The Otter

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Matthiassen

---

Eos and Selene both gasped in shock, seeing the mutant Valheimer project trying to crush and siphon the life away from Garuda. For beings so intimately tied to æther as the fairies and other spirits, seeing the twisted creations from overseas attempt to feast on the Eidolons themselves was likely nothing short of existentially terrifying. For a moment, Esben wondered if it was similar to the revulsion he felt seeing physical, mortal life twisted to whatever Valheim could create. Eve was fine, for the most part, likely thanks to the fact that she wasn't some indoctrinated Valheimer servant—but this 'Hellfire' had left whatever their old form was far behind, and a living corpse like Siren was beyond abhorrent.

Whether they could stop these invaders from escaping wasn't the major question in his mind; one team of Kirins, without Eve's megaflare, did not have much to bring against an airship trying to run. If there was one thing that Valheim had proven very good at so far, it was running. Stopping them from managing to absorb Garuda was the current objective. He fell back as Izayoi, Galahad, and Rudolf rushed up, bracing himself against Garland's quake. As it passed, he heard the slight whisper of Miina behind him, casting spells on herself, and whispered back: "Dispelja. Like Isolde and Leviathan, remember? I'll apologize to Garuda later."

It was a gamble, but if Miina could dispel Garuda entirely, then this pseudo-Ifrit would probably react about as well as Eve had when she was caught up in the spell as well. Worse, possibly, if this mutant's alterations were more dependent on the connection to Ifrit than their former companion's purpose-grown body. "Eos, Selene, see if you can mess up Hellfire's supper, please. Maybe make him feel a bit sick? Chisato, go help them with that!"

The fairies rushed off, flying over everybody's heads in much the same way Éliane just had, flinging their spells at Hellfire. Doubtful that they would do much damage themselves, but if it could give Garuda a moment to fight back before Miina could hopefully free her with a quick dispel, or if it could make that dispel hurt all that much more for Hellfire, it would be more than worth it. With that in mind, he turned his attention back to Garland, eyes locking onto the grenade Éliane had wedged into the space between two of his armour plates.

Might as well try a similar trick to what they'd done to Reisa back in Kugane. He raised his pistol, firing at the grenade in hopes of setting it off before the Valheimer general could toss it back or shake it out.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Matthiassen

---

"Selene, Eos. Any idea what they're trying here? Something like Famfrit, or do we think they're trying to replace Siren a little more directly?"

Valheimer soldiers fell upon each other as Rudolf and Miina unleashed their respective magical attacks, Galahad leaping straight for their leader and Chisato already diving into the middle to execute those who couldn't notice her in time; no doubt, Izayoi was moments away from the same. And in that same moment...

The fairies looked at him helplessly, shrugging their little arms. Predictable. "Éliane, cover me, would you?" he bid the last member of their party to still be standing next to him. "Selene, double time." Without waiting for a response from either, he darted off, veering wide of the melee breaking out directly ahead.

"Got it!" His sprint picked up in speed with Selene and Eos flying next to him, nearly gliding over the half-frozen ground as he bypassed the beleaguered blackhelms that were being dispatched by the other Kirins. Between the two fairies, the extra materia he had gotten, his own weapons and skill, and how quickly the others would likely catch up, he figured he was as safe as he'd ever been while traveling with them. And, if they were supposed to be held back until 'the operation' was complete, rushing up to try and disrupt it seemed as good an attack as any.

Especially when he punctuated his rapid arrival with pistol fire towards whichever Valheimer invader seemed to be in charge of what was happening at the hilltop.

Sword and Dungeon: An Adventurer's Guild-based Fantasy RP

Calaphindë

---

Calaphindë's ears twitched as the Hundi lady swapped languages without any great hesitation. The slimmer one had managed to slip out of her grasp without her even noticing, between trying to change languages on a moment's notice and how much she'd been drinking; that left her with nothing more to focus on than him. And expressing how happy she was that she got to move up to more difficult missions. A lower rank, then?

"Do try not to knock anything over," he cautioned as she puffed her chest out, beaming with pride. He paused for a moment, tilting his head the same way she had when trying to figure out what he was talking about.

