[center][h2]Fora and Renault… and Jole![/h2][/center]

    Off in the quaint countryside once happily referred to as “cannibal’s crest” was a small village tucked between two hills (or cannibal crests apparently). It was in that village that Renault and Fora found themselves, happy to be further south and away from the snow. The chills were still north enough that the desert hadn’t overtaken the temperature and as such, Renault decided to dress comfortably for once — leaving his armor at the camp in favor of some black trousers and a wide, blue shirt cut in the Benean fashion (with loose, short arms and a large, open collar). Even still, this relaxed look obviously hid many knives and blades and gadgets, all of which Fora had the pleasure of seeing him sneak on his person.

    Fora herself stood slightly in front of the man but behind Francis, who was whistling happily as she led them through the hamlet. The magistrate had yet to regain her invisibility, instead rocking a look of cream white and pink, after a long struggle with wearing rags, she had regained her proper clothing of silk and fancy textiles with many silvery accessories, to top that, she had a massive umbrium-waxed parasol that fully kept her safe from the ever hellish sunshine that assaulted the world with greater intensity as they got closer to the desert. Though she wore a relaxed face, her mind skilfully traced the countryside for anything suspicious, especially anything signaling to whatever could get a place to be called Cannibal’s Crest.

    “It’s not a bad place, eh Fora?” Renault could be heard behind her. “Almost reminds me of home.”

    “I don’t doubt it does… I mean it is quaint for sure, just make sure you don’t lose anything in there. Specifically, a bite-worth of flesh.”

    “Ah a little bite never hurt,” Renault missed her meaning completely. “You know, my home is sandwiched between two hills as well, just a bit softer slopes and a brook running down the middle. My house is on the west side of the brook with a well of white stones and an oak tree.”

    “I lived with the rest of my clan in a spire not too far from Tsorovah, deep in the swamps, . Hills were on all sides, but I was so dead center in the foggy swamp I never could quite see them. Can you guess what my family’s profession was?”

    “I suppose it wasn’t fishermen.” Renault answered with a playful sarcasm.

    “It was actually. But my mother came in as a manyadjir from a jeweler family, aiming to help dive for pearls... It was like, very early in the settling of the land, back when spires were what we did not for fashion, but to avoid the constant flooding. I had a pet frog named Bubble, and he would eat any bug that got into my room. He was very fat given all the insectoid intruders I had to deal with, sleeping at the highest floor, with just sooooo many windows.”

    “Maybe you can show me after all this.” A pause. “And maybe after that I could show you mine.”

    “Uh. I no longer live in my parents’ attic? But I guess I could show you around Badja Kiri where I live now, I wonder… how much fancier it got since I left. It will be nice to show up with a tall and fit paladin though, all the magistrates would be talking about it, though I fear half of them would only be interested in your body.” she noticed what she said. “As in, experimenting with your body.” she noticed what she said, again. “As in, open you up with a knife.”

    “Well you got my hopes up quite nicely before cutting them down,” Renault answered. “You know, Fora, I’m not just any old paladin, or did you already have a secret dossier on all of that?”

    “Oh, the whole heir apparent thing?” she casually mentioned.

    “The what?” Renault dashed to her side. “Did you just say heir apparent?”

    “Oh?” she gulped, had she spoken more than she was supposed to know. “I said chair judgment. You are the one who tests all of Benea’s fancy chairs before she sits on them, yes? To make sure they are all comfy and warm?”

    “That’s not what you said.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You know something you shouldn’t, don’t you? C’mon, Fora, you can tell me — we’re partners!” 

    “Stop saying it like that all the time! Then when the hyena thinks we are just saying we are not a couple to mess with her, you don’t know why.” she puffed her cheeks. “How would I even know anything about your social position if I just met you for the first time in this wildland? I can’t access our massive archives of personal information on all politically relevant people in the north! Do you think I have a whole network of owl harpies quickly sending my messages back and forth to the dusklands? That would be silly. Tsk tsk.”

    “Alright, fine.” Renault let go and crossed his arms. “We are sweeter than maple lovers on a Daman honeymoon, and this is our best friend Francis who happens to be a dingo-lady and not a hyena.”

    “Damn right,” Francis muttered. “Now shut up; you two are embarrassing me.”

