Look to the Stars [FFRPG-IC]

[Naki]

Aquarius 22nd, 407PC
Bustling with energy, just as any other day, Vin Cressal rose to it's usual afternoon activities; the market was well underway, and the clicking of wooden wheels and the steel-shod toes of chocobos against the cobblestone roads filled the square, signaling another successful day in the market. Street performers and customers alike filled the streets, while others watched from windows, or followed the schedule, restocking shelves, or carts outside their shop.

In an alley, however, lurked something out of the ordinary for this normal city day. A lightly armored figure peeked out around the corner, before being yanked back, and a gauntleted hand connecting with the back of his head. Mouthing 'ow,' the smaller man rubbed the spot, “Dammit, Rosk, what was that for?”

The armored figured leaned back against the brick wall, a hand resting on the axe dug into the dirt of the alley, “You want the Western Sun to catch us and ruin it all?” The man, Rosk, frowned as his twin peeked around the corner again, before pulling back and resting on the opposite wall, spinning a dagger in hand.

“They ain't gonna catch us. Western Suns ain't got no patrols in the market this time a'day. 'Sides, they'll be busy elsewhere.” That cocky grin, plastered across his brother's face. It infuriated Rosk; he thought they were untouchable, that no plan could go wrong. There were thousands of ways this could go down badly, and he dreaded every single one.

Rosk simply shook his head and crossed his arms, “Whatever, Innen. Let's just get out of here and where we need to be. The market isn't our job. We'll leave that for the recruits. See how many of them grow some hair on their balls and do it, and how many throats we have to slit by nightfall.” The armored man yanked on the axe handle hard and slung the wicked weapon over his shoulder before heading down the alleyway, motioning for his brother to follow.

Innen, running a finger over the scar beneath his eye, muttered for a moment, before brushing some stray strands of his black locks out of his eyes and sheathed his dagger, turning and quick-stepping to follow his brother out of the market, and towards their next destination.


Tylendal
The mansion was quiet, empty, lonely. Over the last several days, it had been so busy, servants moving in and out of the boy's room, helping him prepare for his trip. They'd give him advice, or tell him what to look out for. 'Don't play cards with Bangaa, they don't like losing', for example, or 'Never take a gift from a Varg, they always have ulterior motives'. It sounded silly to Ty, but he could tell his father's servants were just trying to help the boy with his inexperience with the world at large.

Between the servants bantering and advice, his father roaring at them for something or another inbetween the bouts of craziness had made the last few days more interesting than usual. It was much more lively, and it was a nice touch that the mansion hadn't had for a long time.

But today, all of that was gone. His father had given the servants the day off, and the mansion was nearly barren. Artalan had delved deep into his study with paperwork, and new requests from Caiius' court for laws to be passed. He also mentioned something about a Western Suns report from High Magister Grande on the movements of the Anarchist group, Pestilence, in the capital.

Artalan wouldn't even see his boy off today – there simply was no time for such foolishness. He'd have to make it to the airship docks himself, and see himself off. There was no other option. In a few hours, he'd be in Lessan, the nearby lowlands city that bordered Vin Cressal.

There was something though, an offhand comment Artalan had made a few days previous when the trip had come up, “If you don't feel protected within the walls by the Western Suns, you could always ask about Minister Dureem and his bodyguard.” It was a contemptuous statement, spat as if the very concept sickened him, a reaction that surprised Tylendal, given his usual outspoken nature on the use of servants, rather than slaves.

Mako & Gale
The square market was always held an air of intrigue on top of it's plain day-to-day function. Merchants would hear stories, tales, and recountings of events outside the city, and Mako came nearly every day, hoping that there was a new tale of the Dragoons, or a grand tale of man meeting dragon, the end of such a meeting notwithstanding. But importantly, he felt that he did some sort of duty in the market.

Perhaps his presence kept away thieves, or cutthroats who'd dare strike at such a populous and busy section of the city. Or perhaps that was the fear of the Western Sun, and not the small moogle most people barely noticed on most days. But today, something would be different. Mako demanded it in his heart! Either he'd finally hear a tale of Dragoons and give him a direction, or he'd find some work to sate his need for coin, and more importantly, food.

Gale, on the other hand, hoped for something more that coin and food. She stood about the square market, looking for something – anything – that jogged her memory. Told her something about who she is, or where she came from. The market felt familiar, but she couldn't tell why, it was just another mystery locked deep away in her mind, hiding her from her reality.

As she looked about, she took in what was around her, the market, the performers, the smells of the cooked food, and fruit, and spices, the figure in the alley. She stopped, and looked back, and what she thought was there was gone. She swore she saw someone there a moment before. A step or two towards the alleyway, before she stumbled, and the tell-tale squeak of a moogle gave way as Mako stood back up, having been walked straight into by the strange woman.


Cinta
Today was the day – the big day, but something wasn't right. Cinta had been pacing since she got up, Meliir had been up before her, apparently. A note left in the foyer that told her he'd return in a few hours, and not to fret. But that had been hours ago, it was moving into mid-afternoon, and Master Dureem hadn't returned yet. None of the other servants in the mansion had heard him leave either, but they didn't worry as she did.