Moving up from copper rank? Maybe. Or, perhaps, only just moving into copper rank, from being a junior adventurer. Unless...'Lili' was, perhaps, the other Hundi, so perhaps it was less about ranking and more just whatever she was allowed to do from the more domestic side.

That wasn't the only thing nagging at him, however, given that she'd jumped into a manner of speaking so similar to that of his home that she could probably be mistaken as one who'd lived there, there or one of the other cities nearby. "...You're not half-elf, are you?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben, Lene, and Anders

---

Lene glanced back at Anders once, before following along beside Izayoi at his nod. She was left (rather understandably) without much to say in response, though luckily for her and Izayoi both the samurai didn't give her a chance to respond before returning to the rest of the Kirins. Esben had stepped aside to chat with Anders while she was pulled along, so she couldn't follow it with more browbeating her older brother to take care of himself and try to communicate with his family more often. That left another moment before Éliane stepped up, pledging on her honor that she would also keep watch over the two young men that she was worried about.

That, at least, provided her a chance to return to form. "Oh, is that so?" she murmured, with raised eyebrow and a small smile. She'd been left wondering just where the dame commander's story about her brother was going, but after catching how often Esben was glancing back at her, and now hearing this spontaneous pledge to see to his and her just-about-betrothed's health...

"Well, I'll just have to entrust you with their safe keeping, then. I'm sure my brother will appreciate having you at his side, hmm?"

She glanced at Esben, after replying just quiet enough she was certain he wouldn't hear. He caught her glance, looked back with a raised eyebrow, and she waved him off. "Don't be too good to him, though, I'm sure he deserves more than I've been able to catch up with just now!"

---

There was something dangerous about having those two together, Esben could feel it in his bones. Especially talking about both himself and Rudolf. "Don't take too long now," he called out to Lene and Éliane, before turning to Anders himself. "Herr Anders, a request for you, if you would."

"Young master?"

"You remember old professor Villamont, don't you? Do you remember any of his students—say, any that were a head or more taller than me?" Anders frowned at him. He didn't expect an immediate response, anyways; his family's loyal retainer—and sometimes-spy, sometimes-Garden instructor—wasn't the sort to answer off the cuff if he wasn't entirely certain of his answer. "Well, if you do remember anything, make sure to write it down, let us know when we see you again. I'll likely ask after it if I can get ahold of any of the others at the Garden, too."

"As you wish," Anders replied, with a sidelong glance towards Izayoi. No surprise there; traveling with a samurai, asking after an older fencing instructor that liked to use Ospreyan blades, it was inevitable he would start trying to piece together what Esben might actually be getting at.

He patted his old tutor on the arm, walking back to the rest of the group. It was nearly time that they should all be off.

Sword and Dungeon: An Adventurer's Guild-based Fantasy RP

Calaphindë

---

Stumbling into the Adventurer's Guild office in mid-day was never a great way to try and find a job. Certainly so for someone recently assigned to the Copper rank, having to compete with the rest for opportunities to prod diseased sheep into the right pens, deal with an ill-behaved bull, or stomp rats in a dingy basement. Doubly so if one was hoping to find someone of higher rank to tag along with, to go and do something more suitable to anyone with actual skills.

And yet, stumble in Calaphindë did, only barely keeping his feet as some other gaggle of adventurers pushed on past him. Probably would have gone right through him, if they were able. Terribly impolite, but it was the nature of things so far away from the elven towns he was familiar with. He shrugged, looked at the growing group by the job board...And promptly shook his head.

No point getting involved with that mess just yet. The bar was almost equally busy, some of the regulars at the guild guzzling down wine and ale like water. One ear twitched.

Was that Ithillane he heard? He turned towards the voices he heard. One Hundi, dressed like she was ready to hit the road at any moment, sitting resigned and firmly held onto by another Hundi dressed more like she expected to be in a rich family's carriage rolling down the street. What had they been saying?

Something about missions, and...being cosy?

It wasn't his best language, but he'd had plenty of time to learn more than just his native Elvish and the local tongue. He wasn't so willing to try and speak in it, but translating, surely—

"You may want to give her the chance sooner rather than later," he said to the clingy one. "Doesn't much look like there'll be anything left worth doing if you can't dive in to the middle of that mess."

A pause.