    The trio was standing in front of a simple wattle and daub home now, stamped shut with a wooden door and fine iron knobs. The dingo-lady kicked the door open with a bang and shouted into the flickering darkness. “Now introducing Mr and Mrs Loudmouths.” She paused to look back at the pair. “Newly weds.”

    Inside, an old man with large donkey ears and a smooshed nose blinked behind thick glasses of Xavior design. “Congratulations?” He was standing behind a workbench littered with fibers and metal parts. All that lit the workshop was a small table of candles, giving the entire area an orange glow.

    Fora typically was able to be quite subtle when she wished, this time however, even Renault was catching the magistrate looking over and over the room, seeing the complete lack of anything that yelled ‘master soulcrafter’. “Uhm. Hello. Are you Mister Jole?”

    “Master Jole, I am,” He corrected. “And what do I owe the happy couple?” He put down a screwdriver and wiped some dust from his hands with an old rag.

    “The dude needs a new d-”

    “That’s enough,” Renault interrupted Francis before stepping forward. “Master Jole.” The old man turned his attention to Renault and the paladin continued. “I’m Renault, third of the Paladin Order and in service of her Queenship Benea. I’ve come with word from both the Commander of the Pristine Palace and Benea herself that you are required in the Northern Queendom.”

    “And I am Fora Dzikalla, grand magistrate of daman affairs, master scout and head of the biological department of Badja Kiri.” she said, always annoyed how these words meant nothing to most people, isolationism was such an issue. “I represent Dzallitsunya, and I too come to ask for your wisdom to be brought westward.”

    “Well this is a surprise, indeed!” Jole gaped. “I had no idea I was so famous that two goddesses would take interest in one such as me.”

    “That handsome face? Who could resist,” Francis snickered. 

    Renault smiled. “So you’ll come, then?”

    “How about we discuss it on a walk?” Jole beamed. 

    “By all means!” Renault nodded eagerly.

    “Fantastic!” Jole grabbed a hammer off his bench, but as he yanked the handle, the head didn’t come loose from the surface but instead cranked upwards with a mechanical whirr. The whole house started to rumble and wisps of blue magic pulsed down previously unseen veins that lined the entire cabin. The old man walked over to the window, where a dresser flipped to reveal a control board. All at once, the cabin was lifted into the air but giant mechanical legs and started to walk away from its spot in the valley. 

    Between thundering steps and the sound of Jole clattering away at the controls, the old master spoke. “So what exactly do your two goddess want with me?”

Fora was spooked enough by the sudden movement to grab at Renault for support. Forgetting to let go when it ended. "I was not particularly informed, but she does seem like the type who would want to know how to make massive walking houses."

    Renault didn’t correct Fora and gave Francis a grin, who simply shook her head. The paladin piped up. “You’ll be paid for your services of course and hailed for bringing the technology to the Queendom. I hear you’ll even be given land in the 6th node.”

    Jole perked up. “Well that sounds great!” 

"Yes. Same thing for us too. The Dusklands can provide as much materials and workforce as you need for your designs. Our alchemists would also be glad to help if you need novel materials."

“I’m in.” Jole announced.

Renault let out a happy sigh. “Finally, something easy, eh Fora?”

Fora looked at Renault with nervous eyes. “Do not. Jinx this. You dense bastard.” she calmly whispered. The anxiety in her was easy to see, everything was going too smoothly, it almost seemed like a rock was about to drop, and the magistrate found herself overthinking.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Jole. “Right. So uhm. I guess we should get going soon then? Given the uhm, civil war situation currently happening. A…anything else to talk about? Or are we all set on conditions and plans?” she smiled, but her eyes didn’t hide true dread. 

“A lot of people want me dead because of the whole civil war thing,” Jole said with a big smile. “But I feel like the Dusklands and the Queendom can handle that, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

[hr]

Hello, my name is Cole and I’ll be the narrator for this last bit. You see, after the gang ‘got the fuck out of there’ they headed west to the daman border where they slipped back into Dusklander territory. Once there, Francis made a pact to stick with Jole throughout his Western adventure and then Renault decided that it would make the most sense if Jole was to stop in the Dusklands before heading to the Queendom. He figured this due to geographical sense, and also because I’m pretty sure he wanted an excuse to hangout with Fora a little longer.