It wasn't their job to. They were content so long as they were paid, it was their job to cook. To clean. To ensure Dureem's bed was made. Not to protect him personally. To be his right hand, and his guardian. For him to leave without Cinta at his side was rare, but it occurred occasionally. But never this long. She crossed the room again, as a figure caught her eye. Turned expectantly, she frowned, seeing the long, furry face of Jigen, a Varg who wore an open vest and loose cloth pants, with a light pair of glasses on his snout, and silvery tattoos visible through his fur. He served as Meliir's librarian, and occasionally took to sparring with Cinta to keep her in practice, his skill belying his looks.

Jigen shook his head, and shrugged, “It'll all be fine, Cinta. Why don't you just sit down, or take a nap? I'm sure the master just went to market early, and got caught up. You know how he likes the street performers. They always seem to catch his ear, or his eye when he's out.” He gave the best smile he could, in an attempt to calm Cinta's fear.

Dei
The airship dock was busy today, as the professor quickly learnt. Shortly after docking, and landing on the platform, he found himself detained by Western Sun militia, as another ship entered the docks. The Western Suns all lined up on either side of the boarding platform, while a rather official looking man with slicked back, blonde hair stood at the end of the two columns. He shifted rather nervously, looking about, before bowing as the columns did, upon seeing the figure step off the airship.

Others found themselves stopped in the same manner as Dei did, making it clear that any busy was less official and less important that the envoy on that airship. Despite the airship dock being a massive hangar, made up of several levels, all of them were brought to a halt by this single airship, and this single official. It was strange, the respect one ship could carry. It seemed unnatural, but at the same time, awe-inspiring.

The figure, however was a beautiful elvaan woman in shimmering armor, making her way onto the platform. As she descended down between the two columns, Dei could see the men bowing lower, and almost mechanically as they did so, not truly respecting the beauty before them, the official, however, didn't quite seem the same as his men. (Continued in Krystara's blurb)


Krystara
Stepping off the boarding platform, the greeting the Elvaan received was artificially warm. Two lines of Western Suns soldiers, bowing low as she approached, with a man in light green armor and a brown cloak, the silver sun emblazoned on his chest. He looked up, and the silver rune on his cheek marked him as a fellow rune knight. He stood, brushing his hair back, a single lock of blonde hair falling back into place, before outstretching his hand, with a smile, one more welcoming than the mechanical bow she'd received from the soldiers.

“Greetings, you must be Ambassador Krystara.” The man held himself with a pride and honor that the other men didn't, and immediately Krystara could tell that this was not simply a member of the Western Suns, but possibly, the “Magisters” that she had heard of. The men of justice and forces of law and military order within Kenelm.

He stood silent for a moment, before snapping back to reality, “Oh, sorry, I guess I should introduce myself – I am Magister Landis Bertram, captain of the 36th Regiment of the Western Suns.” Just as he had a run inscribed on his cheek, so did the back of his hand. The Elvaan recognized it immediately, he used a rare style of Runic, rather than using the blade as a focus, he used his hand – the open back glove, with the silver rune burnt into his flesh – it was rare, and dangerous, but it commanded respect and spoke of the devotion to the art of magic-turning.

She could tell he was not simply a man dedicated to his country, but also to his craft. Even if he seemed a tad bit off, his nature wasn't offputting, or strange. It felt natural, and inviting, as though he was someone she could trust within the borders of Kenelm. It was a strange feeling, but one that felt comforting.

[Starsinger]

Tylendal stood in front of the doorway, his stomach in knots. He had traveled before, but this was different. He was not traveling in his father's company, with the family bodyguards over his shoulder. He was traveling on his own to see the Empire and its glory. He hefted his bag onto the other shoulder, still staring at the door. Any minute now he would be walking through it for the last time for quite a while. And he thought back to the last conversation he had with his father.

~~~
"Tomorrow you begin your journey to see the Empire. If anyone asks you're to tell them that you're-"

"Traveling the Empire to better learn about the people and places that I will be serving and protecting as a noble when I take over as your heir. Honestly, sir, I do not see why we have to go over this again..."

"Yes, that's what you're to say, but do not interrupt me again. And for Alita's sake! Stop mumbling, you are a Kalamvir and you will act like one. Be proud of yourself. Also, son," and Ty's eyes grew large at that word, one which his father reserved for very serious times, "please no more incidents like the one with the Thorsalan boy."

"Yes, sir." Ty closed his eyes and looked down, not wanting to revisit that discussion ever again.

"That's a good lad," Artalan said as a servant poured him more wine, "You will begin in Lessan, and then move on from there." He paused and drank the wine, then smirked, "If you don't feel protected within the walls by the Western Suns, you could always ask about Minister Dureem and his bodyguard." It was a contemptuous statement, spat as if the very concept sickened him, a reaction that surprised Tylendal, given his usual outspoken nature on the use of servants, rather than slaves.
~~~~

Ty signed and reached for the door, he figured he should head for the market and buy some supplies, he had plenty of time before his airship was scheduled to leave. His stomach lurched as he opened the door, he clutched the silver tome his mother gave him tighter, the pages were blank and he intended to fill them with the things he saw on his journey. As his fingers ran over the cover of the book, he felt comforted somewhat, and so he stepped outside and headed toward the market, to face his destiny.