"...What's the party for, anyways? Do they always do this when there's new hires?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben, Lene, Anders, and Halvor

---

He would have to apologize to Rudolf later, after hearing Chisato laugh. Even if he could consider it a personal victory as well to be one of the first to get the severe little ninja to show a moment of humanity like that. He smoothly ignored Miina's comment, though, as it wouldn't do to let any of the three who weren't acquainted with the party hear of how he'd nearly drowned. "Oh, ja, a Siren," he insisted, nodding vigorously.

Of course, Valheim's attempt to steal away Leviathan's power was no true siren, but as that was the only thing they'd heard to call her...

"He was nice enough to let us know he was going overboard, at least, but I fear if he stays around much longer I'll have to start teaching him how to really handle himself on a boat..."

---

The dinner proceeded uneventfully from there. The Kirins trading stories back and forth, all carefully edited on the fly to try and keep from giving Viscount Breien anything more to worry about, some others being told at Lene's own expense; there were even a few to Esben's detriment, from his childhood, although thankfully Lene knew nothing of his first years at the Garden and Anders wasn't about to reveal any of them.

Esben always kept a close eye on Éliane when any stories were being told about him, though, just in case she remembered anything from the short time their schooling had overlapped.

Thankfully, for once the topic of the dinner itself was the only major thing for any of them to deal with. No sudden intrusions, no possible assassinations, no sudden attacks by Valheimer airships—even Halvor had seemed to forget himself, joining in with the conversation in visible delight when he got the chance to talk about Esben and Lene as children, alongside what Cadmon had evidently made sure he knew of his 'ward,' comparing their various childhood mishaps.

As the dinner neared its end, though, and those who chose to (or at least, still had the room) were enjoying their dessert, Lene had fallen almost silent. Still listening attentively, responding where it was absolutely necessary and expected, but she wasn't driving the conversation much. Eventually, she dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, setting down her own finished dessert, and turned to their host with a smile.

"Halvor, this isn't quite the young man you were selling my parents on, is he?"

"Lene," Esben protested with a whisper. Halvor, of course, immediately started to sputter. "Well...I...yes, but...Sure, I may not have mentioned everything, but he's still..."

"I expected a sickly boy, and half the stories I've heard of him are travelling about, adventuring, getting up to trouble like you said his other family do. You know, if you had mentioned some of that as well, not just his mind, it might not have needed so much back-and-forth..."

Halvor blinked, fished for words for a moment...finally gave up with a shrug. "Forgive me, vennen min. But, surely this doesn't mean—"

"Of course not," Lene cut him off. "You can't be that bad at this, after all, if our parents are still together. But, lady Izayoi does make a good point, and, to allay her worry some..." At that, she turned back to the samurai. "Yes, a betrothal alone. Halvor is old-fashioned, anyways, I'm sure he'd be aghast if we were to think about anything beyond that so soon." She patted Esben once on the arm, before looking past him at the eldest man at the table.

"Herr Anders?"

"Yes, lady."

"Halvor, I hate to cut things short, but it is getting late, and it sounds as though they'll all need to travel in the morning...May we be excused?" At Halvor's nod, she pushed back from the table, Anders right beside her. "Rudolf, you'll meet with us before breakfast, yes? Esben can show you to our suite."

Esben had to keep from sighing. Him, the insomniac elder brother, and her, always quick to rise. It would be another early morning...

---

Later that next morning, as the Kirins were ready to depart, Halvor, Lene, and Anders all came out to see them off. Restocked, their wounds seen to by Halvor's own doctor, their equipment repaired as much as possible in the two day span, they were as ready to be on their way as ever. Lene paused for a moment, debating exactly which of the Kirins to go to, before settling on her brother first. One critical eye looked over his cold-weather clothes, tugging at some of the worn holes in his cloak where the constant piercing by the brooch that held it together was taking its obvious toll. "We'll have to replace that," she grumbled, giving him an accusatory glare.

"It'll be fine, Lene, it's just a cloak," he said, pushing her hand back from it. "It'll last me at least until we're done in Skael, probably."

"You'll come by home once you're done in Solitude, won't you?"

"That's up to them, not me."

