Eisenhorn

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

Johann continued to nurse a coffee cup as the others chimed in and made arguments for their own outlooks, both agreeing and disagreeing as appropriate. Commie agreed, cleaning up the operation zone would benefit both their own end goal, and that of the planetary invasion overall. Hex was all for the infantry operation, he could not say that was surprising but by the same virtue, it was still outside most of their formal wheelhouses. Yes, they cross trained in operating dismounted and doing so damn well, but that was as much to survive having their MAS shout out from under them as it was to perform infantry operations. She was at least making a good argument, but he could not bring himself to agree with it, not when their core skill set was MAS piloting. It was what they brought the most weight to, end of the day, so stick to what they were best at. Boss finally spoke up last, laying down the final decisions, at least as far as it would be decided.

Option One was out, a bit disappointing but ultimately not unreasonable either. As mentioned it didn't put them any closer to their overarching objective, even if enabling better air coverage would be useful down the line. The mention of some sort of Ace bogging down 233rd Armored Cav was worth keeping in mind, given their own encounters recently. Never could tell when an ace or experimental weapon was going to rear its ugly head again, so worth keeping eyes wide in that regard. Option Two was likely out as well, though with a nod to the argument from Hex, before focusing on Option Three instead. Hit the power, force the Coalition to adapt and have to reroute power. Hell that could have an impact on the anti-air grid in place, if they were lucky, though he had no argument against option three.

"Feel free to load up the demo charges on Secutor as well, won't slow me down noticeably anyways." Better to have them and not need them, even if a 170mm HESH shell could probably do a hell of a lot of damage as well. He could also swap out weapons on the Secutor if they had them, and someone suggested it, but as far as he was concerned it would suit the mission as it was. Well, once the laser communication module was installed of course, but given that was the direction they were seeming to be going, better to already start planning ahead on how he was going to conceal Secutor. Lot of letting others lead and run recon, most likely, and sticking to the larger ruins whenever possible.

Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

---

As Toma walked away from the sparring ring, he could hear his partner getting pestered by a variety of critiques and backhanded remarks. Easy to judge and critique from outside the ring, especially given the several bruises he could feel forming under his formal attire, significantly dustier now than before his sparring match. Had the match continued on, he had every suspicion that Ashraf could have simply outlasted him, closing whenever he brought magic to bear and opening the distance whenever he brought his mace into the fray. Though, again, it was easy to critique and consider what ifs after the fact. Toma did not consider it a victory, not in a militant sense, though the number of eyes and follow up chatter to such an event certainly implied it had done what he had hoped and gotten attention on him. Ashraf as well, though that was far from a concern of his when it came to earning his place in the hopefuls.

Upon arriving at the archery targets, the commotion and noise Toma had caught before having to focus fully on a skilled opponent was explained. A lightning wielding archer, likely from the same nation as Ashraf though a completely different cloth entirely, metaphorically speaking of course. The wrecked remains of the target said it all, as far as the noble was concerned, though it seemed the archer was intent on chattering at some lowborn woman with a crossbow. Most of the estate guards carried crossbows when on patrol, they were relatively easier to use and just as effective in the right hands, if not more so, than a proper war bow. The addition of lightning magic did tilt the scales, but that was not due to the effectiveness of the base used to deliver said magic. Would be like crediting a frozen spear head to the fact that a flanged mace held more value than a studded truncheon. Different tools and use, but same end result, a caved in skull for whoever was on the receiving end.

The ambient temperature dropped again, though not as intensely as in the arena, as Toma willed several shards of ice into existence. Unlike the bolts or arrows of the other two, these had the weight and potency of daggers, balanced to be thrown, or magically launched, rather than used in a melee. Ignoring the numbness settling into his arm again, he would begin practicing once more, launching the frozen shards into the target he had elected to use, several down from the lowborn and electric foreigner. Each strike lacked the overt, flashy nature of the lightning arrows, but there was something to be said for a subtle, well placed strike. Should the lowborn wish to make a point, he would have suspected the best way to do so was to place her first bolt where it would have left a real target dead. Several lightning strikes were flashy and made a spectacle, but if the end result was the same, who was the wiser. The showboat, or the professional?