[Daisuke1133]

*I know that you may be right, Jigen. But, I cannot help but worry. Seeing to Master Dureem's safety is my duty. And even were it not, I would still be worried. The man has been like a father to me after I lost my family in that fire. If it were not for him, I'd likely have been claimed by some pig of a Hume that wasn't above... miscegenation, like has happened to so many of my kind.* She shudders at the thought of such a thing happening to her and continues signing. *He has never once been gone this long without me escorting him. I simply cannot believe that he would put himself in this much jeopardy just to enjoy the sight of some half-dressed street performer.

She moves over to the water-clock in the room and points out the time.

*I will wait only ten minutes more, but after that I simply must go and search for him with one of the Hume servants.*

[Kyrinthic]

"It is a pleasure Magister Bertram, I do hope our embassy can help our countries relations", Krystara responds as she steps off the airship.

She walks slowly, waiting for the magister to lead the way, as she has little practical knowledge of the city. She glances along the line of soldiers, seeing that they are well disciplined, her gaze moves on to look over the city, it truely is as large as she had heard.

[RelentlessImp]

Vin Cressal again... it's been a few months. Dei watched the procession of the elvaan woman as she was lead off the airship, peering briefly over the shoulder of one of the guards standing formal guard along the pathway. His hand drifted down briefly to the cube hanging off of the belt keeping the oversized jeans up. He shifted uncomfortably in the pants; they were built for men with a different bone structure, and chafed unreasonably against his skin.

I could just hop on this ship thing and get out of here. It's fast enough that I'd probably be able to make it out of the city before the defenses could stop me. And it's not like I would be going after their honored guest, there. But... no. I came back for a reason. It'll be easier to escape detection in a crowd - and easier to gather information with so many people. I miss my classroom. Things were so much simpler there.

Dei lifts the staff held carelessly in his right hand and taps one of the guards on the shoulder with it, glancing up the line to see just how far away the "honored guest" was. Leaning over the guard's shoulder, he mutters next to where he supposes the guard's ear is inside his helmet. "What's the deal? Who is that?"

[Kantolin]

There were so many people here today...

Then again, there were a lot of people here on quite a few days. Still, something special was going to happen today!

Mako stepped to one side, simply looking about the marketplace and listening in - a couple merchants near him were chatting about various things. Sadly for him, the conversation didn't seem to go anywhere - just small talk, mostly about supplies.

His stomach rumbled, again, as he went back to moving. Everything looked fairly normal - hardly anyone paid too much attention to him, but that wasn't exactly surprising. There was hardly any more unpleasant activity in the marketplace, however, which helped him feel a little better. Maybe he could leave the market and try for somewhere else - it'd been a little while since he'd really had work.

He stepped near an alleyway to avoid a particularly large group of Humes walking as he thought for a moment. What did guards usually do when their presence seemed to have worked? Did they remain with the worry that if they left it would start up again, or did they leave and try to -

- the thought was interrupted as Mako was completely blindsided.

Mentally, he berated himself fiercely - a dragoon was supposed to be ever-prepared! It also, probably, should've been a bit harder to lose his footing, as he rather unceremoniously scrambled to his feet, swiftly looking towards...

...one hume?

He paused, for a moment. Oh - he'd been thinking about thieves, but it looked like the Hume hadn't noticed him at all. Not the first time that'd happened.

"Ow, Kupo!" He responded loudly, mostly ensuring that the Hume was aware what had happened more than anything else - he didn't want to anger a noble or sommat by complaining too much.

The kupo, in fact, felt a little forced even though it wasn't.

[Zerkai]

"Oof!" Gale almost fell over when she walked into Mako, looking around for a brief moment, eyes lowering as she head the moogle's voice.

At the word 'Kupo' she felt her head pounding, groaning as she put a hand to her head, leaning on her staff for a moment. A memory that was locked away pressed against the threshold of her mind, but it wasn't enough for her to recall it. When she recovered quickly enough, though with a small headache, she focused on Mako.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry... are you okay?" The redhaired hume regained her focus and smoothed out her robes before kneeling down next to him, still partially leaning on her wooden staff as she looked at the moggle with a worried expression. Whoever she thought she saw in the alleyway didn't seem to be there anymore, so checking it out wasn't her priority, she had a new one now.

[Naki]

Tylendal
It didn't take Ty long to reach the marketplace, but he had the unfortunate displeasure of having to go on foot, no chocobo-drawn carriage to take him, his father wouldn't have put up for such an unnecessary expense for his son.

Just like all of the others, Ty found the marketplace a busy place, with lots of dark alleys to hide in. Entering from the northern section of the market gave him a unique vantage point - the ability to look over the market from the slope that lead up to the Noble Quarter of Vin Cressal.

With this vantage point, he could easily look down into all of the crowds in the market, but he couldn't necessarily see into the stalls, as many of them had covers.

