The Otter

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Callum Prosser

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@Estylwen

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For anyone who meant to make combat part of their occupation, fear was a common feeling. Even to the level of terror—a fully trained knight bearing down on their young squire, even in a mere training bout, was often shock enough to make the squire rethink whether or not they actually intended to be a knight themselves. Armed with little more than a desire to be more than the family banker, Callum had already faced down that fear, the fear of having to choose his own path without his father's express approval, and more besides.

The mightmares that the masked man before him sought to call upon might attempt to prey upon the anxiety he had on seeing the duke's entire household exterminated, but that particular anxiety had been ameliorated twice over within the day. However, to attempt something so irrational as to plant the thought in his mind that it had been his fault, somehow...

The man's chuckle was met with a scornful laugh of Callum's own, a single step to the left taken to block his path once again.

"Is that your way of looking at the world?" he asked quietly, the mocking grin that had settled on his face after his own laughter not dropping. "How immature. You may get along well with her friend I met earlier today—tall, dark hair, riding on a wolf. Maybe you should ask him your questions?" In any other circumstance, even after the poor impression that Raiden had made, the young noble may have felt some shame at selling the man out so quickly...but Raiden Asher at least seemed like the sort that could travel and fight more effectively than the baroness, and would have more of a chance at evading this pursuer.

He glanced to the winded baroness on the taller man's shoulders, before meeting his eyes once more. One thing he'd been taught by his prior master was that few things were as effective against fear as scorn, and he had plenty of that to spare for this man. "Either way," he continued, not giving the man a moment to respond—continuing on over him even if he tried to give some reply, "I'm afraid that wasn't a request."

Punctuating the statement, his ringed finger twitched slightly; the dagger in the floor, ignored as the masked man attempted to make his exit, yanked itself out of the board it had stuck in—reversed its pitch and flew point first for the small of the masked man's back, well below where Anabel hung, heedless of the fact that there was a man's body between it and the hand of its master.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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"Does it stop us from speaking with each other about it so long as someone who doesn't know isn't around to hear?" Fionn asked as the others fell into a lull with their own questioning. It had taken him a moment to reorient himself—from Thrinax's great head coming down on the front of his makeshift lance, sending him and Gertrude flying end over end, only to be brought back to the center of the conversation by, likely, Merilia's own hand.

Just to find that the witch was thinking to put a geas on all of them to keep them from speaking about it. "For that matter, what of Tyaethe? Surely she knows of this?" It would be more surprising to learn that she didn't, and that Merilia would be so intent on keeping them from speaking of it even to her one remaining fellow knight in the living world. Of course, if she was so intent...

There'd be ways to speak around such prohibitions.

Wait.

Fionn turned back to Aisling, and the abnormally-large cake next to her.

That's all for me?

Turning back away from the gargantuan confection, he faced Merilia once again. "Regardless, I have three remaining stipulations of my own before we're all done here, as you've already answered one. We should have one last proper dinner with the others before we go, a proper rest, and I want to have a rematch with Florian when I haven't just gone through hundreds of other fights' worth of mental fatigue right before him."

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

you're all doing game of thrones and there he is on some dunk and egg nonsense

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

And now, the bad great decisions really start for Arrowfell's stupidest luckiest ginger.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Callum Prosser

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@Estylwen

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Callum was almost instantly accosted by the innkeeper, passing some sort of note across the countertop. "Ah. My thanks," he said with a gracious nod, taking the folded parchment in hand. He drew his dagger from his belt, breaking the hastily-made seal keeping it shut. After reading who the note was from, he wasn't surprised at how basic and messy the seal was; likely the man had had nothing more than a candle to seal it with. "Curious..." he muttered to himself after reading the note. Athius? And Raiden had so carelessly scrawled it on a note, trusting the innkeeper not to read it?

Or truly so hastily? Maybe Athius is where that thing Anabel mentio—

He paused at the sound of some sort of argument coming out of the tavern, the same place that he'd just been thinking about mentioned right at the edge of his hearing. Followed immediately by the baroness's voice in response...seconds later rising higher in alarm than he would've thought possible an hour before. He pushed open the door to the tavern proper, just in time to see some man staring the baroness down, hand clamped tight around her dainty arm.

Not my recruiter, man, come on!

He stood still for a moment, note still in one hand, dagger in the other. He hadn't yet picked a side in whatever this confrontation was between the baroness and Raiden, and now could be his chance to be rid of both; even if his name and face were known to them, he could still make good on an escape, get out of the hairy situation. But he had to watch how it played out first, to know how best to make his escape...

Anabel cast her gaze around the room, desperate for help—her panicked eyes met his, desperate for aid against this man who was more than twice her size and had to be at least thrice her age.

The bronze-hilted dagger that he'd opened the letter with flew end over end, passing between the man's legs to lodge in the wooden floor a couple feet further back. A calculated, low throw; without knowing exactly what was going on or where he stood with everything, he didn't want to aim anywhere lethal. No doubt the man would've been able to evade it anyways, should it prove so obvious, but at least he'd gained some attention and sent a message.

"That's no way to treat a lady or a child, is it?" he asked conversationally, nonchalantly flicking a lock of his reddish hair out of his face, the ring containing the greater part of his Seed turned so that the gem faced inward, out of view. Internally, he was certain he could hear the sound of something screaming—probably some part of himself, horrified at how thoroughly he'd just ruined his own chance to get away—but his focus was entirely on the baroness and the vagrant that had laid hands on her.

Hopefully, by this point, the innkeeper had heard the commotion, or someone outside had heard Anabel's rising voice. Surely she wouldn't be so foolish as to go without guards...if she was, then she was putting quite a bit of faith in Callum. "We were just about to have a lovely dinner together. Can I interest you in not being a nuisance, and leaving us be?"