There was that accusatory glare again. "Be careful, at least," she bid him, turning to Rudolf next. "You as well—no new scars, if you can help it!" She pointed once at the new sword that he carried, easily the same size as his uselessly-enchanted blade, likely older than he was, but clearly well cared for. Anders, for his part, was also keeping a close eye on Rudolf and how he handled it while still within his sight. "And Anders will want you to bring that back! Lady Izayoi, sir Galahad, make sure to hold him to it for me, will you?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

"Well, thinking about it would be wise, like," Fionn replied with a shrug. "I'm no fairy, after all, it comes for all of us sooner or later. Just don't want you to spend centuries being sad, you know?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Despite everything, Fionn had not really been considering participating in the tourney before. He wasn't even certain if it was a holdover from his time as a mercenary, or if it went further back than that, but outside of practicing with his friends or proper training, he didn't have much desire to participate in mock-battle. Unless there were legitimate stakes in play, he often didn't want much of it.

That was why he hadn't bothered to participate in the Valours tournament in previous years, even with Renar's getting on his case about it. Nor had he planned on it this year.

Until, of course, Ardor had gotten back to him, the smith managing to finally convince him that it was time to hang up the old sword as a family heirloom once again, and that he could make Fionn a new pair of blades. A pair! One to simply replace the old, another to fill the place of a true battlefield greatsword, should he need it. The first was presented to him with plenty of time before the tournament for him to seriously consider how he should test it out.

Little enough time to try and train with Lilia, Gerard, or Renar to really put it through its paces...and now pressing battles coming up. With the latter two both focused on tournament prep, and Fionn needing to test his new sword, that left him wtih only one real option: Join the tournament himself.

His name was drawn, most expected him to decline—and when, for once, he accepted, the one preparing the roster was visibly surprised. But it was taken nonetheless, and led to him now, blade whirling as he stepped through multiple drills to acquaint himself with the balance. It was different from his old sword, no doubt about that, but it felt just as nice in his hands as before.

Candaeln's smith did good work, unsurprisingly.

He paused, wiping sweat from his brow. His clothes were unsurprisingly soaked as well, although he'd be changing out into arming wear by the time any actual competition was happening. Tyaethe was busy somewhere else, likely with the royal family—more reason to compete, when he was told the princesses would be present, as he wouldn't dare disappoint the younger of them by not showing up after the mess of the banquet—which left him alone with Fiadh for the moment.

Elsewhere, he could hear the clash of metal as some of those competing decided to practice head-to-head. "Fiadh," he called her over, as another thought came to him all of a sudden. A knight's life was dangerous, and even in tourneys accidents could happen that could leave a man dead on the field. After seeing how Tyaethe had handled hundreds of years of her friends being gone before he came around and started forcing her to make more...

"You know, I'm really not expecting to live forever, whatever happens to make it end. What are you planning to do after I'm gone?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen Cadon

---

Esben met Izayoi's stare with a level gaze of his own, before she started to speak. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that she and Galahad were the eldest of their party, after all, followed by Éliane and himself—and he was understandably busy on the other side of the table. Not to mention that he was as surprised as they were, and worse yet, his sister knew it, and she wasn't surprised.

He couldn't deny some misgivings, given the nature of just what was being proposed and some of what he'd both seen and talked about with Rudolf...but he figured that the younger man wouldn't be the sort of baldly lie to Lene's face when something like a possible marriage was on the line, nor did he think she'd be the sort not to pick up on any discrepancies between what had been proposed to their parents and related to her and what actually sat across from her.

What she'd do with it from there would be her own business. What was more important at the immediate moment, as even Lene's eyes widened and she gave the smallest shake of her head at Izayoi—

"Hva?"

—to try and warn her off from surprising Halvor.

"Well, Halvor, we told you we still had to travel out of here, ja?" Esben asked genially, before the viscount had the chance to ask any more questions. "And he told you what we ran into on the road, of course. Lady Izayoi is perhaps over-serious, the same as I'm sure you'd be if it was me we were talking about."

Halvor frowned at him. "He pulls his weight, what can I say? Obviously we all have our business to attend to, it only makes sense to travel together, and besides, you already mentioned that Cadmon told you he'd be continuing on to Solitude with us."

"Well, yes, but..."

"Halvoooor!" Lene but in, turning back to their host with a smile. "Doesn't she sound just like Anders?" The older man just beyond Esben gave her a sideways glance. "Always so serious, like the world could end at any minute? And besides..." Her smile grew warmer yet. "It's so like you to leave in little surprises like this, isn't it? Always something interesting, just like the gifts you send us for our birthday every year!"

