[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FjVCFoQ.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=cyan][h2]Etoile[/h2]
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[i][color=cyan]This sword is too important, hmm?[/color][/i]

There was definitely something more going on with Pythia's sword than just being her foci. Still, Etoile couldn't afford to bring it up now; the last thing they needed was to alienate one of their already rather small operation. So, she contented herself with a small show of frustration as she rolled her eyes. "[color=cyan]Alright, since [i]little miss princess[/i] over here thinks her sword is better than all the rest of us and that we're not competent enough to defend her until she gets her foci back,[/color]" she turned to the rest of the group, "[color=cyan]does anybody else have any powerful magical artifacts? Old amulets, family heirlooms, something that has enough power in it that a crazy wild mage might stop and think about grabbing? Or, alternately, does anybody else have another idea that might work? I'm afraid that I've got precious few plans to go on here.[/color]"

All things considered, she wasn't surprised that her plan had been dismissed out of hand. Still, she was disappointed. In a place like Ifrise, it could take days to find someone by tracking them through magical presence alone--at least, that's what her aides always used to tell her--and, as much as she was loath to admit it, she had no other plans for finding this magi. [i][color=cyan]Some tactician I am.[/color][/i] More to the point, they definitely didn't have days. While Anníbas and his Inquisitors could go die for all Etoile cared, there were innocent people on that barge that didn't deserve to suffer the same fate. Sure, maybe the doors and windows could hold out against birds for a while. But what would happen if something like a krovar ended up on deck? A wooden door certainly wouldn't stop one of those, and--in all likelihood--would distract the Inquisitors long enough for birds to rip them up. The people on the barge were standing on the sands of a slipping hourglass, and Pythia's obstinacy certainly wasn't helping.

[i][color=cyan]Actually...I do have one piece of equipment that I could throw in the pot for pure amount of mana in it. But I'd rather not.[/color][/i] She clenched her left hand on her artificial arm's shoulder, looking around and hoping for a flash of inspiration that wouldn't involve taking her arm off.