[IC] Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

[VitaVitaAR]

The battlefield had finally fallen largely quiet. The Midnight Hunt's stragglers were either slain by the knights or the nithyr, or driven from the clearing.

They're well and truly claimed victory. Despite the monstrous foe they faced, they had won.

The knights faced a somewhat uneasy situation regardless, as the shade-skinnned, blue-eyed, unseelie fae that had unexpected come to their aid began questioning them excitedly over how much blood they'd spilt, competing over who's spear was more soaked in gore, or asking seemingly innocent questions about their weapons and armor.

And yet, despite their nature, the nithyr did not make any moves to prolong the attack.

"That ugly red one is dead!"

The leader of the nithyr, or at least that's what Fanilly guessed given the sole article of clothing on her body was a wide, furred cape, seemed happy enough with that outcome. She couldn't guess exactly why the nithyr took such issue with Rozenalt, but whatever the case may have been it meant that they'd been pleased to assist with defeating the Midnight Hunt.

"I hope we can have fun again soon~!"

And with that somewhat concerning declaration, the nithyr began to depart into the forest once more. Some far more swiftly than others, as a few seemed reluctant to part from the knights they had fought alongside at first.

But eventually, thankfully, they departed.

The knights had fared decently. No-one appeared to have sustained immediately life-threatening injury, though some had not escaped harm. Sir Urgoven, in particular, had taken an arrow to the upper portion of his shield-arm and been forced to abandon his defense. However, he had quiet viciously paid the Hunt back for the injury, even though he could only use a single limb.

Dame Alisaie, notably, had not even a spot of blood on her armor, though her sword was utterly coated in it.

Lord Arken seemed somewhat fatigued, but the strip of glass and smoldering grass near his location indicated he had likely unleashed a rather powerful spell.

They'd done it. They'd well and truly done it.

Fanilly, for a few moments, almost felt faint, as if she would collapse. This odd sense of euphoria and almost lightheadedness had overtaken her after the battle, a completely and utterly foreign sensation when it came to combat for the knight-captain.

Their bet had paid off.

They'd claimed victory in Moonlit Queen's game.

The light that filtered through the trees now almost looked like a lantern. But instead, it was the feinyar that had guided them there in the first place, now returning to take them back to the Moonlit Queen's court.

It was time to claim their reward.

---

"We have returned victorious, Moonlit Queen. Now, you must uphold your end of our bargain."

Despite all that had occurred that night, the warm snow and the black trees of the Moonlit Queen's fae realm still appeared to be a surreal and unnatural sight.

But it was one that did not grasp her attention any longer, now that she had already made her peace with it.

No, Fanilly's attention was firmly on the Moonlit Queen herself. The diminutive fae lady leaned forward, black eyes wide, her raven-headed attendant standing beside her.

"Rozenalt is dead? He's dead for sure, right? Did he scream? Did he cry? Did he curse?!"

The glee in her voice, the smile on her lips, would have been wholly endearing if not for the words and understanding of her nature. As she spoke, the black trees seemed to shimmer as crystalline blossoms began to open along their branches, their creator's happiness causing flowers to bloom.

"The mere fact we've returned should be proof enough of our victory."

The Moonlit Queen paused for a moment, then leaned back, growing only slightly more reserved.

"... Fiiiine. I'll give that big idiot his wits back, and give you one of my treasures. You should be extra thankful I'm doing both, you know!"

A gray-skinned young lady in a translucent dress seemed to materialize beside the Moonlit Queen, leaning in to say something unintelligible to her.

"... Fetch... that one, that one, and that one. I'll pick which one of those to give them!"

It seemed she was going to pick out a prize herself.

The gray lady faded away as swiftly as she'd appeared.

[Raineh Daze]

"He was too much of a skeleton to cry… but there was a lot of cursing. And screaming. It was magnificent," Tyaethe announced, sharing a bloodthirsty grin with the fae queen from atop Fionn's shoulder. "Oh, but he's gone without a shadow of a doubt. Everything that was Rozenalt was burned away by Reon's fire, there's going to be no coming back from that."

It was just a shame he hadn't said yes to letting her have his blood. There had been so much of it, and it would have been an interesting experience… oh well, she would live.

[Crimson Paladin]

Fleuri Jodeau

There wasn't much for Fleuri to say. He had seen before the consequences of speaking out of turn in the Moonlit Queen's presence. Even if she was in a good mood to not curse them again, the wrong word could still potentially offender her enough to retract her reward- or, if her kind was supernaturally compelled to keep their word, cruelly twist it.

He wasn't sure what sort of reward the Moonlit Queen would give. It probably didn't matter much, since they would immediately be handing it over to the queen's sister as payment for gaining the knights access to the fae realm.

He continued to wait silently, hoping that those around him would have the good sense to not risk causing more problems.

[Eisenhorn]

Rolan

---

"It would be quite difficult to miss your performance, even if I wasn't graced with the up close display. I am sure things would have been far more pitched without someone in the sky."