Whether he intended to follow the baroness or the pie-molesting rogue, one thing was certain: He'd sealed his fate to theirs now, one way or the other.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

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@Raineh Daze

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For her distaste with the entire mission, Éliane got a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Esben—before he moved to reclaim his daggers from the corpses of the two guards. Even he wasn't willing to get blood on her coat that she hadn't shed herself and risk whatever wrath she might bring to bear while they were out on a mission. "Just nothing too loud," he bid, knowing that their chances for stealth were going to run out sooner or later.

Luckily they didn't waste too much time below and risk the guard patrols coming back around to them before they began to scale the building, though Esben would have preferred they split up and come at their quarry from two directions. He climbed near the rear of the group, bringing the rope up behind as they came to the terrace that Galahad and Izayoi had decided to enter from. He'd had half a mind to try and keep climbing higher, and let the others take charge of the attack from below; still, something didn't sit quite right making a decision like that without any input from the others, especially after what he and Ciradyl had both already done—

"SAMU—"

The guard's scream cut out suddenly, gurgling blood pouring forth from the open hole in his larynx that Izayoi had opened up a moment too late. Esben reached out, grabbing their diminutive red mage by the collar and yanking her back towards the edge of the terrace, before lifting her up to the underside of the eaves hanging over them. "New plan," he said as he lifted her, waiting for her to grab on. He glanced back to the entrance, where the rest of the team had already battered their way in and were moving deeper. "Keep climbing. I'll be right behind you!"

Once she'd grabbed at it and scrambled up to start making her way to the higher floors, Esben went to the railing at the edge of the terrace, carefully stood himself atop it—and jumped, relying on his height to make up the last bit of difference for him to grab on as well. Then he scrambled out and over the edge, coming up behind Miina. "Let's find a spot to get in as far away from the sound of battle as we can, ja? I don't care much if it's a window or we make our own hole."

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

"So that's what's happening while the girl trying to hire me is getting harassed by a Nazgûl, huh?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

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When Izayoi glanced his way near the rear of the group, he gaze passed right through where Esben had been expected to be standing, catching sight of Ciradyl making her approach to the front of the manse. Esben himself had disappeared as quickly and quietly as SEED's reputation might have led the others to expect the moment he'd seen the opportunity; not long after he'd split from the party he'd seen the tall Faye himself, confirming the suspicions he'd been harboring since she'd left their 'planning' session for her own business.

Deeming it pointless to confront her over it before the work was done, he'd continued along, making a quick and stealthy circuit of the mansion's grounds. The front entrance through the walls was obviously out of consideration; even with the reduced presence of Valheimer soldiers in the city, it would still be far too obvious and noisy to take. Forcing their way in through one of the side entrances would still prove difficult, but with a little helpful timing...

Esben scaled a building across an alley from the walls. While in decades past the mansion may well have been a veritable castle on its own, urban expansion had since brought shops and homes pressing in closer and closer to the walls than would be truly defensible from a military perspective, short of demolition to clear the space again; it had been more expedient to abandon it entirely and allow it to be bought up by the wealthy, who had less to worry about such considerations. Indeed, no high-profile crime lord would be stupid enough to so outwardly refortify, making their position all the more obvious.

The wall's peak was five more feet up; he ran along the roof of the building he'd scaled, leaping off and grasping at any handholds he could find and pulling his eyes just over the top of the wall. Down below, he could see guards making their circuits through the garden; slowly, and not particularly alertly, by his estimation. Between whatever deals they'd made with Valheim and double dealing with Ciradyl's cell, they seemed to have lost any real caution they may have had in years past.

Not that it mattered much, as the real professionals would be the ones deeper inside, closer to their boss.

He heaved himself up entirely onto the wall, and moved quickly back to where the others had been set to prepare their infiltration. It didn't take long, the most delay he had being timing his movements with the patrols going about, and once having to drop back down and climb hand-over-hand past one of the side gates, another time taking a moment to note Ciradyl's entrance to the mansion proper.

Then, he came back into view, first a sudden shadow among the starlight before his golden hair was revealed as his hood was thrown back. "Guards are slow about their rotations," he reported, utterly heedless of the planning the rest of the team were just making. "There's a side gate just west of here that's about to be completely unwatched except for the guards standing right at it in another minute. Better to take that than waste time ferrying people up and over into the gardens. And I'd be careful trying to jump right onto the central building—walls are thin here and we shouldn't risk too much noise."

He pulled his hood back over his head, the dark fabric of his cloak once again blending in with the low light. "I'll have it open for you. Be quick." Then the quiet sound of his light, urgent footfalls was the last they heard from him as he took off westward along the wall. He crouched low as he approached the gate; a pair of patrolling guards had just passed, walking deeper into the gardens, leaving the pair inside the walls standing bored. With deft, practiced movements he sent his daggers flying, and both struck true, one into a guard's eye and the other in the other's throat. Both slumped against the wall, heavy clothing dampening the sound of whatever concealed armour they may have worn.

With one last glance to be sure the patrolling guards hadn't heard anything, Esben jumped down, unbarring and opening the gate to look outside for the rest of Team Kirin, at least whoever did elect to take the side entrance. "Quickly, inside, inside—two of you, drag these bodies outside and try to make them somewhat hidden. Izayoi—" He turned quickly to the one Ospreyan of the group, pointing a thumb back at the mansion proper. "Your educated guess is better than any of ours, since you're the one that has experience with where the important people might stay in places like this. High or low?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

<Snipped quote by The Otter>

Possibly. I mean..I can...show the conversation that was had with Vita.

@Taka

are you sure that will end well for you