"Ah, uncle, sorry I'm late..." Halvor's eyes rose at the timid voice, a bit of strawberry-blonde hair poking in through the doorway. "But I just heard them in the kitchen, Karl had a question for you..."

Halvor, whose confusion was being preyed upon by both of his relatives sat just beside him, looked up with alarm at the freshest entrance. "Oh, Hane, we were just...Karl? The kitchen? Oh, no, don't tell me the oven is acting up again, hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming!" With some hasty apologies, the viscount stood up from the table, following his niece out, before they could hear her quietly chiding him about "getting overly worked up over something once again" as they went down the hall.

Esben breathed a sigh of relief; he had no real wish to lie to his family's own liege lord, but to try and misdirect from Rudolf's situation was difficult enough without everything almost being blown right in front of them. Lene closed her eyes, turning back to the rest of them. "Sorry for that," she apologised to Izayoi.

"It's like I told you all before we got here, Halvor is...very anxious. And it was made clear to the three of us that met with him when we arrived that Cadmon, and possibly Kayliss, have been keeping him under the impression that Rudolf has been here almost this whole time. It's likely better not to break that illusion."

"Indeed. This isn't the sickly, bookish boy that was promised to mother and father at all, is it?" Lene kicked at his foot again. "Hei. How much did you know about all this, and how much are you at liberty to speak of regarding what you're doing?"

"Nothing, and...about Solitude, I'm not. About the rest, I'd prefer not to without mother and father present. Trust that Izayoi doesn't understate the seriousness."

"Theirs is a knightly family, of course. As are the Demets. It only stands to reason that their definition of bookish and sickly should differ from your own." Lene and Esben both looked to Anders, startled at his sudden interjection, only to be met with a simple shrug, as Halvor walked back in.

Esben looked up to meet his eyes, although Halvor was looking down at Anders with an almost grateful expression. "Oh, of course, of course...the rest of you, you all met with the earl and his son, didn't you? Very spirited, that one, or so Cadmon says, but he has stories of his own from when he was younger...yes, I may not have thought to explain that as clearly as I should have, forgive me..."

"I could never be mad at you!" That finally earned a smile back from their host. "Well, if you've been travelling like this, then, you must have some stories, yes? Please, please, tell me about him, and—Halvor, eat something, please, you haven't even touched a slice of bread yet!"

Esben glanced back at Anders for a moment, though the sly old man gave no sign of any reaction to the look, before he turned back towards Galahad and Izayoi. "Ah, should we be nice to him?" he asked, sparing another look over at Rudolf. "Perhaps so, but...I rather liked the time he almost succumbed to the sirens' call, if we're talking about bookish and stories."

Hopefully the rest of them could take the hint and try to spin some of their (mis-)adventures as funny anecdotes, without giving away too much of what actually happened.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Lene Mathiassdatter Cadon

---

Lene spared a quick glance to Esben off to her left. Her older brother sat quietly, as was often his wont, though she couldn't miss the strain he had keeping his polite smile. It was only natural; after witnessing him starting to argue with Halvor earlier in the day, he was clearly busy with something important, and his patience for complete diversions had never been great. She'd never expected to see him quite so tense, though, but there was no helping it. At least he'd made sure to dress well, although she would have rather had the chance to actually coordinate something between himself, herself, and Anders. The long red skirt and pleated blouse she wore, with her hair tightly braided to keep out of the way, was—in her opinion—the perfect thing to wear for a dinner such as this, neither too much nor too little. Anders was dressed simply as well, as befit a knightly servant to a baronial family. Her brother was wearing clearly borrowed clothes, though he looked decidedly more comfortable in them than the Solitude-styled clothes she'd seen him in when he first graduated from the Garden...Before deciding to do multiple more years of study. Clean shirt, comfortable trousers, but none of the decorations that would normally drive him mad, but his colours were just as blank and subdued as ever, and didn't serve to present a united front between the three of them at all. If she didn't know he was surprised by this, he'd have earned a scolding for as soon as it was all done.