Rolan continued to humor Gertrude's fishing for compliments, even as they finally touched down and he hopped off the broom and, fortunately, back on solid ground. While the advantages were undeniable, he doubted he would ever be completely comfortable sailing around the skies like they were just as readily accessible as anything else. He was already about to take off at a brisk jog when Gertrude brought attention to the fact that Dame Tyaethe would likely want to tell him off for interfering, and that this was an attempt to keep her from telling him off. No, that had nothing to do with it, and he could weather any lecture she deemed fit to give him. His entire purpose was to interfere in fights and tip the scale in the knight's favor, and she was one of the knights, which meant he was going to interfere. Especially with the stakes that had been at play.

"I'm not going to hide from her displeasure, should she care to pursue it. Interfering is my entire skillset, and if anyone should bear the brunt of her irritation it should be me. You just flew, and I was already planning to metaphorically the moment we knew our target. By all means, direct her to me if she approaches you to scold you first."

With a nod farewell, for the moment, Rolan turned his attention to the rest of the Knights present. Nothing too dire, fortune favored them in that regard, but there was a few things to look into. Ser Urgoven had a nasty arrow to the shield arm that had forced him to discard defense, in favor of offense that clearly had worked out for the better. Still, he had a poultice that would reduce the pain and promote healing, plus help keep the arrow from wriggling around with each movement until a proper healer could look into it. He knew all too well how much damage an arrow, or in his case a bolt, could case if not treated properly. He'd been clipped by enough bandit arrows and bolts to know that, so making sure the arrow didn't move too much would help make healing go smoothly. He would move to anyone else needing patched up, noting that Dame Alisaie and Lord Arken were both unharmed but had collected a bloody toll, literally in one case, from the routed Midnight Hunt. Until they were called to return to the court of the Moonlit Queen to collect their reward, which would be promptly surrendered to her sister. Such was the cost of aid, but better than a lost wager and still owing the sister for her aid.

---

Rolan was quiet initially as the Captain reported their success, the Moonlit Queen practically giddy in her celebrations. Were she not capable of cursing them all to lifetimes of madness, at the least dangerous, some of their number might find it almost endearing to see. He would rather be gone before a mercurial nature shifted against them, though Dame Tyaethe elaborated on the fate of the Bloody Lord. Good riddance, and he did make a remark reinforcing her statement of fact.

"It was certainly a drawn out spectacle, neither a quick nor easy way to go. It was, however, quite excruciating for every moment it did last for the deposed Bloody Lord."

The agreement to keep her end of the deal was a silent relief as far as Rolan was concerned, he was quite spent on resources on hand and he would rather not entertain what would transpire if she tried to renegade against the agreement. She would apparently pick from one of three of her treasures to give them, likely an effort to flaunt what they could have before giving over the least valuable, to her at least, of the three. Not that it mattered, it would not be in their ownership for particularly long so he would not want to give it much thought beyond that as repayment owed to the sister of the Moonlit Queen. For now he said nothing else, keeping to his place in the group and waiting for things to play out.

[Octo]

Gertrude thought that Rolan was underselling her contributions a little bit, but since he was willing to shoulder all the blame for messing with Tyaethe's fight, she was willing to let him off. Really, she wasn't particularly concerned with how Tyaethe felt or how she chose to express her dissatisfaction. Just one more old person telling her that she was a disappointment, so what? But it would be funny to send her off to Rolan to give him a dressing-down if the woman chose to confront her.

Well, he volunteered to be the entertainment.

---

Now that their task was complete and the deal was being rendered, Gertrude didn't have quite the leverage that she wanted when it came to brokering a contract. Still, she was eager to add a powerful faerie queen to her repertoire of companions if she could, so the attempt had to be made.

Besides, if a fool like Fionn was capable of using magic as he had been from his contract with a Niyar, it boggled the mind to imagine what a genius like Gertrude could do with the backing of the Moonlit Queen. How many steps closer would that be to unseating Aleksiya? At least a few, certainly.

All she had to do... was be nice for five sodding minutes.

Gertrude approached the Moonlit Queen and performed a curtsy. The formality left a bad taste in her mouth, but it was probably her best bet. It didn't hurt that virtually all of her superiors were very tiny women. Aleksiya, Merilia, Fanilly, Gisela... if anything, it was her natural state. Many would liken the Moonlit Queen to a child, but to Gertrude she was any other ancient and powerful being in a tiny package.

...Though she still wanted to pat the woman's head.

"Gertrude, your majesty," Gertrude introduced herself with all the courtly grace of someone who had read what to do in a book once while bored, "as you can see, we are quite the accomplished group. Now that sod Rozenalt's shuffled off- er, now that Rozenalt has been dealt with, I imagine things will be a bit quieter around here. Ideal for your subjects, of course, but perhaps a mite dull on occasion. I would like to make a contract with you, with the promise that I'll show you plenty of interesting things as we continue our adventures. And if you deign to appear before me, perhaps even to participate. Had you wanted to witness Rozenalt's anguish firsthand, a contract with me could have allowed you to do so. I wouldn't want you to miss such entertainment, going forward."

