, and then recollapses it and fits it into her pack, barely. * Ethan looks back at Nebby for a moment. "Crossbow! Evil! Hsss!" *turns back to Ada* * Ada eyes Ethan. * Fyril frowns slightly, and lays a hand lightly on Nebrinel's shoulder, blushing very faintly. "You didn't answer me. You need any help with your stuff?" ... sorry, force of habit. When you're trained for infantry duty, you grow to really, REALLY hate archers... * Sei finishes the rest of his coffee. * Nebrinel rolls her eyes, and brushes her hair back with a small band of light that appears in her hand... and jumps (very) slightly, turning her head to Fyril. "Oh... no, thank you, Fyril." Uh huh. * Ada shakes her head. "Finished, Sei?" I am indeed. (But now I'll be dead. ;_; Unless someone prevents Ard from killing me, in which case I'll be indebted to them.) * Ethan mutters under his breath again. "Shoulda just kicked her butt..." (...wow, I must be tired. ^_^;) (Yes.) Let's go then. We can figure out *where* we're going later. * Fyril nods, and squeezes her shoulder softly, giving her a smile. "Right, then. Man, you've got a lot more than I do." * Sei nods. "As a truly wise man has said, one can figure out where one is running *to* afterwards." * Nebrinel chuckles. "You accrue a lot of memoirs over a lifetime. I'd better tell Leavenhyde goodbye, so he can sleep better at night." * Nebrinel lifts Fyril's hand off her shoulder slightly, and walks over to where Leavenhyde's supervising fixing the place. Elfiran Leavenhyde notices Nebby as she approaches, and nods to her. * Fyril watches her walk over, then heads over to the others, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Hey, Ada... sorry I let personal stuff get in the way of my job. Won't let it happen again. * Ada blinks. It's all right, Ethan. * Nebrinel bows slightly. "Gonna have to ditch ya after ruining your inn again, Leavenhyde. We have got to stop doing this." * Ethan nods. "Thanks." * Ada nods and goes back to twirling her pendant as she leans against the table. Elfiran smirks and shakes his head. "Yeah, yeah we do." "Just once, I'd love for you to visit... without wrecking the place." * Nebrinel reaches out and clasps his hand in a firm handshake. "Well, assuming I live, I can try again. Isn't that how it always works?" Elfiran shakes back. "Pretty much, yeah." "And thanks." * Nebrinel chuckles. "Anytime, Elfiran. A girl can't ignore her friends forever." Elfiran nods. "Of course. You take care, Nebrinel." * Nebrinel nods, and smiles slightly. "You too, Elfiran." * Yu-Mei smiles back, waves, and then turns back to directing Sei's fanclub in picking up debris. (Go Yu! You clean up that debris!) * Nebrinel turns and walks back to the rest of the group. ( YU CAN DO EET! ) * Ada snaps out of her ponderings to look over at Nebrinel. "Finished?" * Nebrinel touches her shoulder where it was split an hour ago, hmms, and nods. "Yes." * Ada nods and stands up straight. She makes her way out of the inn. * Sei follows. * Ethan follows. "One question... how in the hell did that guy keep fighting after I impaled him and dropped him on his head? That's always been enough to get people to cry uncle..." * Fyril looks around the inn one last time, then steps out after the rest of them. * Nebrinel will wander out of the inn after Fryil, and comment, "I'm willing to bet he is slightly more resiliant than your average fighter." ( That or say 'gurk' and lie still for a good long while. ) Well, yeah, I figured. But ignoring a glaive sticking through your torso seems rather... odd. * Sei nods. Heck, I'm pretty darn tough, but if someone impaled me on a large polearm, I'd at least say 'Ow'... [ Outside it is pleasant, although slightly cool for the season. There is a bank of stormclouds passing by to the south of the town. ] * Nebrinel deadpans, "Having 5 great weapons is a little odd too." He reeked of magic. If he's an elf, he might be possessed. It sure sounded like it, from what he was muttering. ... so he wouldn't have flinched if I'd kicked him in the nuts, either? Well crud... * Nebrinel nods. "He commented about needing his vessel." She conveniently ignores Ethan's comment. * Ada frowns. "A vessel. Huh." * Ethan shakes his head and sighs. "What's the world coming to when a kick to the nuts no longer works?" More specifically, 'this' vessel, he said. Nontheless. * Nebrinel points northwest. "I suggest that direction, for no other reason than that it is not here. Objections?" * Fyril rolls his eyes at