Regardless, this is the end of their Daman adventure, but certainly not the end of the rest of their adventures. Until next time, and remember kids — always recycle. What? Oh wait, there is more already…

[hr]

Epilogue 1: Fora’s home

“Didn’t I say this place would be even weirder when I came back?” the magistrate confessed, the spires now seemingly threw lightning bolts at each other for some reason, she wanted to ask about it to Nyoriko, but she did not have the heart to show up to her with a tall paladin and pink hair, she would rather fall into the meat grinder and be served to the caged animals.

The pink magistrate smirked. “Sorry for telling you people didn’t wear clothes around here! So… have you been enjoying my home? It's a little dimly lit to your kind, but I do like the brass framed clear glass windows with views to the garden.” she puffed her chest with pride. “By the way, where is Jole and the ocelot woman? Didn’t I leave them eating flatbread and drinking fire tea before I left? They are notably not in my living room anymore?”

“You call this living?” Renault was still pouting. “Not even a half naked thing in here.”

"I can change that. I do still have my pearl diving suit." The corner of her mouth twisted in a smirk.

Renault clapped his hands together and started rubbing them schemishly. “Half naked swimming suit you sa-”

“Hey guys!” Francis barged into the room holding the loop of a broken mug. “I can’t find the other half of Jole’s tea.”

A pause.

“Or Jole.”

Renault fell to his knees. “No… no!”

Francis perked a brow. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction to that.”

The sound of laughter of an old man and an old woman could be heard, as the familiar figure of Jole entered the room, along with him, the dreadful (To Fora) familiar figure of the engineer Nyoriko.

"Truly? An arched bridge with tendril muscles? You are something else old pal." The bespectacled scholar continued to laugh, before adjusting her pink glasses upon seeing Fora. "Dearheart, you are truly as pink as I had heard. And this must be the infamous Renault. It's not often we have a Paladin in here, I hope you don't mind having Fora's sister-in-arms stalking you, this is, you see, a research facility." She said, straight up poking the paladin in the chest.

"Huh? Miradja hasn't show up…" Fora started to say, but was cut, by the canine masked woman, typically Dzallitsunya's personal guard, making herself known and stepping just to the side of Renault.

"This has been by far the most dreadful job I have ever been assigned to. The only thing this man spied on were a few ladies in the boutique, otherwise, all they talked about is nonsense. Like Fora wanting him to show her, and I quote, pearl diving suit."

"Oh dear darkness, is that true?" Nyoriko laughed. "Are you sure he will understand the cultural context in showing up wearing only a tsillo backpack?"

Fora blushed pink "I was just… what are you even doing here you gods damned four eyed demon?"

"And miss the chance to speak with the famous master Jole? Never. Thanks for bringing him over, and oh! Thanks for lending your home to his project."

"My… my what? Huh!?" It was only then she would notice the old master installing more tendrils of ambrosia muscle right across her prized mushroom garden, a little shake ringing around her home as he tested it. "... I knew there would be a catch to it, it can never be this easy."

"Actually." Renault hooked an arm over Miradja's neck and pulled her close. He pulled a golden seal from his pocket and waved it in front of her. "I'm glad you showed up. You recognize this, yeah? The diplomatic seal between the Queendoms and the Dusklands. Well I have a request, there is a certain Marcus that I have an arrest warrant for filed by the Pristine Palace and authorized by your government. Could you bring him into custody?" He cracked a grin. "Right now?"

The assassin looked distant for a moment, before nodding. "I will have him dealt with. Excuse me" she easily slipped out of his hold and vanished into the hallways of Fora's home.

"And you." Renault poked his finger right back into Nyoriko's chest. A long pause. "I actually got nothin for ya"

"Good one…" Francis shook her head and then wandered off after Jole.

“Oh I see, you want some privacy. It's okay, I understand.” the engineer patted Renault’s head, having to really stretch to be able to do it. “I will leave you then, have some fun.”


[hider=summary]
The final stretch of Fora and Renault’s quest is at hand, the two make it to Cannibal’s Crest where the master ambrosian engineer Jole is, despite the name, the only surprise in the area is Jole’s walking house. Somehow, it all goes smoothly, and the master moves west to bring his craft to the dusklands and the queendom.
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