...Really wanted to pat her head.

[The Otter]

Fionn MacKerracher, Tyaethe, Fiadh, and Laoise

---

Fionn almost had to wonder how often Tyaethe had ridden atop Cyrus's shoulders in the past, or any of the other knights, given how rapidly she'd come to terms with it. Aside from the most minimal of protestations at the beginning, he'd almost have guessed she preferred it over having to try and keep up with the rest of them on her own feet. Enough so that she hadn't bothered trying to get loose or get down at all in the entire time it took them to return to the Moonlit Queen.

Or even in the presence of the Moonlit Queen, for that matter, while still wrapped in his cloak. No telling what that one would think, he was already imagining the questions he'd have to try and fend off from the green girl who came to stand next to him. "Have a nice time while we were away, Fiadh?" he asked, hopefully before the Niyar had gotten too far into putting together some of her suspicions about the knights. "How's my cheek look, by the way? We haven't had a chance to really do anything about it. Figured folks should focus on the ones that actually got hurt."

"We got to watch what you were doing! It was very impressive, darling, but I don't get why you threw the sword…" Fiadh trailed off and stretched to get a closer look at Fionn's cheek, pouting, "It looks quite distinguished, but I think I like your face more without it."

Distinguished? Maybe. Mostly he just felt it made his cheek sting and a bit dirty. "He made me mad," was his defensive answer to the sword comment, with a hint of wounded pride behind it. "Calling in all those falcons after accepting my challenge wasn't just indecent, like, it was an affront to myself and the duel!"

Fiadh blinked slowly, cocking her head to one side. "But, darling, those falcons would be part of him, like your magic, or one of my plants…"

"..."

Fionn thought for a moment, furrowing his brow.

"I took them for well trained spirits. Like if any of us went out with falcons on a hunt. Besides, I didn't do any magic until after he called them all in! It was supposed to be a physical contest!"

On his shoulder, there was the sound of Tyaethe's palm meeting her face. "Did you ask? I wouldn't think a duel is restricted to physical strength only if you didn't say."

"That's silly. Everybody knows a duel is limited to skill at arms and strength of body if nothing else is specified."

"What? That's completely backwards; everyone knows that if the restrictions aren't specified, you can do whatever you like."

"That's acting like rules don't even exist, Tyaethe. How could we have a society if everything was like that?"

"There are rules. The rule is that there's no rules."

"That's not how rules work."

"Why would fae rules ban magic? We all have magic. That would be silly, darling, it would be like banning your right arm—"

"I like those challenges."

"—So you should apologise next time you meet this falconer," Fiadh said with a nod, interrupting the… whatever it was.

"Duels without extra stipulations are supposed to be physical!" Fionn protested.

The Niyar reached up and gave him a pat on the unoccupied shoulder, "Not our duels, darling."

Fionn's brow furrowed deeper. "But that's not how duels work," he stubbornly continued to argue. Despite the rapidly growing knowledge that it was not going to really get him anywhere. He stayed silent for a moment after, before changing the topic once again. "Tyaethe, you never did say if it tastes different after Fiadh found me again."

"I haven't tasted it yet," the vampire pointed out, "And now wouldn't… be safe."

"…You keep saying you're not all together, and yet…"

"She's a vampire, love."

"He means blood."

"…Oh!" The fairy raised a finger to her lips, deep in thought.

Fionn looked up to Tyaethe, then back down at Fiadh.

"..."

Time to change topic again.

"Fiadh, you understand Feinyar, right?"

There was an enthusiastic nod, although she still seemed to be thinking, looking between the two of them

Fionn was starting to grow concerned by how Fiadh's eyes kept turning between the two of them, especially given the growing suspicion of what she had thought he and Tyaethe were referring to. The temptation was there to ask after her thoughts, certainly, but Fiadh being Fiadh...she'd share them eventually. Hopefully it'd be more amusing than confusing once she did.

All the more reason, though, to focus in. "Could you interpret for me, then? I tried asking what her name is, but I couldn't understand a thing of what she signed back at me."

"Of course!"

"Alright!"

It was decided, then. While Gertrude tried to do whatever she was up to with the Moonlit Queen, Fionn waved the little Feinyar over. "Sorry about earlier, but Fiadh here—" He nodded down at the green woman. "—Should be able to translate for us! What was your name, again?"

"…Can I get off your shoulder yet?" Tyaethe wondered while the Feinyar happily went through the motions to answer again.

"She says her name is Laoise."

"Will you behave yourself if I let you down? And—Laoise, got it." Now it was Fionn's time to start jumping to some completely unexplained ideas locked in his head. He loosened his grip, letting Tyaethe slide her way free, before turning his injured cheek towards the little flame sprite with a playful grin. "Well, miss Laoise, Fiadh here apparently doesn't like my new little scratch quite so much. You don't have anything you could do about that, do you?"

