[hr][center][h2][color=9e0b0f]Marduk[/color][/h2][sup][/sup][/center]
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It would be a lie to say that Marduk was surprised by Cloven's reaction. It would also be a lie to say that he had misread Cloven. The truth of the matter was he didn't know the boy all that well - which in this instance was actually forgivable, considering he hadn't actually been part of the guild that long. Still he was a fair bit disappointed that he forwent helping them with their search and rescue efforts - publicity aside, there were lives that still needed saving even if the real danger had passed. He'd probably hoped that Cloven would do the right thing.

Then again... Marduk looked at Cloven closely. There was something off with the way the boy reacted to him. It was as if he was personally [i]offended[/i] by his request, somehow. Looking back, there was nothing that Marduk could recall that would explain such an attitude except-

Marduk scratched his chin. Cloven was quite awkward when it came to Grasidia, wasn't he? Not even here, but even back home at the guild. At first he'd chalked it up to being generally aloof but then, wasn't he always staring at their preeminent plant mage? Oh, he tried to be subtle about it, but with feelings as strong as he had, one's intentions would always leek out eventually, and one only needed to have a trained eye to spot it.

There was something there between them, he figured. What it was, he couldn't say, but what he could do... [color=9e0b0f]"Oh I could absolutely going to use this,"[/color] he thought with a grin.

Scarcely finishing that thought, he got a good look at the ongoing chaos between his guildmates as he bore witness to what appeared to be - and probably was [i]not[/i], given the circumstance - Asher and Ria in a tender embrace, followed by a quick introduction of his gonads to Lavinia's foot. His eye twitched for a second as he deliberated laughing or sighing at the turn of events, before settling with opening a portal in front of a sprinting Lavinia, who promptly got clotheslined. Zenith appeared at her feet a moment later.

[color=9e0b0f]"Little Vin, I realize that you're at a rather confusing point in your life,"[/color] this could be applied to the entirety of their guild sans Torys, [color=9e0b0f]"but it's poor form to inflict harm on your [i]romantic rivals[/i], especially if said rival is simply trying to help."[/color]

He cleared his throat loudly, before she could ([i]predictably[/i]) interject. [color=9e0b0f]"Also, Zenith here needs assistance,"[/color] he gestured with his working hand.

His piece being said, he now had to deal with the clean up of the city and media media [i]media-![/i]

The crowd had suddenly swarmed a bit too close for comfort, and he asked that they step back just a bit to give him some breathing space. It was an easy request to follow, considering that Marduk towered over all of them by at least a head, with a suitably large and commanding voice, and had just assisted in what appeared to be the slaying of a dragon. It also helped that Marduk was an old hand at dealing with the media.

[color=9e0b0f]"Erm, I'd ask that you try and give my guildmates some space, but I know how you media people work,"[/color] his joking tone offset his words as he offered the gathered crowd a friendly grin. [color=9e0b0f]"So I'll just ask that you don't bother the ones trying to heal the others and don't push too hard- the people of Fenixtear are quite a special lot, and they might just blow you off entirely if you do, [i]hahaha[/i]!"[/color]

Predictably, Grasidia was walking away already.

[color=9e0b0f]"The dragon was taken down via our combined efforts, facilitated through our S-class mages, and this young talented mage,"[/color] he said, kneeling down ruffling Lavinia's hair. [color=9e0b0f]"Her magic was especially effective against the dragon, and was instrumental in dealing the final blow."[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]"We're a guild fashioned after the old ways; family, magic, adventure. Perhaps a strange concept nowadays, but I feel that the way guilds are run now is constrictive. We've become content with living in a smaller, convenient world, but in my opinion that's little more than a comforting lie. Smaller doesn't more things within reach, and convenient doesn't mean easier. It simply means that you've shrunk your horizons. Have shrunk the things you could set your sights on. Limited your dreams to that which is [i]convenient.[/i][/color]

[color=9e0b0f]"Our guild Master Torys - yes folks, I'm not the guildmaster, she's awaiting our safe arrival back home - envisioned a wider world than the one we have been [i]sold[/i] nowadays. I myself don't have our guildmasters vision. I'm old and my imagination is limited, but  I find myself curious all the same: 

"What will that wider world look like?"[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]"Today is just the first step to that world. The slaying of this beast at the hands of my guildmates is a first step to what I feel is the beginning of a grand adventure. So today, [b]Marduk Girga[/b] of Fenixtear asks of those who have imagined that same wider world, of a future beyond the buying and selling of manufactured pleasure, of manufactured [i]adventures[/i], reach out to Fenixtear, and we'll see what lies beyond that horizon together!"[/color]

His voice finished strong. Oratory had always been one of his gifts, his mother being a teacher had taught him the right ways to get people to listen, and he'd polished that skill over the years. It proved helpful in building his case and his reputation in the past, and it would prove useful for Fenixtear today.
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