She shifted slightly in her seat, eyes falling back on the young man seated across from her as she straightened her skirt. He was dressed in something decidedly a step more formal than she'd worn, unsurprisingly; it would never do to be underdressed, but Halvor had a habit of overdressing, and was pushing that onto his ward and other guests. The fit was tighter around the neck and sleeves than she'd been expecting, from how he'd been described to her parents...and the scarring hadn't been mentioned at all. But the hair was right, the height, and there was nothing to his demeanour to suggest he might be pretending at being 'Rudolf Shilage.' Either he was a very good actor, or he was genuine.

Of course, from what Anders had told her, Halvor and the earl Demet had never said anything about so many friends either. Certainly not her own brother. Rudolf Shilage was as much a mystery now as when she'd first gotten Anders to tell her his name, she decided.

She smiled at him, but she could tell from the hollowness of his own expression that he was even more surprised than her brother. Mysteries could be fun, but she didn't want to send Halvor into a tizzy or distress her potential fiancé before he could even catch up with what was happening. She turned to the side, towards the pair sat next to him. A Mystrel woman, clearly dressed in Ospreyan style, likely the oldest of their group, or just the one who had lived the hardest...perhaps both. And next down from her, a man who was likely near her brother's age, maybe a little older, yet another one built like he was used to hard travel and fighting, with some scars to match. Scars on all of them, even her brother...

She kept her smile in spite of the pang of worry she felt. "Well, we should at least keep the introductions moving, ja?" she joked. "So many people, and only one I recognize and another in a uniform I know—and I didn't even give poor Esben the chance to tell me all your names earlier today. It's good of you to stand in for his family when they can't be here, but could Herr Anders and I know just who all has been keeping an eye on poor Rudolf for us?"

She tapped Esben's foot with her own, getting him to look back towards her and the others at the table when his eyes had been darting between Rudolf and Halvor. The servants worked around them all, setting dishes down from which they could serve themselves. "Esben, you've been travelling with them too, haven't you? Be a good brother and help us get to know each other, won't you?"

She looked up and smiled at him. "Ah, of course," he said, blinking once and sighing. Another mystery; even when he was surprised, normally he didn't struggle this much on the uptake. It wouldn't do for poor Halvor's nerves to let herself frown at that, though, so she added it to the rest of figuring out just what had been happening to all of them. "Across from me is Furuya Izayoi, a former retainer of the Rijin clan of Osprey. Next to her is Galahad Caradoc—"

"The dragoon?"

"The very same, son of Duke Artorias Caradoc of Midgar. Owing to the roles that they have...partly adopted, and have partly had thrust upon them, while we travel, as well as the Midgari connection with sir Galahad, I'm sure you can imagine why they've been sat in lieue of Rudolf's parents." She allowed herself a somewhat more genuine smile; Esben was peculiar, but at least once she got him started he could get with the flow of things. "Izayoi, Galahad, this is my sister, Lene; to my left is sir Anders, a sometimes-instructor at the Garden and retainer of our own family. For the others further down—next to Anders we have Miina Malina from Drana Asnaeu, next to Galahad is dame commander Éliane Laruelle of Solitude, and then Asakura Chisato, also from Osprey. We—most of us, at least—have been travelling together for the last few months."

She smirked up at him. "Is that why you haven't written home in so long?" she teased. He frowned down at her. "Are we not here discussing your betrothal? Perhaps you should be more demure."

Ah, Esben, I have you now! Her eyes dropped slightly, and she nodded timidly. "Of course. I'm sorry, Esben, you know I like the excitement of meeting new people, and all of such personage..."

"Lene!"

"Esben, be nice to your sister," Halvor piped up suddenly, glaring sternly at her brother in an admirable impression of Anders' look earlier that day. She kicked him a second time, grinning wider, and he sighed once more, a touch more dramatically than before, while she faced lady Izayoi and sir Galahad once again. "Well, my brother's impoliteness aside, it's nice to meet all of you!"

---

As he finished dishing himself out some of the potage that had been brought out first, and deposited a slice of bread onto a plate, Anders felt light fingers prodding at his arm. He turned towards the diminutive girl sat next to him, and after a moment of contemplation, gave her a single nod, as despite Lene and Esben's introductions, he'd yet to be called into their discussion directly. "Of course, young miss," he replied. "No need to be so timid. Would you like to try the tourin?"