Cinta
The varg shrugged and leaned against the door frame, "And if he comes back while you're out, dear? We'll then have to send someone out to look for you! And what a mess that will be." He adjusted his glasses before sighing, "But I suppose you've already made up your mind, haven't you?"

He didn't even wait for Cinta to sign back, turning, "I'll go find a servant to send with you, Cinta. But know I don't like this. If something happens to you, what will the master do?" The question was rhetorical - they both knew what would happen, and Jigen didn't need an answer to tell him what he already knew.

Within moments, he disappeared back down the hall, and it was almost the 10 minutes before another servant appeared, a meek young man, he might have been one of the cooks. He stood nervously, looking around Cinta's room, while directly avoiding eye contact with the Mithra warrior, "A-ah... J-j-jigen sent me up to, aaah... to escort you into town."

Even as he spoke, he couldn't look at her. It wasn't some racist tendency that he had, one of the other cooks had explained it once - he was like this with Jigen too, but not the Qu in the kitchen. They both held an air of power, and they looked like they could snap the poor man in half, so he tried to tread lightly, in order to not anger them. It mostly resulted in this irrational nervous tick, however, rather than anything substantial.

Dei
The guard looked down to Dei, and sighed, "She's an envoy for Altaego, Krysta-something-or-other. Damn knife ears, thinking they can just come here and park embassies or whatever in our capital." The man didn't seem at all pleased about the arrival of the honored guest, but he made sure he spoke in a hushed whisper so that his captain and the elvaan woman didn't hear him.

He looked to the two as they began to approach, the captain leading the elvaan woman out of the airship docks, while continuing his conversation, stopping long enough to glance in Dei's direction, and glaring at his guard.

In the brief moment that the captain's eyes fell on Dei, he felt a sense of relaxation and calmness, but once his gaze left the professor, so did the feeling. A strange phenomena, indeed.

Krystara
Bertram chuckled, "I'm sure that you will have your work cut out for you here. There's enough here in the upper class that don't want this embassy to succeed." He slowly started heading towards the exit of the docks, and into the main body of the city.

"Perhaps we'll start with a bit of a tour? Show you around our fine city before we stuff you into the castle and the embassy?" The magister joked, turning his head for the briefest moment as they pass by a fairly girlish-looking man, and another of the capital's guards. Once past them, the Magister resumes as if nothing at all just occurred, "Oh, we could show you the Art District. There's always plays on during the day, street performances. It's just off the market square too! You could see how we interact day-to-day here in Vin Cressal."

Awareness -10 (52 or under)
As Krystara passes by the professor and the guard, she catches the important parts of the guard's statement, notably the 'knife ears' part, and his disgust towards her.

As the magister continued, it seemed that he might possibly be more excited about the whole prospect of Krystara staying in the capital than she was.

Lance
The bard had found himself at the edge of the market as the afternoon continued on, it was one of the busier locations, as it usually was for the capital, and it'd make it harder to find his contact amidst the moving crowds.

Lance wasn't the only one just showing up to the market though, he caught sight of a young man entering from another section of the city, as well as a moogle and hume girl in another section, but no contact.

[Starsinger]

Ty looked out across the marketplace, and smiled. This time he wasn't here accompanying some servants or watching some of his father's personal bodyguards harass the lesser races. He was here on his own, and thus it felt sort of like his first time.

He began walking down toward the market from his vantage point, when a brief wave of panic overwhelmed him again. What supplies would he need for this trip? How far would his gil last him? What was he supposed to do if he needed more? Would his magic really be enough to protect him if the airship was waylaid by skypirates?

Ty turned back to the noble district, fully intent on giving up and telling Artalan he wasn't ready for the outside world. "That would certainly go over well... 'Sir, I do not think that I can make this journey on my own.'" he muttered to himself, but in his mind he knew he couldn't return. Being murdered by skypirates was certainly a better choice than facing his father's wrath. "None of the books I read ever mention the heroes preparing for their journey... If only I could have brought one of the guards with me. Orrin used to travel quite a bit, perhaps he would have made a good guide... But Orrin is rather old and cantankerous, maybe his grandson Davith... Davith was close to my age and rather skilled with his spear, traveling with him surely would be better than on my own... Ty continued talking to himself as he headed to the market, still unsure of what he was looking for in the market, but determined to get it, if only to avoid pissing his father off.

[fendrin]

Lance

The hume arrives in the crowded marketplace, creeping along through the crowd on his motorcycle slowly, working his way along balancing . As he passed between the rows of stalls selling every manner of goods imaginable, he looked at each one looking for the small but telltale signs that the merchant is his contact.

[Kantolin]

Mako shifted a bit more, moving so his boots could properly impact against the ground. Okay... he was stable again.

He steadied for a moment as she responded - he wasn't certain if it was actual concern, or more of a noble's show. It was better safe than sorry, so he nodded.

"I'm okay now, kupo. Sorry for running into you like that." He said, keeping his voice firm. Now, granted, it actually hadn't hurt that much, but it was usually best to keep the blame on onesself when dealing with humes. And admittedly, he /could/ have been paying more attention to his surroundings...