The Feinyar tilted her head back and forth, hair – presumably, it was hair – making crackling noises each time, until she nodded and started making a rather more complex series of gestures in rapid succession.

"Yes, she says she can – no, you aren't going to just burn it shut! That would make a nasty scar, which is just as bad!"

"Maybe she knows how to do that without making bad scars?"

There was a fiery headshake, which clearly meant 'no' even without translation. Followed by some more signing. "Oh, she's apologising! Feinyar aren't very good at anything non-destructive, she says."

Fionn shrugged. "Unfortunate, then. What all are you good at, Laoise?"

He paused.

"I hope that didn't sound as bad as I worry it just did."

Rather than gesture, the other fairy just lifted her hand up, fingers curling until there was only one extended and, resting atop it, was a fireball. It was, perhaps, a bit of an obvious question to ask the fire fairy.

Fionn blinked once. Yes, that was an obvious answer, but he'd figured there'd be a bit more to it than that. "You know, like how Niyar can do more than just grow plants, yeah? There's fire, and then there's everything beyond the fire. Getting fancy, like." Surely that explained what he meant well enough. It sometimes seemed that, at least within their spheres, a fairy was only really limited by their imagination. He at least could certainly imagine a few things a Feinyar could do with not just fire, but heat and light, that might go beyond the normal sorts of spellcraft that people could ascribe to them.

The fire turned green and shaped itself into a vaguely humanoid form. He looked closer. "A Niyar, right?" More vigorous nodding, along with an approving clap from Fiadh.

"Neat!"

He turned back to Fiadh, before starting to look back and forth between the fairies almost like how she'd been looking between him and Tyaethe earlier. "Fiadh?"

"Yes, darling?"

"All the spells I know from you are very useful, but the magic that's yours is the absolute easiest, right?"

"Yes…?"

He smiled broadly, turning back to Laoise. "Are you able to travel, or does she prefer to keep you close?" There was another flurry of gestures from the Feinyar, which got interpreted as I'm not bound here, I just like the weather, which took slightly longer for Fiadh to interpret as the Niyar was now walking around the other fairy and giving her a thorough inspection.

Fionn nodded along. "Fiadh has a very nice garden," he continued. Neverminding that it was the castle garden, Fiadh may as well be its official garden fairy after she'd come to Candaeln with him and Tyaethe. "Everybody else is usually very friendly too, so if she's alright with it, would you like to tag along with us for a while?"

Laoise had an uncertain look – as much as anything was definite when it came to staring at a Feinyar – until Fiadh added, "There's a nice little dwarf forge just next to me, too! He does a lot of working."

That got an enthusiastic nod.

"Do you think Ardor might be more inclined to forgive what happened to my sword if Laoise's willing to help him with the forge?" he mused, scratching at his chin. With that thought in mind, though, that made one other thing very clear to him—he had yet to get his sword back, with Súileabhán's feather still loosely slung at his belt. That was not something he could forget before they left the Moonlit Queen's realm.

But, of course, now he was left with yet more things to consider. Magic weapons forged with fae help, how they might compare to the normal enchantments and reinforcements that were done, whether any of the other knights in the order had such...

"Alright. How's about I let the two of you talk that over, and I'll go trade this back to its rightful owner and get my own sword back? Play nice when I'm not looking, you two. Hey, Súileabhán!"

[Psyker Landshark]

Renar Hagen

Tyaethe's words hardly fazed Renar. It was hardly as if he was going to put on the armor before he could have both Fionn and Candaeln's resident smith examine it. The cloak, though? He damn well would. Whatever it would do to him was worth it in exchange for displaying his dominance over a foe he'd spent so much in defeating.

Regardless, he brushed the First and Youngest's words off, rising with his pillaged armor bundled up with the help of Fionn and Gerard, nodding his thanks to the two.

"I intend to have it all inspected before I use it, of course. Aside from the cloak. 'Tis a matter of personal pride." He spoke, as if that were the only important factor in this scenario. Well, in his mind, it was.

Once they returned to the Queen, Renar kept silent in the back. The quest was accomplished, and they were receiving what they came for. No sense in potentially mucking that up with an errant word. As for the reward...well, the odds of it actually being useful and not harmful to sane people teetered on a knife's edge. Hopefully, either they wouldn't have to deal with further fae insanity, or it'd negatively impact someone that wasn't him. Either or would suffice, really.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Gerard Segremors

Gerard, quite pleased with how safe he'd kept himself this go around compared to prior battles, shrugged off the First and Youngest's admonitions similarly— as far as he was concerned, none of it really applied. Armor was armor, and ensconsed within a clothen medium such as the (admittedly slapdash) sacks that were tied to the crooks of their three arms, he knew of no curse that could truly endanger the lot of them, especially if shards of Angoron itself didn't require much more in the way of insulation to handle.

Midnight Hunt or no, this thing Renar had felled surely couldn't despoil whole countrysides just by being out and about.