Ethan before looking curiously over to Nebrinel. "So what did this elf look like? You all keep talking about him, but you haven't said anything about that." None from me. Sounds fine here. * Fyril nods. "Yeah." * Ethan hrms. "I'll hafta practice my dismemberment techniques... can't ignore a missing limb." ( *Insert Holy Grail ref here* ) It's only a flesh wound, really... (Thank you, Sei.) (It's my duty.) * Nebrinel nods, and starts walking, then. "He wore black, Fyril. Tall, elven." * Ethan hrms at Sei. "Well, even if he could ignore it, it'd make it harder for him to swing a sword or dodge." * Sei nods. * Ada walks as well. She drums her fingers on her drum case. ( The drum doesn't produce nearly as good a sound as the drum inside would, but it works alright. ) * Fyril nods at Nebrinel, and follows along. You reach the edge of town before too awful long and are flanked by the farmland that surrounds the town of Menevia. * Ethan instinctively starts marching to the pace of the drumming. * Ada keeps going. She glances over at Ethan and snickers, then changes the beat. * Ethan starts marching to that beat too, oblivious, eyeing the surroundings. * Fyril leans down as he walks, grabs a handful of stones, and tosses them off one by one at any convenient targets they pass as they go. * Ada taps a transition, going into a more complicated rhythm. * Ethan keeps up with that too, somehow, ending up looking like a cross between an epyleptic and a tap dancer. * Nebrinel eyes Fyril and Ethan's behaviors, and shrugs, wrapping her silken cloak around her. * Ada grins now. She taps faster. * Ethan hops to and fro along with the beat, twirling his glaive as he does. * Sei whistles. * Nebrinel smiles faintly. * Ada changes her drumming to accompany Sei's whistling. (I know a song about a hedgehog.) * Fyril starts humming softly as he tosses the stones to match the other two. * Ethan changes pace, but looks up out of his daze, confused. "What the? There's no whistling in the mar- what the heck am I doing?" o_O * Nebrinel laughs softly. * Ada laughs. * Sei grins. s'what I get for being brought up as a military man. Mmm, wonder what would have happened if I brought out the real drum. * Fyril rolls his eyes, and smiles mischievously at Ada. "Why not give it a try? I know some marching songs." * Nebrinel chuckles. "All I have to say is that I refuse to dance." I know some drinking songs... * Ada glances at Nebrinel and grins. "Why not? I'm sure you're good at it." * Ada opens the case and brings out her bodhran and a tipper. She tests it, then nods, satisfied with the sound. * Fyril nods at Ada, then smiles at Nebrinel cutely. "You don't have to dance. Just march to it." * Ethan groans. "Flashbacks to basic training..." * Ada taps out a very basic rhythm. * Nebrinel quirks a smile. "My skill is not to be questioned." * Ethan finds himself marching again. "... ah, what the heck. When the dance calls, I guess I gotta listen." Looks like it's ingrained in you, Ethan. * Fyril shakes his head quickly, and his eyes sparkle at Nebrinel. "It's not your skill that matters. Why not play along?" Guess so. *eyes feet* I'm like that Duke of the Dance guy who visited my area... only without the sissy tights. * Ada laughs. * Nebrinel chuckles, and glances sideways at Fyril. "Play along? I'm not the marching type." * Fyril tilts his head, and tosses off the last of his stones. "I know, but where's the harm in going along with the rest of us?" * Ethan starts singing softly. "The troops go marching one by one, hoo ah, hoo ah... the troops go marching two by two, hoo ah, hoo ah..." * Nebrinel says simply, "It's just not me." She is humming softly, though. * Ada switches her drumming to match a bit better, then starts humming as well. * Fyril shrugs, picks up some more stones, and hums a harmony line to the other two. o/" The troops go marching one by one, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The thief he sneaks to cause his pain! Knows enough to use his brain! To get out of the rain... to get out of the rain... o/" So. Any ideas on what we're going to do now? * Ada shrugs. o/" The troops go marching two by two, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The troops go marching two by two, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The cleric heals with a laugh! And fights on with his mighty staff! To get out of the rain... to get out of the rain... o/" * Fyril grins, and tosses off a stone. He just keeps humming. Keep looking. Friyas