Given where Toma chose to practice his magical attacks at range, however, it gave him an ideal spot to listen in without being overt about the matter, not waiting for anyone to comment or interrupt before he could get to his magical drills. It was also a demonstration that, sometimes, one must simply carry out what they intend to do and not wait to be granted permission by someone who insists on chattering after making a grand display. Poor form to make a strong opening statement and then try to grant someone no chance to make their own reply, however meek it may turn out to be, though he made no overt comment on the matter. Not with how little he knew about either, or their overall intent on how to demonstrate their worth as future Wardens. Still he kept an ear out in case something worth learning came up in the conversation, Toma had no intention of surrendering a chance at gathering information about his peers, and possible rivals, while he had the chance.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan

---

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.

"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."

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.

---

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.

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

"See that Sab? Your excuse to hassle people has been ruined once again."

Johann smirked over the rim of his coffee cup, finishing the last of it before pouring himself another cup. Leave it to the Commander to be thinking several steps ahead on the rip-gel situation and supply, though from what he knew about Sab it wasn't the supplies but the principle of the matter. Her theatrics pretty much confirmed that, exaggerated accent and excessive gestures added to the comedy of the situation as far as he was concerned. As she rolled into the status report, he glanced out the window at the well timed bursts of AA fire visible even in this hidden little camp. Lot of them relied on speed and bursts of flight to make do where they insisted on abandoning armor. Yes, he might preach that the best defense is to never need the armor, but he also didn't like the idea of removing armor for the sake of speed. Still, as she wrapped up her own status report, Johann chimed in.

"Nothing that could get through the Secutor's armor, additional or standard, made contact so she'll be ready once they replace the plates, unsurprising I know. Even if they did, the FRS would work wonders in getting everything back online. Might want to give up a few ticks of speed for at least standard plating Sab. I'd suggest Kilmer get some too, but that's even less likely to stick as far as suggestions go."

Johann snorted as Sab once again complained about a whole month of not getting to make people's lives difficult. What a tragedy.

"Give it a few hours and I am sure Command will have all sorts of opportunities for you vent your frustrations on the Coalition. Far more constructive, and who knows, maybe you can pick something up besides a bruised ego from getting swat out of the sky?"

---

If there was one thing Sab was good at, Johann had to concede, it was complaining. At least that eventually came to a merciful end once they were called into a free supply vehicle with the comms officer to start filtering through situations and assistance requests. Ensign Dole, a nervous wreck of a comm officer if he ever met one, began stuttering through three of the first options available to them currently. The first one was most suited to Secutor in its current configuration, and would help alleviate the problem of not being able to properly maneuver for long distances in the air. Not useful to him, but immensely so to both others in the squad as well as the war effort as a whole. No direct links to the nanoforge, but freedom of mobility would make future strikes far easier to carry out. Plus paying back the Helldogs was a nice bonus, on top of it all, so that was the option he currently favored.

Option two was practically absurd to suggest, but Johann at least considered it. UEE spook wanted a bunch of MAS pilots to go in on foot to tap a network, steal as much information as they can and get out, all without raising an alarm ideally. Sure, compared to most pilots they were a lot better on foot, and if he remembered it right Hex used to be a boots on ground type anyways, but that didn't exactly leave them a lot of room to work with. Project Forge seemed a bit blatant, even for the Coalition, so he was willing to call that bait. Let Command find some actual infantry spooks to handle the situation and let the MAS pilots continue doing what they actually were good at, piloting. Even if cracking the odd Coalition skull on foot was a tempting thought in isolation.

Option three was an odd one, since the suggestion was to try and sneak behind lines while Helldogs hit a facility as cover, jammer included. Tricky thing those, especially ones that just drowned out everything, though a solution was in place for them at least. Get in, ideally unnoticed, take out the power generator and fight out of the counterattack. Not a bad option, especially since robbing the Coalition of power had good return on investment, but again came back to the fact that he was about as subtle as an orbital strike. He would mostly be in reserve, letting the others slip forward and create openings for Secutor to fit through, metaphorically speaking, before they hit the core and bring the grid down. 170mm should work wonders on that, even if the recommendation was plasma or missiles. Yeah he could throw a PG-01 haymaker at the thing, but being in huffing distance of the core when it went up would be unwise. Still, at least it wasn't going in on foot.