It was with this reassured poise that he stood in formation with the rest of his peers as Fionn had his repartee with the various fae he was evidently keen to collect, like a village child with beetles, and the Moonlit Queen made a show of keeping them all waiting to recieve their agreed-upon reward for victory. Although part of him, a substantial one at that, wanted to claim the trinket personally... he kept his mouth shut, at least until the selection of treasures was brought forth. Although he had made a promise, and intended to keep it in full measure... he was already negotiating from a disadvantage. For whatever reason, she'd proven to take umbrage with his words before already, and seemed much more intrinsically fond of Fanilly. Gone and decided to give him a rainbow for a hairstyle for a few minutes.

For all he knew, he'd spent too long in her sister's court, and the Queen had caught her scent on his armor, or something inscrutable like that.

Regardless, he had proof now that if he were to speak at all, it had best be judiciously, and only if the Captain couldn't say it herself. He leaned forward, voice sinking low with a slight nudge to Fanilly's ornate pauldron.

"These are to be symbolic of her own might," he mentioned, mindful not to mention the "but of little true value" portion of the assessment aloud. "Yet treasures she's willing to part with on a wager all the same. May as well be ready for anything, shouldn't we?"

[VitaVitaAR]

Fanilly couldn't help but let out an inward sigh of relief, now. Everything had gone just as they'd hoped it would. The fae Queen was bound to her word, either due to supernatural means or because of a sense of honor. Either way was equally plausible, and either way worked to their benefit.

The Duke would receive his sanity once again, and they would accomplish their mission. That being said, this tingling sensation up through her core still hadn't fully left her.

No-one had died. Even those who were injured were not injured so severely as to bear permanent wounds. They'd managed to crush the Midnight Hunt, the legendary terror that chased down its targets and did Goddesses-knows-what to them.

It wasn't just survival. They'd defeated them.

Was that why she felt this way? This slight tinge of weightless euphoria, at her own disbelief? It was a strange sensation running through Fanilly's heart, but not something could afford to dwell on.

Even though the Moonlit Queen had given her word, their goal still hadn't been fully accomplished, after all.

The Duke's wits would be returned, somehow, likely through whatever arcane means they had been taken away in the first place. But they had yet to receive the prize that would be given to the Moonlit Queen's sister in return for her assistance.

The raven-man glanced at his feather when Sir Fionn called his name.

"Ah, yes, child of man. I'll be taking that back."

There was no clear indication of how the feather had returned to Súileabhán's hand, but it was visible gripped between his fingers before disappearing just as swiftly.

"I had half-suspected you would attempt to keep it," he added, "For which I would have been forced to take something from you, as well. I should have better trusted in milady's judgement."

The Moonlit Queen smirked.

"Of course you should have, Súileabhán, don't be so silly," she commented in a lightly-teasing tone, before her attention returned fully to the Knights.

Or rather, to Lady Gertrude. As the Moonlit Queen listened to her speak, a look of surprise crossed her features. By the time that she'd finished speaking, the Moonlit Queen appeared entirely shocked.

---Until she started laughing, at least. Indeed, the diminutive fae lady was laughing, bending forward, her childish voice ringing out through the strange chill-less winter. If anything, the air began to feel slightly warmer, not unlike the sensation of being wrapped comfortably in a warm blanket.

"A contract? With me?" she questioned as she straightened, wiping a tear from her eye, "That's so bold of you! Did you seriously ask me that?"

Fanilly found herself somewhat concerned. That reaction... was her laughter the prelude to some sort of retaliation for asking such a thing?

"Child of Man, just what makes you think you can ask me for a contract? I'm curious!" declared the Moonlit Queen, leaning forward, "Maybe I'll think about it, if you give me a really good answer!"

It was hard to say how much she'd think about it, but it was a better response then outright rejection. Before she could comment more on the subject, however, the gray lady in the translucent dress appeared once more to lean in close to her ear and whisper something unintelligible.

"What do you mean, it's missing?!"

---The Moonlit Queen's reaction was certainly loud and clear, however.

[Eisenhorn]

Rolan

---

If Rolan was feeling more generous he might have just thought Gertrude was a greedy idiot at this point in time, but trying to strike up a contract with the Moonlit Queen for...fortune knows what reasons baffled him. He also didn't like the idea of being beholden to a supernatural power like the fae when he already had an oath to fulfill, too many agreements would lead to the inevitable 'you have to break one to satisfy the other' and that was just too much to have to worry about at any given time. A terrible decision to even attempt, as far as Rolan was concerned, but he could not hope to influence the apprentice, let alone even attempt to try to have some vague sense of control over her actions. Sure enough the Moonlit Queen seemed to want a good answer for why she should even consider such a thing, and Rolan felt himself silently tense, continuing to watch not just her but her subjects and how they responded to her behavior. Fortune willing whatever retribution visited on Gertrude would be contained to just her, and could be reversed later.