[RelentlessImp]

"Well, that's hardly appropriate language. I should send you to the university for a proper education on how to speak common like an intelligent creature." Dei huffed slightly, shaking his head at the disgusting manner in which the guard spoke. "I swear, people without proper educations..."

Mumbling to himself, gesticulating with one hand, he stalks away from the guard in the same direction as the procession was going, glancing out of the corner of his eye to track them and see where they were going.

[Kyrinthic]

[roll0]



Walking down the ramp with a careful pace, Krystara looks over the city as they walk towards the marketplace. It looks so chaotic, its a wonder the city hasn't destroyed itself. After being used to the peaceful well organized cities in Altaego, its rather a shock that no amount of preparation can fully capture. Just when shes starting to become comfortable with the level of chaos, they step into the marketplace.

Krystara neary falls into a combat stance, the level of yelling and running about makes her think for a second that there is an attack underway. At least until she sees that none of the human soldiers seem in the least be concerned. She relaxes as she watches the people running around, sometimes even knocking each other over in their haste.

Determined to fit in as best she can, she walks normally along following the magister, but she cant help scanning the crowd carefully with the ammount of action going on. As she moves through the crowd she is also surprised by the size and variety of the good sold here, as well as the patrons. Certainly the goods are tawdry compared to fine Elvaan wares, but still, there is an incredible variety.

[Zerkai]

"Oh, no need to apologize. It was my fault for being distracted." The hume female stood back up, still smiling as she gave the moogle a polite bow.

"My name is Gale, and I'm a traveling mage from Wendshar, and member of the Church of the Triad... Do you live here in Vin Cressal, or are you a traveler too?" Gale had to start somewhere on the road to recovering her memory, so she figured she should start asking some questions.

[Kantolin]

Wendshar?

As much as he'd moved about within the empire, he'd never actually been out of its borders - the holy land was somewhere new. All he'd really heard about the church was rumors and suggestions. Unless, admittedly, this was a trick - but if so, it wasn't one that would help that much.

Huh.

"I'm not from the capital itself, ma'am, but I was born and raised in the empire, so I know my way around. Were you looking to hire a guide?"

He realized that he'd been given a name, and hadn't given one in return. "Er, and my name is Mako."

[Zefir]

Ezrael leaves the Inn he stood for the night. After a few steps he stops. He looks up the way, but he can’t remember it. For a moment he falls into memories of better days. Suddenly a cart behind him brings him back to reality. He steps aside and waits until it passed. Another look around still keeps the fact that he can’t remember ever been on this street.

*sight* "Why do the great cities always are so complicated."

Either way Ezrael now notice that it is a long way until he reach his target. He has to make sure that he will reach it in time, after that he could take a real rest. He looks around for some of the guards, because they should know the way. And since this is near the Front Gate he won’t have a hard time to find someone.

"Eh... Excuse me mister. I’m a bit lost here can you tell me how I can reach the noble area?"

[Zerkai]

"It is a pleasure to meet you Mako." She hume girl leaned on her staff again, a thoughtful look on her face. being with someone who knew the area would be a real help on her quest tor egain her memory.

"I could use a guide... if hiring you wouldn't be a bother that is..."

[Daisuke1133]

Cinta places a hand on the young man's shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile.

*Thank you for agreeing to do this for me. I will need you to protect me from the claims of any of the local humes who might try to take me from the service of Master Dureem.*

When the clock counts down to the time that Cinta mentioned she grabs the attention, and sleeve, of the servant and begins moving to the door.

*Come. We have waited long enough and shall not tarry longer. Again, thank you for this favor to an over-worried bodyguard.*

With that, Cinta opens the door. And with the manservant she travels in the direction of the marketplace to search for their absent employer.

[Kantolin]

"It's no problem at all, ma'am." Mako nodded, and thought for a moment. Good, that probably meant his food problems were solved for the immediate future.

"Were you searching for somewhere in particular - a library?" He added the last bit as he recalled typical mages. "Or did you want to explore the market a bit more, kupo?"

He glanced around for another moment - both getting his bearings so he could ensure he knew where they were should Gale cite 'I want to go to X', and also to see if anyone was paying them much attention.

[Naki]

Mako & Gale
Mako, on first glance doesn't seem to notice anyone taking notice of them in particular, however as he continues to look around, he does begin to notice that the market is slowly filling up with new faces, a nobleman from the northern section, a man on a motorcycle, an Elvaan woman lead by a blonde official, bearing the symbol of the Western Suns, trailed by an effeminate scholarly-looking fellow, as well as a Mithra and a male attendant, not far behind the nobleman.
Awareness, 10 or less
Mako also, notices shapes and figures moving about the market, sticking to the shadows and moving behind stalls.
Awareness, 5 or less
Mako counts the number of shadows, 8.

Tylendal & Cinta
With the attendant from the mansion, Cinta finds herself in the market without incident, or even a second-glance in her direction. The walk was, however, in that particular awkward silence, as the nervous attendant said very little.

However, as she approached, she catches sight of a familiar young man - the son of noble Artalan Kalamvir - she had seen him before, but hadn't interacted with him previously, and it was likewise for Ty. Cinta finds herself with the same vantage that Ty previously found himself with as she reaches the edge of the market square, being able to look down on square, and many of the interesting characters within the market begin to come to life - the moogle and hume girl, the man on a motorcycle, the Elvaan with Magister Bertram, as well as their suspicious trail.

