[center] [h1] [color=d72525] Sergio della Gherardesca [/color] [/h1] [/center]

She seems in better spirits. Unfortunately as the vanguard made their approach further in I find my ears prick to words I wouldn't have expected to hear here. It's such a shock that, against better judgement, I glance around, trying to find the soul who spoke. 

Suddenly my eyes flick to a man in worn armour more befitting of that of a sellsword - the one with the lantern shield. The missing pieces of his armour arrangement almost instantaneously click together mentally and my brow behind my helmet furrows. 

[color=d72525] [i]Merda, you [b]had[/b] to hire that sfigato, Tyaethe?[/i][/color]

It's at this moment that I'm finally acutely aware of how distracted the past few weeks or so has left me - because I should have taken notice of Ser Nicomede's haughty presence far earlier. It seems Signore Fortune has paid the crestfallen Knight little attention over the years, however, judging by the state of his equipment (except his blade, bizarrely). I'd heard whispers of some kerfuffle regarding the Durante line but it was nothing I cared to draw attention to at the time. 

Of course, this train of thought is running parallel to our movement into the fort, and anything I am tempted to say or do is shot violently down by what we see inside. 

I'd seen my share of horrors at war - this kind of brutality generally serves as a crucible for a young Knight's temperament, especially if they were tender noblemen unaccustomed to the sight and stink of it. And yet the ostentatiousness, the nigh-picturesque barbarism irks me. I've never observed this sheer quantity of bodies brutalised like this - literally splattered on the walls of the fort like half-hearted paint.

As the door swings open my weapon comes up - only to face a blue haired young girl wielding a spear of similar pigment to the quickly drying fluid pasted all over the encampment. You can understand my initial aggression, I imagine, but to my surprise Fionn and Gerard perk up almost immediately. They recognise her. What's more, Fionn seems to be [i]acquainted[/i] with her.

[color=d72525] "Do you two care to...ah...illuminate us on what this [i]mezza sega[/i] is doing here?" [/color] I can't help but elicit a low gravel beneath my words - it could never just be something simple.

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