didn't have what we wanted. * Nebrinel says, "We've used up our clues. We either need to track down the Black Elf and steal his, just start hitting random nobles, or ask one of Ada's friends." * Sei nods. * Fyril slows down. "Wait... I never showed you the circle I found. I don't know if it's a clue, but maybe it is." o/" The troops go marching thre by three, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The troops go marching three by three, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The elf a many spell she knew! Take care or you'll be cleft in two! To get out of the rain... to get out of the rain... o/" * Nebrinel frowns. "Sei, could you hand Fyril some writing utensils?" Hmm, let's see here... * Sei gets some out of his bag and hands them to Fyril. o/" The troops go marching four by four, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The troops go marching four by four, hoo ah! Hoo ah! The mage she be a mysterious lass! Watch out or else she'll lute your ass! To get out of the rain... to get out of the rain... o/" * Ada eyes Ethan. "I don't carry a lute." * Nebrinel deadpands while eyeing Fyril, "I just want to know what rain has to do with all of this." ( 'Mandolin' is too wordy. ) (Yes, but it's a different animal than lute. :P) A cool breeze brushes against your back and you hear the rumble of a fairly distant thunderstorm. * Ethan blinks. "No, no. 'Lute'. It's local slang for 'beat the ever-loving crap out of'." That was appropriate. Right, Ethan. Seriously. For once, I'm not kidding. * Sei smiles. "He isn't." * Ada chuckles. "I believe you." * Ethan hrms. o/" The mage she'll greet you with a grin! Then bash you with her mandolin! o/" Better? * Ada rolls her eyes. "Like I would ruin a mandolin by doing that... just keep going, Ethan." * Ethan turns to Nebby. "Song originated as a way to keep troops focused while marching in the rain." And the song's... well, over. Ah. So much for that. * Ada glances up at the clouds. I could sing about myself, but that'd just be tacky. The clouds are coming your way, now. They're not moving fast enough for you to tell if they're gaining or not yet. * Fyril nods, takes the writing stuff, and stops in the road. He puts down his satchel, flips to an empty page, and draws out the circle he saw before. It's got a set of lines in the middle, which intersect five times, but not like a pentagram or pentagon. Towards the ends of the sets of lines, he curls the lines into a circle, then sketches out some runes around it. Then he draws the placement of the candles around the circle. * Nebrinel slows while Fyril writes. * Ada stops and takes a look. * Ethan eyes the clouds, twirling his glaive idly. * Sei looks at it. * Fyril sketches in something that looks kind of like the writing that had been in the circle before. "Sorry. I didn't know those runes." * Ada nods. * Sei gets a book out of his bag and starts paging through it. * Nebrinel peers at the drawing. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fyril (2d6-2) and gets 8. * Ada rubs at her cheek. "I don't recognize it." I understand Mario doesn't know any magic, though. ( How does he shoot fireballs then? ) * Nebrinel waves a hand dismissively. "Not my area of exprtise either." ( I know! That's a rune of Hak'esh'ra'lel'fa! ... ) ( Heh! No. ) * Fyril scowls slightly, and looks critically at the runes. "I don't think that's exactly what it looked like. It's close, but not quite." Well, unless Sei knows what it is, we'll have to save that clue for another day. I haven't found anything. There's our answer. * Ada stretches and goes back to walking. * Sei puts his book away. * Ethan looks back. "Oh, we're done with the stuff I'm of no use with? Cool." *resumes walking* * Fyril scowls at it more heavily, then shrugs and hands it back to Sei. "It looked useful. I wish it was something I knew." He leans down and picks up his satchel again. * Sei stows the paper and pen back in his bag, as well. * Ethan chuckles. "Reminds me of something one of my instructors said... 'The pen is mightier than the sword, but only if it has ink.' " Only if the sword is very small, and the pen is very sharp. * Nebrinel chuckles darkly, "I tend to think that swords like these," she touches Plague Bringer, "break that rule quite well." Well, there could be a Morganti pen. I imagine that academic debate could become quite devastating. It sucks the soul out of your writing? How nefarious... [ That seems like a good place. END SESSION. ]