A few moments later a knight of the Western Sun passes by on a Chocobo, headed towards the Magister, parting the crowd around him as he moved.

Dei & Krystara
Krystara, and Dei, unfortunately, has found that Magister Bertram is a talkative fellow, divulging tangent after tangent on Vin Cressal, with nearly no prompt and next to no say in edgewise. As such, it has been an interesting trek from the airship docks, as Bertram has gone into the manufacturing process of the docks, to the famous ships that have docked in Vin Cressal, to a revolutionary new design that doesn't rely on the use of Skystones, but isn't yet in application.

As they near the market, the (one-sided) conversation changed, focusing on how important the market district was to Vin Cressal, and that many of the shopkeeps live in the district, many above, or next to their very shops. The conversation naturally flowed to the exotic wares that could be found, and the possibility of the exotic wares and goods of the Elvaan being sold by merchant-traders from Altaego itself. However, as they began crossing the market, out of the noble quarter

This conversation ended rather abruptly however, as the rapid clicking of a Chocobo's claws drew near, before the knight brought the bird to a full stop in front of Krystara and Bertram, the man saluting before producing a small letter, "Magister Bertram, we have news from the Noble Quarter." The man hands off the letter to the Magister, who opens it and begins skimming over the chicken-scratch writing inside. As quickly as it was opened, Bertram folds the small piece of paper again and his cheerful demeanor seems to slip away from him for one of dead seriousness.

He turns to Krystara, placing a hand on the pommel of his blade, "I'm afraid we'll have to part for now. I'll meet you again at the castle, if you have trouble finding it, you may ask any member of the Western Suns - they'll be glad to escort you there. With your leave, I have important business to attend..."

Lance
As Lance continues slowly rolling through the square, he can't immediately make out his contact, after about four stalls, he catches sight of what looks to be his contact, working a small jewelry stand of clockwork goods.
Awareness, 57 or lower
Lance, however, can see a second figure moving into the same stall just behind his contact, and a gleam of silver ensures that it is not a friend to his contact, nor is he an enthusiastic customer..

Ezrael
The guard looks to Ezrael, before scoffing, "What do you think you'd be doing in the Noble Quarter? It isn't a place for Lowborn Judges of the Triad." The man is crude and crosses his arms, before giving a second thought, "What do I care though? It's your funeral. You'll have to head through the north of the Market Square, which is northwest from this section of town."

The man turns away, before muttering to himself, mostly out of Ezrael's earshot.

[Kyrinthic]

"Of course, Duty always comes first Magister" Krystara replys, as Bertram is already moving quickly away.

As she looks around the market she considers spending some time examining the wares. She is starting to feel more comfortable now despite the bustle, It might be a good idea to get a feel for the people.

After a few moments of deliberation, she asks a guard for directions for future use, then starts looking around the market for an elvaan craftsman.

[Zefir]

Ezrael tried to give the guard an answer, but it seems like the guard isn't in the mood to give him time to do so.

"Thank you." he shouts after the guard. Then he turns around to reach for the Market Square.

Well, even one thing seems to never change in this City. I do best keeping my background down. Otherwise I could harm people I don't want to. he thinks by going his way.

If nothing stops him he will reach for the market. He looks around and graps into his money bag.

"Maybe I should look for a present first."

With that he starts watching around searching for something typical of Wendshar, which would be a reliable present he bought there.

[Starsinger]

Ty felt the presence behind him and turned around. When he registered who it was he cracked a wry smile. Oh, it is the very same bodyguard of Master Dureem that father was sneering about earlier. In a way, I think father was jealous. He repeatedly said that she was the best bodyguard possible. Loyal, determined, incapable of speaking. He always said, "If only she was a hume, she would make someone a fine wife." Ty's train of thought railed off, he was always uncomfortable when his father spoke of women who would make good wives.

He nodded respectfully at the Mithra, not because she was worthy of respect herself, as a lesser race she wasn't, but because her master was, and she was never far from him. "Is Master Dureem in the market as well? It is a rather lovely day for a stroll... I would like to speak with him, before I go, could you point me in his direction?"

[RelentlessImp]

Dei frowns slightly as the magister is called away. Well, really - is that any way to treat a visitor to the city? With a quiet sigh, Dei moves silently through the crowd towards Krystara. His staff reaches out, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Pardon me, miss. I see there's been a bit of hullabaloo about your arrival here, and they've just run off and left you in the worst part of the city when it comes to safety. If you'll allow me, I shall accompany you through this city, doing their job for them, if you so desire. It's hardly good to leave you here with pickpockets and shady merchants, after all."

[Zerkai]

"I'd like to take a look around the market a little more, though I wouldn't mind looking visiting the library afterwards if it wouldn't be too much trouble... I want to look up some information on some things." Gale replied with a smile, then she took a look around as well.

First she planned on taking a look around the market and see if anyone recognized her, though it would have been 3 to 4 years since she'd last been here, if she'd been there at all. Second on her agenda was to find out more information about Catastrophe.

