[h2][color=lightblue]Rolan[/color][/h2]

[hr]

Rolan had kept his silence and focused on learning what he could from what was shared and spoken about, barring one thing in regards to when they were offered trinkets, two of three, to take with them. One for the sister, one for themselves. A ring, rather plain and unassuming at first glance but first glances were never wise to take as truth when dealing with the Fae. Or much else for that matter, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. The second was a glass frog, green, small enough to look big in a child's hand. Cute, but he had to admit to himself that he saw the least potential in that, either as payment to the sister or as the order's prize. Last was the black dagger, which caught his eye immediately, though he did not speak out of turn. It was not his place to decide what was taken, though he did lean over to quietly offer his opinion after Gertrude cast a vote. The Captain had final say regardless of the vote, the most any of them could do was offer advice and work from there.

[color=lightblue]"My recommendation is the dagger for ourselves and the ring as tribute, given the danger's we are facing a possible weapon beyond normal means could prove useful once puzzled out."[/color]

With that Rolan returned to his position in the group, still as on edge as he had been the moment they set foot in the Queen's domain proper. He was spending more time than he cared to admit beyond the world he knew, in more ways than one as of late, and would be quite pleased to be back where he knew the rules and how they worked without needing to guess at the intentions of beings that commanded them fully. Gertrude got herself a stick for all her troubles, blackened and no doubt something of either grand importance, or a complete ruse to leave her chasing her own metaphorical tail over what it could possibly be or mean. Anything was possible there, given the Moonlit Queen had stolen the Duke's wits due to feeling neglected, as if she had monopoly over the man's attention. The more they learned, the more they could look into once back to Candaeln, and Rolan had a great deal of work to get caught up on. Alchemical, martial, and research as well given these shards were becoming quite the problem. No, not the shards, someone bent on collecting them as if there was some grand prize awaiting them at the end.

[hr]

Rolan was not in high spirits.

The more he had been able to gather and learn while still in the Duke's holdings, both from the Moonlit Queen and beyond, indicated a single individual of power and knowledge, or a group playing at being only one it was hard to say. Cloaked, with a striking white mask with a single stylized eye that apparently matched the description of something pulled from a dying Golden Boar. While he had not been present with the Captain or her retinue for that, he had been briefed on it before being cast into the not quite dreamscape of a world for training. An individual with the skill and knowledge to maneuver the Moonlit Queen into storming off, leaving her vast riches exposed and vulnerable, only to take one singular thing and vanish. Played the Fae effortlessly, using information not even the Duke's own were privy to, from what he had been able to gather. All to gather more of the Shards, gathering even a few of those pieces in one place would not bode well for anyone involved.

Upon returning to Candaeln, Rolan had thrown himself utterly into his studies and training with an intense zeal, not even giving himself the luxury of a day's rest. There was too much to do, too much to catch up on, and too much to puzzle out to rest on his laurels for a 'job well done' as he might have a few years ago. He had to restock his alchemical mixtures, start on his latest recipes so they would be ready for the next pitched fight, and research this cloaked figure. More specifically, the white mask and singular eye, that was specific, something he could latch onto. He would spend every moment between lunch and well into the night in the library, pouring over a mixture of alchemical treatises to refine his recipes, expand what he knew how to make, and dig deeper into what he could learn so he could properly begin twisting and altering recipes to suit him.

One such experiment was coming to fruition in his quarters, a half dozen vials of fluid that had the coloration and consistency of quicksilver, brews intended to amplify the reflexes and speed of anyone who consumed them. Rolan was acutely aware that he would eventually hit the limits of what he could train and condition, so he would turn to alchemy to give him the edge he would need. He was starting with what he knew and was already confident in, his speed and reflexes, to push them even further past what he might be able to muster naturally. The side effects would require trials to discover, but the only way to do that was through use, and he would not, could not, ask anyone else to do that in his stead. Once ready, in another day or two, he would take them to the training yard to begin testing the limits of what the potions could do, and what his body could withstand should they have unforeseen side effects.

In the interim, waiting for the potions to be ready for consumption and testing, Rolan was digging through anything in the library related to the Shards. Not to locate the next one, like the Captain was, but rather looking for references, signs of, or indications of this figure, this white mask and stylized eye. It was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it, he had been musing on the ride back to Candaeln, so if he could begin puzzling out if this masked figure was an individual or, more concerningly, an organization, he could put a name to the face. Once he had a name, he could begin hunting down leads, tracking the individual or group, anything. They wouldn't need to know where the next shard was if they could stop this at the source, and he trusted the Captain to know how to read through a text and put two and two together. If she needed any help she would ask, otherwise he would be intently focused on his own studies, research, and redoubled training regiments each morning.