Of course, the laughter and questioning was all discarded by a shouted, clear response to some whispered words from the servant who had been summoned before. Something of significant enough value was missing to elicit a response like that, and that concerned Rolan, though he kept still and his mouth shut as he considered their surroundings again. The worst case scenario came to mind, that being the Duke's wits had gone missing from her possession, as ridiculous a concept as that was at a normal thought, though when dealing with the Fae anything was possible. That would mean the Moonlit Queen could not uphold her end of the bargain, not fully, which would put her in a very poor position indeed, though that would not necessarily benefit the knights much either since restoring the Duke's mind had been their entire goal and purpose for being here.

Rolan kept his mouth firmly shut for now, instead continuing to keep a wary watch on what was going on while listening. There was nothing he could say, that he could think of at least, that would be helpful or conducive to the current situation. Asking the Moonlit Queen what she was missing could be misconstrued as an offer to help, or worse, a mockery of her sudden misfortune. One of those better suited to negotiations could more diplomatically inquire as to what was missing, and if that could be put to the knight's collective advantage, all the better. Otherwise, let her wallow in missing some trinket as long as it didn't keep her from upholding her end of the agreement that had been reached between the knights and the queen.

[Psyker Landshark]

Renar Hagen

Renar very carefully continued to keep quiet during the next few exchanges. If Gertie wanted to gamble with her life trying to contract with the Moonlit Queen, she could do so freely as long as any consequences didn't blow back to the rest of the Iron Rose.

As for what happened immediately after...

He resisted the urge to groan out loud with all his willpower. Knowing their luck, they were about to be roped into yet another side objective on this ridiculous, inane quest. Shame on him for thinking they were almost in the clear. Goddesses forbid that they could have one ordained quest without some sort of ancient or dark magic at play. When had the last such mission even been? Bandit King Jeremiah? It had been one moon-damned thing after another past him.

Regardless, Renar continued to maintain dead silence, hoping against hope that whatever was going on with the queen this time had absolutely nothing to do with their party.

[Raineh Daze]

Tyaethe

"What's missing?" Tyaethe was the first one to ask, leaning forward curiously and… it wasn't that she wasn't aware that this could be misconstrued, or that the fey might take offence somehow; it was that she didn't care. Standing around in awkward silence wouldn't necessarily see them out of here faster – they might just be seen as common thieves, too, or suspects. Despite having all been rather busy while… whatever was taken was taken.

And she was curious. What had been taken from the Moonlit Queen while they had been out fighting Rozenalt that was so important that it couldn't wait until her visitors had left?

[HereComesTheSnow]

Gerard Segremors

It was always something, wasn't it?

Much like Renar a pace and a half ahead, Gerard felt his blood pressure spike and kept his face in a heroically placid cast, stuffing the urge to hold his brow. It was always something with these expeditions, wasn't it? Never minding Gertrude's tempting of fate— well, with this particular fae, her desire to forge a contract seemed less like tempting and more like outright hiking her skirt up, but either way— she was a grown woman, and could make her decisions for herself. It wasn't like she had any less an upbringing steeped in cautionary folklore as he, and atop it she was a talented mage.

Whatever she got herself into, she knew about as much as any of them.

But nonetheless, from the sounds of things one of their three choices in trophy had been pilfered beneath the Moonlit Queen's nose, turning their cleanly won bet into a bogged down mire that sounded like it was bound to end with them trying to hunt down a thief. Given that The Queen's attention was likely centered around watching the battle play out, now seemed, in hindsight, quite the opportune time for any interested third parties to invade her realm and swipe something out from beneath her nose.

His eyes narrowed, just barely. Of all this, he found he just really didn't want to be made into a liar, after that confident yarn he'd spun in front of the lady of the forest.

"A thief beneath all our noses. They must have used the clamor of the fighting. Likely wasn't the nithyr, seeing as they were too stuck in on the battle. Who else might be interested in taking whatever this third thing was?"

Well, he knew of one or two, but he doubted those so close to The Moonlit Queen herself would be so hard for her to notice.

And he'd be disappointed to learn they didn't at least give him a chance to back the big talk up.

[Octo]

Gertrude smiled as the Moonlit Queen laughed. She supposed it was about as well as she could have hoped to be received, taking the surrounding warmth to be a good sign. Obviously, the woman liked those who amused her, and amuse her is what Gertrude had done. It was possible, then, to close the deal if she could demonstrate that she had value as well. For that, she also had an idea.

In a way, the woman reminded her of her mistress-

Her former mistress, that was. Right down to the mirth she showed when amused. Gertrude was bitter, and bitter towards Aleksiya, but she was not immune to nostalgia. She was capable of remembering the better times, if only for a moment.

...And the Moonlit Queen's laugh was much more enchanting, so that was a plus.

Gertrude was about to attempt to close things out when one of the ruler's aides interrupted her. Gertrude frowned for a moment, annoyed, but quickly plastered a smile over her impatience. It seemed that something was missing. Loudly. She was tempted to tell the Moonlit Queen how unladylike her outburst was, but she had to hold it in, though the itch to tease the woman was strong. Instead, she looked to Gerard, and back to the Moonlit Queen.