[Kyrinthic]

Krystara looks over the thin hume, supressing a chuckle at the idea that he might be more capable of defending her than she herself was. She smiles graciously and replys,

"I thank you for your offer, and while I am confident I can take care of myself if something untoward were to occur, I would certainly appreciate company that knows the layout of the city better than I."

"My name is Krystara Kesethia, I'm an ambassador from Altaego.", She continues on.

[Daisuke1133]

OOC:
I'll just assume the servant will interpret for any unable to understand sign language.

Cinta takes a moment to try and match a name to the far too beauteous face of the young nobleman. She then recognizes that he is the younger Lord Kalamvir. She tries to suppress her innate suspicion of humes enough to make polite conversation with the man, if only because he had shown her respect that she does not expect from most of his kind. Nobles especially.

*Good day to you, Lord Kalamvir. It is good to see that you've not been accosted and mugged in some ally. These can be difficult times, and there are those who would not hesitate to cut purse strings and other things not so easily replaced.*

*I've not seen Master Dureem as of yet, this day. Did you have some business with him?*

Her hands move at a steady pace, and she gives the distinct impression that had she a voice to convey her words, that it would be very stiff.

[Starsinger]

*Good day to you, Lord Kalamvir. It is good to see that you've not been accosted and mugged in some ally. These can be difficult times, and there are those who would not hesitate to cut purse strings and other things not so easily replaced.*

Ty blanched some at those words, he wasn't actually expecting that murdered by sky pirates would be a possibiliity on his journey. But then again, he could probably hold his own against a back alley brigand.

*I've not seen Master Dureem as of yet, this day. Did you have some business with him?*

"It was nothing terribly pressing, I assure you. Merely some regards to pay on behalf of my father, along with an invitation to join him for drinks and gossip, no wait... sorry. I forgot, when my father and your master do it, it is not gossip, it is 'political awareness', it is only gossip when the serving staff does it..." Ty was mumbling again, partially because he was uncomfortable due to aforementioned threat of bandits, and partially because he was wary of telling the bodyguard and her interpreter too much of his father's business.

[fendrin]

Lance

Can't make contact with an... audience... gonna have to interrupt whatever's going down and explain later.

Lance pops down the kickstand of his bike, steps off, swings his guitar across his back and steps past his contact, addressing the shadowy figure directly.

"Raji? Oh man, I haven't seen you in years! How are you?"

[RelentlessImp]

"Dei Vuxtai, former Professor of History at the Academy," Dei replies, offering a hand out to her. "As for knowing the city, well. I could probably show you around the academic areas, but not much else. My tenure at the academic facilities didn't leave much time to get to know the city very well."

[Kantolin]

Mako's eyes halted on a few of the standout people.

Naturally, being from Kenelm, his eyes gravitated first towards nobles. Nobles could cause problems for someone not from the Empire, but being a hume from Wendshar probably made it okay. And being a moogle, he'd be overlooked as unimportant. No big deals there.

The motorcycle caught his attention next - Colund's technology? Not absolutely out of the question to see around, but struck him as odd. Meh.

Of course, then there was an Elvaan and a Mithra. And that was the Western Suns.

Now, there were people a good deal more prominent than a hume from Wendshar and some moogle, so they probably wouldn't even be targets of thieves. Still, better safe than sorry; he'd try to gravitate the two of them away from potential problems.

"I'll keep nearby then, kupo. If you're looking for interesting knick-knacks, there are a few stands over there." He offered with a pointed finger, before keeping more silent and trying to keep aware. 'Time to focus.' He reminded himself.

[Kyrinthic]

"A pleasure to meet you, although I dont know if I wil be visiting the academic area quite yet, I do hope to visit at some point during my stay. I would be more than happy for some general conversation." She quickly adds "so long as it can be two sided." remembering how Bertram kept going on.

She smiles pleasantly while continuing on, "What are your thoughts on Kenelm's recent invasions into Altaego, out of curiosity?"

[Daisuke1133]

Cinta holds in her mirth at the young man's momentary distress, but only just. But, she reminds herself, I've more important tasks than causing fear-induced bowel movements in strange noblemen. And this one could prove useful...

*I apologize if my words caused any distress, Lord, but it would be unfortunate if you suffered an unfortunate fate on your way to meet with my master. And it would reflect badly upon him if his servant did nothing to prevent that. If it pleases you, I could serve as an escort until we find him. 'Twould only be sensible as we both endeavor to find him.*

[Starsinger]

Travel with a Mithra or be murdered by sky-pirates... well if word of me allowing this Mithra to accompany reaches back to father, I can always tell him that it was on business for Master Dureem... Ty nods briskly, "Well, yes, that does seem prudent. Let us see if we can find your master together. Surely with three sets of eyes and ears we will find him quickly."

Ty smiled, partially because he was relieved not to be totally alone for the moment, and partially because this was exactly what his father didn't want, and he sort of enjoyed going against his father's wishes in this small way. He was tempted to ask the Mithra what she would think he would need on his journey, but shook his head. Surely she would just say something about licking her wounds and a giant ball of yarn to occupy herself while the airship traveled. Father always said Mithra are more self sufficient than other house pets.

