[center][h3]Helena[/h3]
[@Ithradine][/center]

The commander's silent vigil almost fell to pieces as a sudden, inexplicable voice resonated in her mind, for so wholly unprecedented was it that Helena nearly jumped out of her skin. Fortunately her steely nerves took hold the next instant, allowing her to stay still and listen to the words that, while incomprehensible gibberish, bore a distinct reverberation. A moment later the unbidden whispering ceased, leaving her mind to race with pondered possibilities.

When Gretchen warped back a few moments later, Helena lurched forward to clap the old witch on the shoulder with utmost urgency, her manner so intense as to paralyze the poor crone in terror. “Did you hear a voice?” the ghoul intoned in a low voice, to which Gretchen could only jerkily shake her head. Leaning back against the ravine's earth wall, Helena breathed a frustrated sigh. That meant that the stranger's words sought her out alone, meaning in turn that she failed her mission of stealth. Somehow, despite the presence-masking hex of the Skulker's Veil given to her by Yseult herself, her position had been compromised to the unknown woman in white.

Helena prepared to move. Her compatriot stared at her desperately. “Ma'am, what are we doing?”

“Damage control. For me, at least” As she spoke she brushed bits of dirt and grass from her torso, lifted her cap for a moment to straighten her hair, then pulled her sleeve back to examine the back of her wrist. “Does my skin look gray?”

“Ma'am?” Despite her mask, the witch's confusion was clear to see. “Er...only a little.” She seemed to catch on to her superior's intentions a moment later. “Not unnatural, I mean. You would have no problems passing for human.” Trying to help, Gretchen reached up to pluck a stray dandelion from Helena's bun.  “Good luck, ma'am.”

A moment later, Helena strode forth from the ravine, heading toward the dirt road that the woman in white stood upon. Aside from her expensive  black uniform, which couldn't be identified as any nearby nation's, and the slight pallid look of her flesh, nothing could be said to be unusual about her—except, perhaps, that even if she lacked any awareness of it herself, her beauty as a treasured creation of a detail-oriented Supreme Lord stood out as far above the average human.

Clasping her hands behind her back, Helena narrowed her eyes as she grew near and began to circle the stranger, sizing her up in the manner of a seasoned veteran. “What manner of sorceress are you,” she drawled, “That can speak strange words into a person's mind?”

[center][h3]Tatter[/h3]
[@Ithradine][@FalloutJack][@Lauder][/center]

The Ubergeist's woven eyebrows rose as she was made aware of the new captive's profession. “Oh wow, a king? How convenient is that?” At Morningstar's confirmation she held up a hand and treated Lucius to her most winning smile, though the expression came across more as 'conniving'. “Okay then, I'll take care of you. Don't worry, Your Royal Highness, I'm a trained Cantor, so you're in good hands!”

Effulgent green particles welled from her hand, and without delay they coalesced into a stream that flowed straight into Lucius' chest. His wounds and burns began to heal with impossible speed, sealing up and disappearing in less than two seconds. The piteous feathers on his wings fell out, pushed by a new, pristine crop. After just a moment's time, the man might very well be feeling better than he ever had in his entire life.

By the time Tatter ended her treatment, a few new faces had moseyed onto the scene. The golem in particular arrived with a tremendous noise, though since the Geist floated she did not feel his stomping. She knew both Xirphi and Sagi more by reputation than acquaintance, given the distance between their domains, but unlike their little brother Lexicon she found no reason to dislike them. At least, she did not until Sagi voiced his intentions to slaughter Lucius on the spot. “No, you dope,” Tatter chastised him along with Xirphi. “You're not following his orders right.” Knowing that the proclamation would get Sagi's attention, she crossed her arms and grinned as she floated up to meet him face-to-face.

“You said you're supposed to destroy any who 'enter.' Well, that's an active verb, and Lucy here did not 'enter.' He was brought. Passive. So you shouldn't destroy him. Duh!” Tatter held her hands up and to the side, palm-up, to show just how obvious the correct course of action should be. Meanwhile, she left handling Xirphi to Morningstar.