"Aye... using the fighting as a smokescreen was the likely method. As for the culprit... you do have a baby sister, yes? We did our research before heading out to see you, and though your fame far eclipsed hers, we may have heard a whisper."

Though it pained Gertrude to do so, she knelt and looked into the Moonlit Queen's eyes.

"Is it not the eternal duty of the younger sibling to jealously grab for what the older has earned? Perhaps this is a possibility to consider."

[Crimson Paladin]

Fleuri Jodeau

This was not what Fleuri expected to hear. This Moonlit Queen was a fae of immeasurable power within her own plane, and she just had something disappear from beneath her nose. For anyone, pulling off such a heist- to steal a possession of a fae monarch within the very plane that they control- must be an incredible feat. Or perhaps it wasn't stolen at all, merely misplaced in an act of fae ficklness that subsequently slipped her mind.

Evidently for whatever power she commanded here, she wasn't all-seeing.

This was a dangerous situation. An upset fae was a volatile fae, and with the Moonlit Queen having already demonstrated her power against those who even faintly offended her, a misplaced word could cause one to become an outlet to her wrath. On the other hand, it also presented opportunity- to lend aid in her time of need could also potentially gain her favor. To be in this situation- in the presence of a powerful fae in a time of need, to have earned her confidence and largely unscathed- it was a once in a lifetime moment. No doubt some of the knights probably just wanted to get back to the Duke and finish this quest, and not take a detour to another fae quest. Fleuri felt the same way- but he hadn't gotten as far as he had by passing by opportunities.

Should they take what they had earned and quit while they were ahead, or should they take the path of further risk and further potential reward? Should they treat this as the Moonlit Queen's just desserts for what she did to the duke, or treat it as a wrong to be righted regardless of the victim's past? For both of these questions, Fleuri leaned towards the latter answer. As troublesome as the Moonlit Queen may be, she still didn't deserve to be burglarized.

Gertrude, wasting no time from her audacious and probably unwise proposition to make a contract with the Moonlit Queen, immediately moved to inform on her sister. Could the younger (but larger) sibling have done it, using the knights as a distraction to steal the object of her desire rather than taking the chance of them losing the wager?

[The Otter]

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Fionn had been willing to let Gertrude's willingness to pursue a contract with the Moonlit Queen go by without comment, content to entertain himself with the two fairies hanging around him...But to start casting aspersions on her sister, rivalry or no, was something that could cause them no end of trouble. Such should usually be hard to miss, even with the distraction of watching them all fight the hunt—not to mention that she might take it as an insult to her own pride, both in herself and her family.

Using the knights to try and push a wager, knock her down a peg, that could all be forgiven between them. The little queen might pout and rant, but that could all still fit within the 'rules' of how they interacted with one another. Outright theft would be another matter, and to immediately accuse one of them of such was a good way to make at least one enemy, if not two. While they might seem capricious by normal mortal standards, fey beings like the queen and her sister were still very particular about rules of exchange, who owed what and to whom; taking Duke Thedric's mind, troublesome as it was, was a reasonable retribution, demanding repayment for an insult...by the Moonlit Queen's standards.

Not to mention that sending the knights to try and get something more from her as part of a wager, only to turn around and steal something out from under all of their noses, was just as far outside the usual tactics. Forcing them to operate under false pretenses like that was risky and duplicitous in all the ways that the fey usually tried to avoid. Certainly, while he hadn't been the one to hear the details of it from the Moonlit Queen's sister, he doubted that any of those who had would have missed something like that woven in to whatever they were told.

"I'm with Tyaethe," he spoke up, turning away from Fiadh and Laoise. "Let's find out what it was before we start throwing out speculation as to who. I'd hate to make any insults that we owe satisfaction for."

[VitaVitaAR]

Missing...?

Fanilly couldn't fully understand how such a thing could happen, for a moment. This was the Moonlit Queen's fae realm, isn't it? She'd already shown the capacity to alter and change even visitors, so how could someone possibly commit a theft as long as she was present? Wasn't the entire realm constantly under her control?

Or could things escape her notice?

"I second Dame Tyaethe, your majesty," Fanilly said as she stepped forward, composing herself as quickly as she could, "Maybe if we know what it is, we might be able to help you find it."

It was a bit of a risk, but it was the best path forward that Fanilly could think of. The fae queen had at least adhered to her own set of morals and not dismissed them purely on their own nature as humans. If anything, she'd seemed pleased by their capabilities, and therefore this might be the best path to resolving the situation.

At the very least, the Knight-Captain felt certain that simply leaving without offering to help in any way would be far from ideal.

"My sister?" the Moonlit Queen's pure black gaze seemed to intensify for a moment when Gertrude knelt down, "You've met her? When? Did she ask you anything? If she---"

She paused for a moment.

"Hmph. She wouldn't do this. She'd want to earned fairly, even if she was involved. That doesn't make it any better, of course! I'm the older sister, she should be listening to me!"

