HereComesTheSnow

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

From beneath the hood, his eyes continued their sweep of the path ahead.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Gerard Segremors

@VitaVitaAR@Krayzikk

He had figured as much. Wasn't much else to be done until they had tangible answers from the captured assailant, save for tightening the net. His amber eyes darted across the room, searching for possible holes. He found little— The Crown Knights weren't just for show. All main exits were accounted for...

"Understood." he nodded swiftly nonetheless. He'd suss out a good place to post himself, of that much he was certain—

"Sir Nicomede," an armored hand fell upon the shoulder of the closest senior knight, even as the bulk of Gerard's body continued past him. "You're a gentler hand than I when it comes to the people here. More experienced." He spoke evenly, perfectly assured of his words. There was a certain bearing that he'd noticed the man carry, one that spoke to more than simple experience within this setting and crowd. It was much more like Sir Fleuri's... he didn't merely know how to pay service to one of them— he was comfortable amongst them.

Like they were his own.

"I'll not let a soul past me."

He was obviously an intelligent man. Probably more than Gerard himself. He'd understand what the words meant.

Managing them in this panic and coaxing out accounts was far more his speed than Gerard's. Above all else, he trusted his seniors with the delicate aspects of what was required of them. You need not a broadsword for the job of a razor. He could do it in a pinch, but there wasn't sense in wasting energy that could be used to fortify the perimeter further. Not when many present could do it better. As the venerable Sir Indrau said, they needed to stay vigilant.

The entrance to those magnificent gardens was wide and grandiose, primed to display their beauty to all who would visit.

It also made for a lot of space to take up with steel and manpower. He could tighten that up a bit.

With swift, purposeful strides, he continued his march forward.

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

@Caasicam@Krayzikk@Heartfillia@PaulHaynek@Crimson Paladin@Lunarlord34@Raineh Daze

"And should such a threat arise," a voice floated in from the foliage above, heralding the descent of a particularly man-shaped clump of leaves that punctuated with a soft thump a meter or two from Jane's right. "It'll find a broadhead a most disquieting breakfast."

Tristram had, once they had well and truly passed the trailhead in earnest, taken to quickly scaling the nearby trees in search of vantage points, both to monitor their path forward for upcoming obstacles that may have been obscured by topography and an attempt to get an early bead on the exact location of their lost monastery. No such luck yet on the latter front, as the outermost trees tended to be younger— the canopy rose, inch by inch, as they further marched into the verdant depths. A few more minutes of hiking along, especially once they cut east and moved a little uphill, would likely remedy that. Even fallen into disrepair, crafted stone spires were visually distinct from forest landscape.

"Nothing jumping out at me that'll impede progress." the forest phantom reported as he strode forward, rejoining the mass of the group. "Nice day, too. A little breeze, a little birdsong, and as clear a view as I could ask for down here on the floor." He gestured broadly, sweeping an arm to catch the pillarlike pines in its wake.

The forest had it's own way of telling you when you were in danger, and none were more pointed than silence. Not quiet, but true silence: the kind that deafened you with your own heartbeat, a deathly stillness that rose from not one single move daring to be made, where the world was so taut as to snap. That was when something truly terrifying was prowling, and more than likely had its eye locked on you.

Cougars. Wolves. Bears.

Well, certain bears. Others (the bigger ones) didn't give a shit and made all the racket they liked, but the point remained— this pleasant ambiance carried more than just the purity of nature to quiet the soul.

Noise meant all clear.

As such, he was quite happy to chat freely as well. They didn't run risk of startling anything like this, either.

From beneath the hood, his eyes continued their sweep of the path ahead.

"Once we're a bit further along I think we can start cutting North. Wanna get a little more height to try and bust through the top layer." he explained, allowing a hand to drop onto the machete at his belt. "Any of you fancy yourselves artists? Before we go off-trail we should decide how we mark our path. I prefer scratching a cross into a trunk, but color's easiest to spot and follow if we end up in a rush."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Week has been busy and exhausting, but I should be past the worst of it. I'll try and post soon. for both games

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

Information continuity has been restored.

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

@Caasicam@Krayzikk@Heartfillia@PaulHaynek@Crimson Paladin@Lunarlord34

"No, latecomer: I've been deciding battle strategy for our trio from day one. And yes, glutton, you are until you stop burning a hole in our coffers." he shot back with brutal, unfiltered, almost clubbing simplicity. The chip on Finn's shoulder was only growing, that much was clear, but he felt safe in his ability to handle the little runt once the chips were down. Cassia, on the other hand, was an imminent danger to the rest of their nascent expedition, and for the sake of group morale, he would warn them.

