[center][h1][color=teal]Jerod[/color][/h1][/center]

Jerod smirked, chuckling and shrugging in a good natured manner as the sword wielder went and explained himself a bit. Jerod wasn't overly concerned about it, in the grand scheme of things, and it certainly made sense that cleaning the place up prior to actually going about using the place would make sense. Jerod really didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise when the sound of a creepy mage girl cut in, threatening hte both of them like they were petty bandits or something. Well, now wasn't that just rude, and Jerod spun rather lazily on heel, facing off with the mage girl. Young, looked off her rocker. Probably dark magic of some sort or another, and she wasn't very subtle about moving either. Leave it to mages to not concern themselves with that sort of thing, then, and Jerod fixed her with a grand old grin, one he always used on mages. Seemed to annoy them, especially the ones who threatened him. Jerod took the threat of mages very seriously, since their magic was as dangerous up close, if not more so, than it was far away. But that danger did not really [i]concern[/i] him either. If it came down to a brawl, he would manage, but he did at least try to diffuse the situation first.

[color=teal]"Ach, unfurl ye bloody knickers fer a moment lass, 'fore ye go on 'bout threatenin' folks an' such, savvy? Investgatin' rumors m'self of t'e Shepards goin' 'bout reformin', sword lad 'ere is cleanin' up fer 'is reasons. Ye wan' t' see some testament o' ardor in such ah sorry shape? Ah certainly wouldn't, sure ah m' name."[/color] Jerod, of course, did not readily volunteer his name yet, and as the two were squaring off, some woman came waltzing up with the champion lad himself and began talking and going on about her own little spiel of some sort or another. Trespassing, arrest, all the things that would make life subtly more complicated. Jerod was not unusually concerned about that, the guards didn't seem to have any issue letting him out over to this part of the grounds. The fighter would have hazarded the guess that it was open area of the castle for the common folks to see the testament to the old Shepards. But he wasn't certain, the guards might have just been under other orders, but he stepped forward, hands palms forward to show he was not bearing arms against the two of them and spoke easily enough, the grin still on his face but far more friendly.

[color=teal]"Ah dinna' mean any 'arm, lass. Seems folks are bein' 'erded t'is way fer yer grand ol' project. W'eter ye intended as such er not. As fer ye, lad, ye mig't wan' t' be careful, aye? Lot o' folks puttin' bounties out fer ye, 'ell, ah ended up t'is far 'cause o' one. Not fer huntin' ye, granted, but ah reckoned ye mig't be needin' a 'and, savvy? Ah'm 'ere t' 'elp, t' put it blunt like. Jerod, at yer service."[/color] Jerod was roundabout in his offer, for now, before throwing that to the wind in the same sentence since he wasn't just some mercenary. He never did work for pay, which had always usually devolved into killing bandits, or other undesirables, for some poor village that was getting harassed by them, especially those outside the jurisdiction of the Halidom of Ylisse. But that did leave it up to them whether he was sincere or not. The Feroxian figher was, but he wasn't going to be surprised if they didn't buy that in a heartbeat. He might be surprised if they did, since that would be unusually trusting.

[hr]

[center][h2][color=orange]Nori[/color][/h2][/center]

Naga curse this lack of information that Nori was finding! The Feroxian archer was having trouble getting anything useful out of folks as they passed, either unconcerned with the young woman looking for her brother and her askings after the Shepards, or were unable to help beyond what she already knew. A few folks had spotted the Feroxian man in armor running about briefly, so she was convinced he was in Yllistol. But whether that meant she would find him or not, was another matter completely. She had gotten close a few times before only for her brother to vanish again, like the winds had picked him up and deposited him elsewhere in the world. In other words, not in anyway remotely helpful to her cause of tracking him down. She happened down one alleyway to catch the glimpse of some kid running off and a woman on the ground, hands covering her face. Nori bolted forward, but the boy was gone and left a very questionable opinion in her mind about what the hell just happened. But that was shunted, as Nori nearly tripped over a bottle as she skidded to a halt. Kneeling down, she looked at the bottle but knew better than to just take random drinks from things that weren't hers to begin with.

[color=orange]"This is yours, I believe? And what happened, did that boy hurt you?"[/color] Nori would ask this woman about the Shepards, or her brother Jerod, later. Right now she was just going to try and help out where she could. If that meant putting an arrow in some jackasses, well, ass, than so be it. But if he wasn't at fault, then Nori would get the young woman sorted out before continuing about trying to track down her brother Jerod. Whether that was with the Shepards, or not, was yet to be decided. There was almost no word about the group out besides a vague rumor of reformation. But Jerod might be pursuing such a vague rumor. Curse his thought processes, the Feroxian archer mentally sighed, since she found it really hard to try and track down someone who would change direction, purpose, and intent on an apparent whim without any rhyme or reason. That, and she wasn't ever within visual or audible range to track his train of thought at all, so it just appeared like that to her, as an outsider on her own brother's life.