For a moment, it looked as if she considered doing something to Gertrude in retaliation, her hand reaching out---

And then she stopped, folding her arms with another huff.

"You want to know? You think you can help recover it for me? Fine, then," came the Moonlit Queen's frustrated voice, "It's a little shard of nothing. A tiny piece of a hole in the world. Children of Man can't touch it, so I was going to wrap it up in case you wanted it."

For a moment, Fanilly almost felt her heart stop.

That was---

It couldn't be touched by humans. A tiny piece of a hole in the world.

"A shard of Angroron?!"

That---

A shard of Angroron disappearing from such a place, right after the disappearance of the shard in possession of the Mage College?!

There was no way this could possibly be a coincidence!

[Raineh Daze]

Tyaethe blinked once. Twice. Then…

"Did the pieces of this fucking sword wind up with everyone that shouldn't have them? Oh, they're just holes in the world, why not have them given to mages and fairies and cheesemongers," the vampire griped, "Now we have someone running around collecting them to do… something and no idea of where they're supposed to be!"

The one consolation was that nobody was going to be able to reforge the sword without some level of divine backing… she hoped, although that was less certain. On the other hand, if one was enough to be cause a bloodbath from some idiot touching it, what could you do with multiple in a single location?

[The Otter]

Fionn MacKerracher

---

"Definitely not your sister, then," Fionn agreed, far calmer than the vampire next to him. "There seems to be a recent rise in thefts of such shards. It wasn't long ago at all that we were involved in the mess surrounding another." Gods and Goddesses forbid they could escape the trouble of these shards of Angroron; no, if anything he had a growing feeling that they were going to be the center of the defining moment of Fanilly's career as the captain, and all of them beneath her.

He did wonder how many of those shards were kept outside of Thaln, however.

Maybe he should have been less calm about it, like Tyaethe wasn't. Still, even if they didn't get the chance to travel fully abroad hunting the shards—and their thieves—down, it at least was the clear sort of thing that the Iron Roses were supposed to handle. It fit within their broader scope, going back to the original dedication as a devoted religious order, not just one that could do the bidding of the crown and have done with it. It was like he'd told Fanilly before—with Reon and Mayon behind them, there was no chance that they could fail, but undoubtedly they would still have to get through the trials and tribulations before them and put forth their greatest effort for it all.

Anything less would be a poor showing, and when you had divine providence on your side, you at least had to try and make the rest of the tale good too.

But that was business for later. Soon, ideally, very soon, but still later. "Of course, there's still our prior deal that needs to be satisfied. Duke Thedric's wits need to be returned, and we need our other prize—for your sister, if you haven't guessed." He spared a glance for their obviously-shocked captain. "We can negotiate finding the missing shard after our previous agreement is satisfied, assuming the captain agrees...?"

[Eisenhorn]

Rolan

---

Rolan was quietly wishing that the Queen's sister had not been brought up, though she was quick to dismiss her as a possible suspect in this thievery. Good, that was not an angle he wanted to have to consider given they still had a standing agreement with the Queen's sister to return a trinket to uphold their end of the bargain. He was not inclined to renege on a deal, doubly so with a Fae, so that was a quiet relief even if he would have to consider mentioning name dropping unknowns was typically unwise without a good reason. Gertrude could learn to reign in that damned ego of hers, though it benefited no one to say anything about it at the moment. They could argue later over intelligent decisions and knowing when to keep one's mouth firmly shut. Of course his thoughts were thoroughly disrupted when the Queen revealed what had gone missing from her collection.

A shard of Angroron, of all the damned things, collecting metaphorical dust in a Queen's trophy collection. He didn't waste time considering how it got here, while Tyaethe was quite furious about it ending up here, Rolan could see some sense in it being here. Who would even think to come this far out of the way looking for it, in the clutches of a powerful Fae who ruled over her own little realm in the woods? If the goal was to keep the shards from being gathered, letting it sit idle in a pocket world like this seemed to have some reason to it. It gave him a concerning thought that this thief was using the Order as a distraction, swiping the shards while more overtly pressing matters held everyone's attention. Even if the interested party was not capable of reassembling Angroron, which he would not dismiss without good reason, that many parts in one place would do no one any good. He considered saying something to the Captain, but given they were still in front of the Moonlit Queen and there was a time and place for such things. Now was not it, instead focusing on planning ahead, which was something he could do at least.

Rolan had to wonder if there was some way to track these little 'shards of nothing', as the Queen had called them. They were distinctly unique, as far as he was aware, and had quite the detrimental effect to put it simply. If Gertrude were more reliable and less prone to flights of ego driven fancy he might have considered challenging her to come up with a way to test that aforementioned ego, but beyond nudging her useful directions with compliments and flattery he was hesitant to bring it up at all. Next time they were back in Candaeln he might have to dig into the library beyond his usual studies to try and figure out a method, even a fragment of one, to try and detect these shards before they get stolen from under their noses. Again. If it were easy some enterprising mage would have puzzled it out already, so while he didn't have high hopes, he might get lucky, so it was worth a shot.