"Good to meet you, Cassia," the cleric replied, nodding to her. "I am Léon Reverdin, a cleric of the Church of Mayon."

"She'll eat your team out of house and home if you aren't careful. Ration wisely." he cut in, looking over the—

"You need not worry about splitting the reward with me, won't be taking payment on this job beyond reimbursement for expenses," he assured her. "I feel it would be unethical for one of the cloth such as myself to accept a reward from the Church for doing my ordained duty."

Knew it. Nice.

"Here are the details of the job posting," he said, offering the paper to the hooded man. "I wish I had a clear picture, but it was rather scant on details, other than that they don't seem to know what sort of danger we might run into. Normally it seems a little unconventional to tackle a job with seven people, but with how little information we've been given on what we'll be up against, it seems wise to step into it with a diverse repertoire of skills."

"Yeah, it's unorthodox." he continued smoothly, hiding the smirk from his voice as the hood did for his face. "But I think we could both use eachother. Me making my living as a Sniper means I'm well-suited to taking to rafters and scouting out ahead, as well as picking off whatever of these unknown dangers we face from afar. Far as you like, honestly. In theory, Reinheart works well in the role too, but he's the type of guy to want to get close with a bow. Don't get it."

Honestly, if you're looking to get hit, you have no concept of warfare. Life and Death is Life and Death.

"But he's good for middle ranges, so the enclosed space should still work in his favor. Cass is a stubbornly independent brawler, but can handle herself well once she gets going. Bit of magic in her— the biggest thing is probably her defensive wards going on our frontline... which she's naturally going to gravitate to. Likes to pressure an opponent. We'll have to be careful of her hotheadedness, though, and if you think she needs help, she probably does even if she says she doesn't. Doubly so when it comes to healing. Do it, and point at me if she whines about it."

She was competitive, which he got after a fashion, but that didn't mean rushing ahead and overextending, then refusing help shared that same understanding. He'd seen guys get killed for being the same way. Too many of them, thinking they were invincible after a battle or two. He wasn't gonna see her die.

"As for Sigi, she's... hm. Pretty deft with fire magic, strong enough to swing that sword of hers around basically all day, and she can dress a wound well enough to make sure nobody bleeds out before someone who can heal gets over to them. Pretty protective. Has a bit of a weird klutzy thing going on with her left side, but it's not manifested an issue in a fight yet— the bigger thing to worry about would be her and the artefacts. Don't want her bumping into anything. Other than that, she's likely to be proper respectful."

His gaze slid over to the storm-haired woman, pleasant smile ever-present upon her face. Since Jane on their end seemed cagey, she'd probably be best suited to pair with her... That, or serve as a rear guard for Leon. Keeping her close to a cleric would be wise.

"Likes to 'big sister' people, though. Real calming influence on the right person, so that might be a workaround if the warmth of being so far south gets to her. She becomes very relaxed. Might be why she holds back more often than not, but it also means she's less likely than the other two to rush on ahead."

He folded his arms, the shadows of his hood directing themselves again towards the very patient cleric that had been audience to his mutterings. Somebody who listened sounded amazing to work with.

"A quick overview, but it's what we bring to the table. I've got a few ideas, but won't presume to wrest leadership of your group away from you— we'll keep it collaborative. And can talk shop in finer detail on the trot to Amaril."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

too stuck in the world of the mundane for that, she’s just being stubborn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Forgot to tag @Crimson Paladin and @ghastlyinc

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Gerard Segremors

@VitaVitaAR@FlappyTheSpybot@Raineh Daze@PaulHaynek@Krayzikk

His breath was rough, like claws dragged through gravel, and came through bared teeth as he stared a hole into the obstinately mute Nem's frame. He took in one, two, three of them, gaze unwavering even as The Knight Serpenta gingerly slid her staff, headed by the crushing arcs of a steel mace, between them. She pressed it against the small of the Nem's back, pinning her further, and spoke calmly. While the much younger knight was by no means lost to the world around him, Maritza Verenna did admittedly take his fervor down a notch, when one paired her tone with the relative lull.

It served to chip the edges off the terse grunt that carried his agreement, at least. Like any of his comrades, Gerard held nothing but respect in his heart for the Naga, but not even that could fully erase the ire the young Nem had drawn to herself. She had threatened an innocent life. She had proven herself willing to kill. A great part of him wanted to see retribution delivered. The Reonite, who burned hot as the sun her gilded palace sat upon, saw his enemy before him. He could not just deny that something needed to be done about this.

"Might not be alone, yeah."

...But this pain, clearly shown across her grimacing face, did not bring them any closer to victory than they already were. Even within his iron grip, the Nem held her tongue. To act upon that impulse of anger would tread the thin line between force and cruelty. It was one he did not dare approach without sense.