"Good ears kid, picked out some interesting choices. I'd recommend Options one or three personally, ideally one. Hard to hide Secutor from anything frankly, so a lot of the trouble in Blackout would be us getting in all subtle like. Strike is probably my choice, free up not just aerial movement, but more support from air and orbital assets. Plus with some clever spotting from Hex, I can send some half charged shots at the convoy with the 170mm, put some plunging proxy fuse on them to hit em at the starting line."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

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.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

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.

Falling Skies

Lieutenant Commander Johann "Rhino" Von Brandt

---

"Taking this pot with me, see if the others want a cup or if I am getting lucky this time."

Johann strolled out of the mess tent with several empty mugs, one full one he was drinking from, and a full pot of reasonably fresh coffee. At this point it was purely a comfort thing, something to relax him after a mission, the caffeine did nothing at all to help wake him up given how much he went through on a regular basis. Still, it was leaps and bounds better then that Rip-Gel the others went for on longer missions. Sure, he had to use the crap every now and again, but that didn't mean he liked it. He kept his rationed packs in the Secutor, and routinely caught naps and hours whenever he could instead to put off using the stuff. As he was heading back towards their barracks tent, he turned his train of thought to how everyone was faring, as far as both pilot and MAS was concerned.

As far as the pilots were doing, he had to tangle with the fact the other pilots had strained themselves a lot harder than he had, the situation had favored being able to just march forward and let the enemies wear themselves out on his defenses a lot more than it had the others. Commie was always pushing himself in that prototype frame, reminded him of some of the configurations light frames back at the Proving Grounds had fielded. Granted, those instances were not in live combat exercises, so it was a far cry from the years shaved off the life span from stress. Rabbit had taken a nasty hit, though her frame was slightly better at taking hits than the prototype light was. Slightly, since he was reminded those two had deliberately stripped armor, something he flat out never agreed with, no matter the edge in mobility.

Hex also took a nasty hit, having comms and IFF go down was never ideal under any circumstances, but otherwise had taken the encounter reasonably well. Her frame, beyond that damage, had also gotten out reasonably undamaged otherwise. Boss was in good shape as far as he could gather, at least in terms of physical and frame condition, and other than expended munitions was probably the one closest to being able to redeploy immediately in a pinch. Overall not a terrible outcome, especially for an orbital assault, and he wasn't going to look that gift horse in the metaphorical mouth. They were a known quality to the Coalition forces at this point, something that would make further operations trickier, at least a little bit, but if they were lucky overall operations would go smoothly enough.

It was about this point that Johann reached the barracks tent, and he put on his usual confident smile as he stepped in, catching the tail end of Rabbit mentioning fleecing the support staff of their supplies gambling. A snort of amusement announced that he arrived, setting down the pot and empty mugs nearest the center of the tent, on a flat surface, as he found a bunk to sit on, taking another sip of his coffee before chiming in himself.

"Support staff knows better than to take those kinds of bets with either you or I at the table, Sabine. Brought some coffee if anyone wants to put off that Rip-Gel crap a bit longer."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

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.

Moonlight and Witch's Work: An anime and JRPG-inspired Witch RP

Carina Rodericka

---

The numerous eyes of her fellow Witches were not lost in Carina, as she could practically feel the stares as she marched on, continuing to make no real effort to conceal herself, perhaps in a deliberate manner if one was feeling less than charitable. Fae smuggling was not the kind of crime you just quietly resolved, that was the kind of thing you made an example of. Even if they were not the most experienced or seasoned, if they couldn't handle some smugglers and their tricks then they were hardly worth their place in the Society. Still, before long one of the others at least spoke up, asking that they at least try to be stealthy. Glancing back, the one who spoke up was practically silent as she moved, a quite respectable hat and practical attire for striking out. She was dressed for the night, Carina noted, and shrugged idly in response to the suggestion.

