[color=goldenrod][i][h2][center]Gerard Segremors[/center][/h2][/i][/color]

[@Crimson Paladin][@VitaVitaAR]

Even through the stern cast of his face all throughout the pleasantries exchanged between his knightly senior and former peer amongst mercenaries, Segremors found himself compelled to draw out a low whistle, awed by what the former had suddenly proposed. Though he doubted his education was anything more than fragmentary, one could hardly live long as an Iron Rose without hearing tell of their honored founder's duel with Orodrunn, how her divine favor granted her the might to shatter his accursed weapon, a sword of shadow. If the curse was to spread its darkness by darkening the hearts of man with merely a touch... Yeah, little wonder that picture of composure, rivalled only perhaps by Sir Nicomede, stood plainly wide-eyed before him.

At the tilt of Sir Fleuri's head, Gerard nodded and stepped forth, more alert than ever. [color=goldenrod]"Gerard Segremors. Pleased to be cooperating rather than meeting the Stingray on the field. Heard a lot about your toxins."[/color] He'd long been familiar with the rumors surrounding the ethereal figure that stood before him, and now having the association of deadly toxins coating the edges of all the knives on her person made him quietly relieved that her company's reputation had preceded them.

He doubtlessly would have run himself onto a swift death had he fought them unknowingly, at the behest of all those who had seen him expendable. And ended life that accomplished the mission was noble sacrifice, one he figured himself still willing to make, but suicide through ignorance was beyond even he. As Sir Fleuri spoke, he made for the door, deferring to his elder comrade for much of the conversation.

While for it to have affected the entire garrison this shard needed to be somewhere that all could touch or at least feel its presence, Gerard didn't deny his better's point— something so valuable, so dangerous, surely must have warranted record, assuming it was passed here through standard procedure. Captain's quarters were as good a start as any— overseeing the entire fort meant he would have a hand in all forms of administration, even if only as a signatory.

As they traversed the stairs, Gerard's mind was awash with possibilities regarding where the supposed shard could have ended up. Mess hall? Public, certainly, and likely would have allowed for it be in the immediate vicinity of a lot of soldiers. Likewise the barracks. For how it would get out of storage... Well, the same question could be extended to how it even afflicted more than a handful of men. Either it took less than touching it, or the first soldiers, in a maddened frenzy handling the slivers of an immensely powerful sword... used it to attack eachother?

No, they died from what looked like their own weapons. What the hell? Did it get crushed up and mixed in with the food that had been sent down their gullets?

[color=goldenrod][i]This is going to give me a fit.[/i][/color]

Why would such a dangerous object be transferred here to begin with? Surely the crown would not have been so careless...

As the somewhat unlikely trio gazed upon an undisturbed room, nigh-pristine from when it was lived in, and a cleanly cut gullet of the Captain of the base, a thought occurred as Gerard wordlessly began to search, scouring the man's desk for any charters or documents regarding a black shard that was not to be directly handled.

[color=goldenrod]"What if it was planted here by another party?"[/color] he ventured after a few moments of searching, breaking his silence as he felt around the bottom of the desk. [color=goldenrod]"By people further trying to destabilize things around Thaln, I mean. Feels like a concerted effort with all the recent stuff we've been through, Knight's Doom aside."[/color]