You're a knight now. If you cannot measure yourself...

"I'll defer to your experience, then." he replied again after the long moment had passed, slowly shifting his weight and loosening his grip upon the would-be assassin's wrist. He wasn't so green as to immediately relinquish her— Segremors instead staged it, only giving enough slack at each point for the Naga to immediately take over in his stead. "Careful, don't let her wriggle out... And I hope you can get her to talk. Get the feeling I can't."

Not unless he felt like straddling that line, as if he had not even considered trying to better embody chivalry. This was the better path, at least for now. Though he hadn't managed to get anything out of her... what would such a young Nem have a vendetta against the Princess of Thaln for? Assassination attempts that ended at the would-be killer weren't so common. If that was the case, she'd also have no compulsion to keep quiet as she was now, right?

Dame Maritza had their quarry in full, now. Inclining his head to her, he rose to his full height, amber eyes sweeping the room yet again. Nothing that jumped out... just a mass of shaken nobility and mobilizing guards. The latter would likely be setting up a fairly secure perimeter— given that this was the Crown of Thaln, he would be shocked had they not proven more than capable of enforcing a lockdown. None entered or left without being strictly identified and vetted, all potential alternate routes of escape monitored, that sort of thing. It was a familiar task; despite not having ever worried about stakes like these, he and his fellows had been extensively drilled on how to earn their keeps.

He turned back towards the gathering that he had left in the dust, assessing the aftermath as he started towards them. It was a longer march than he had realized, now that he wasn't rushing. Nonetheless, the swordsman had very clearly not allowed himself to relax, either, and was still coiled like a spring.

"Thanks, ma'am." he said quickly to the First and Youngest as he drew even with her. Like he'd figured, the vampiric Paladin was more than fine, worried instead about a ruined dress and teasing Jarde than her injury. He didn't doubt that she considered it as little more than an afterthought, but unintentionally so or otherwise, it was thanks to her that the bolt on the floor had not sunk into him instead. He owed her his gratitude all the same. As for the young man...

"Party's really started now, Jarde. You nearly missed it."

He could spare a little cheek to welcome him back, a soldier's irony, but needed to continue on after he threw his erstwhile conversation partner a crooked smile. A few strides further away lay the Princess, the Captain, and the rest of the group— all thankfully unharmed, as Sir Nicomede had just finished reporting. His eyes confirmed it moments later; whatever (if anything) had slipped past he and Tyaethe would have been squarely rebuffed by the arcane shield Sir Gillian had quickly thrown up. As the Knight-Captain rose, Princess having been shielded a second (or third or fourth, depending on how you looked at it) time over by her body, Gerard came to a stop, standing at attention.

"Dame Maritza has the assailant under control. We believe she'd be better suited to coax out a few answers than I." he reported tightly, glancing momentarily to Fleuri and the dagger he held. Had that been what had gone flying from the Nem's grip? He'd barely seen it. "In the meantime, Captain, Orders?"

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

@Caasicam@Krayzikk@Heartfillia@PaulHaynek@Crimson Paladin@Lunarlord34

From seemingly nowhere, a hand was thrust before Léon, offering a shake and connected to a longbowman that had been just a moment away from snatching the same quest off the noticeboard that the Mayonite had.

It, naturally, belonged to the type of man who did not need a visible face to emote with the air of this being a foregone conclusion, an insistent pressure that most needed pointed looks and forced smiles to convey. His pursuit of the cleric had been just as swift and stern as his approach to the board— he was a man of pride, yes, but that did not come at the expense of pragmatism. He intrinsically understood that cooperating here yielded more boons than "playing it cool" and affecting a flippant air would.

"Tristram Ullr. Pleasure working with you."

Any money they made here, however small, was a step up from inaction or falling further down the hole. Their group, fourth member involved or otherwise, was going to need the income, and any net loss was right out the window. His financial responsibility was no easy burden, and to shoulder that weight meant you couldn't crack for anything. Do not give up, pursue every avenue necessary, the bag stands above all else.

Even social graces like , "leaving well enough alone".

Besides, they could use having a healer or two on call— The Paladin was a newbie, but he was pretty sure she naturally fell into the Sword class (they tended to be combative), and Jane Doe barely got out at a hard Rank 4, but making nice with Reverdin could make the difference between cleanly containing a certain Berserker and...

Well, having to get creative with arrows, rope, shieldwork, and a tree.

"You're heading your group." It wasn't a question. The sniper could tell in how he had carried himself. "We ought to compare notes. My problem children and assumedly the tagalong can be leveraged well enough, but it takes a clear picture of what you're dealing with."