"Won't tell you what to do, be as sneaky as you want. I'll kick in the door when that stops being useful."

Continuing to stay at the lead of the group and waiting on the Lantern to narrow down where they were going, another one chimed in, one who had a familiar out scouting ahead of them. That suited her fine as well, she never had much interest nor care for having any sort of familiar, she'd rather focus on herself. Apparently they were already known to the neighborhood already knew they were around, a snort of amusement from Carina in response to the information. Practically speaking it would be a shock if they weren't known, even if none of them stood out a gaggle of witches on the hunt would stick out like a sore thumb, regardless of how subtle some of them wanted to be. Too many people in a group at this late at night to not stand out at least a little bit. The next one to speak up also confirmed what was painfully obvious, that they were well known to any sort of troublesome element interested in a late night band of women wandering about.

"Not like we don't stand out even without me being the most obvious, one hell of a group we got here."

At that point the Lantern indicated an alleyway, and Carina's hand was halfway up to her sword as her gaze adjusted to the dark. All wrong, as far as someone should be if they were just some lookout. Long arms, short legs, couldn't make out a proper neck and head, had to be some sort of homonculi the smugglers got their hands on. She didn't quite draw her weapon yet, glancing at the other Witches since they were a team, regardless of how she felt about the situation, and since none of them had particularly gotten on her nerves yet she could at least play nice still.

"So, shall we get that out of our way, or maybe one of you sneaky girls want to find a place to watch the show first?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan

---

"What, no eleventh hour desperate gambits? I expected another one at the current rate of things." Rolan had a neutral tone, quietly grateful that the Houndmaster had elected to finally run out of hounds to consume and collapse from the sheer focus of violent attention it was getting. Still, the hedge knight reloaded and kept a steady hand and eye on the battlefield, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was it paranoid to expect something more to come barreling out of the woods, what with Rozenalt dead and the various champions bested or dead? Certainly, but paranoia wasn't exactly unhealthy when dealing with unnatural forces in the world, so while he didn't show any overt shock as the carcass of the Houndmaster began laughing, he did snap his crossbow to take aim in case it did anything more. He wasn't going to even try and guess as to its laughter, applauding, and eventual collapse. One of the more socially gifted could puzzle that one out, and another sweep showed any remaining members of the Hunt that were not already dead surrendering and departing. Well, that was one for the legends, the Hunt bested by the Iron Roses, and he even got a front row seat and at least a little bit of involvement.

"Seems like even the best of regenerations couldn't stand up to a fraction of your efforts, Gertrude, well done." A token gesture, but Rolan had gathered the easiest way to keep goading her into being useful was to at least play along with the praise. A few kind words could be spared if it meant keeping her from being quite as much of an overt nuisance as she could be, at least while he was working with her. How the others chose to handle cooperation was strictly up to them, though he cast an eye not on the Captain and the other knights of her immediate retinue, but on the others who had accompanied them and aided in providing the numbers and flank coverage to allow each of them to act at what they did best. Though immediate names escaped him, he still had much of his more curative supplies intact and could get most of any injured back into a walking state to seek out healers proper, and not overtax their limited supply of the magically inclined, doubly so after sufficient strain of a combat encounter with such a dangerous foe.

"If you would, please drop me off with the knights over there, the largest number who held the flanks. I'm not much of one for celebrating necessary victories and need to see to the injured, get them walking again at least." That would also leave discussion with the helping Nithyr to one of the others, which suited him even more, he supported the discussions and negotiations when able, but was far from a diplomatic soul, and saw it better to leave that to those more experienced with Fae dealings. Or partners with one, in a particular case, but he didn't judge when it came to who one chose to spend their time with. Once back on the ground, Rolan would begin looking for those he could aid the most, putting the more natural and curative nature of his alchemical skillset to use. Staunching bleeding, treating wounds, getting any injured into a walking state, now that the fight was done, without further orders Rolan focused on keeping himself busy in a way he knew how, that would at least be helpful.