[Naki]

Lance
Both the contact and the man look up in surprise, but the untoward figure, is the quicker as he grabs the man, knife at his throat, "I dunno who you are, man! But don't you come any closer! I swear I'll kill him." The contact strains to look back and hold himself away from the knife pressed against his neck.

"W-what's going on?! Who are you people?" The man stammers, trying to remove himself from this increasingly poor situation. A jerk on his shirt is a clear indication the man has no intent to simply back down, as the blade presses closer to the man's throat.

Looking about warily, the bandit lets out a sharp whistle, and more figures descend into the market, causing a sudden panic.

Everyone Else
A loud whistle draws everyone's attention away for a moment, before yells and whoops flow through the crowd, within moments, the chaos of the market becomes wild, and then dangerous.

Figures in green and red dart about the crowd, slashing and slicing at bystanders who get in their way. It only takes moments before Pestilence has descended into the crowd, and blood stains the market square. People scatter away from where bodies fall, causing the crowds to merge into one another, and do well to mask the bandits, at least initially. As they begin to merge and flow away, the thieves become more readily apparent, their blades drawn and ready for a fight, even if none would be given to them.

It seems that the timing was perfect, Magister Bertram had just been called away, and no member of the Western Suns remained in the square. A ploy, perhaps? One well managed, if so.


Everyone, save Lance, may make an awareness check.
Anyone currently distracted by another action (looking at merchant's wares, etc), suffers a -10 penalty to this check.
Anyone actively searching/looking about the market, instead, has a +20 bonus to this check.
Lance, who is already aware of the thieves, has a CoS of 100%. He cannot fail, and thus, doesn't need to roll.
Awareness, success
You are not caught Unaware by the Bandits, as combat begins.
Everyone is free to make initial reactions.

[fendrin]

Lance

I've got one shot at ending this quick...

Lance steps back, hands raised to show that he isn't armed.

"Hey, just a case of mistaken identity... lets all relax a little here..."

As he speaks his voice becomes low and rhythmic, then melodic. Seamlessly he transitions into a soothing lullaby.

OOC:
Transitioned into round 1 actions... here are the numbers for when you need them.
[roll0]
Singing "Lullaby" (magic effect, -4), inflicts Sleep(4)
Against the thug holding the shopkeeper:
[roll1] (65,MEva)

And a double-handful for the other thugs... use as many as you need. :smallwink:
[roll2] (65,MEva)
[roll3] (65,MEva)
[roll4] (65,MEva)
[roll5] (65,MEva)
[roll6] (65,MEva)
[roll7] (65,MEva)
[roll8] (65,MEva)
[roll9] (65,MEva)
[roll10] (65,MEva)
[roll11] (65,MEva)
[roll12] (65,MEva)
[roll13] (65,MEva)

[Zefir]

Ezrael has just found a shop, which stuff comply with the things he search. He bows a bit to get a closer look. After he found an pendant that looks cheap and foreign enougth he picks it up to ask the Shopkeeper about the prize.

"What do you ..."

Then the whistle draw his attention. He looks around and at first he just didn't notice whats going on. Still a bit confused he drops the pendant and draws his sword and shield. Befor he ran of to spot whats going on he heads to the shopkeeper, pointing at the pendent with his sword.

"Save this for me. I come catch this later."

With that he goes of searching for the cause of this chaos.


HP 126
MP 98
[roll0]

Not sure, if I can to take any actions right now.

[Starsinger]

Tylendal felt his pulse quicken, Sky pirates! He called out to the people in the market place, "Everyone, get down! Do not throw your life away trying to fight! Your lives are far more important!" [roll0] vs 62 Leadership to direct the remaining civilians. The second paragraph finishes with the spell on Ty's turn.

Turning his attention toward the bandits he sighed, there weer too many innocent people for him to start flinging spells around, too many people and too much collateral to damage. He closed his eyes and began to gesture, his spell book floating infront of him, the pages flipping on their own. "The moon shall watch as you slumber! Sleep!" he waved his left hand infront of him as he spoke, and the sky darkened, a Silver crescent moon appearing in it. Slowly sparkling dust descended from the sky.
My CoS with sleep is 84,M.Eva. Like Lance I'm not sure how many attack rolls to make, so I'm going to make a bunch, use what you need.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]


Hp: Full
Mp: 132/137
Limit Gauge: 0%

[Kyrinthic]

[roll0]
awareness 62 (cos 52 because I am chatting, not looking around)


While talking with Dei, Krystara barely catches movement from the corner of her eye, "Watch out" she calls to Dei, as she takes up a defensive stance, with her sword out.

'The timing couldnt be any worse, this must have been planned, and she is likely the target' Krystara thinks, glancing around to get a feel for the area and a place to put her back.

[Kantolin]

"Huh!"

The whistle drew Mako's attention. And with the following whooping, out came his spear - as he stepped between Gale and the bandits.

Which was when more shouts occured from behind. Within the ocean of a crowd, it was hard to tell where bandits were and where people were simply panicking.

"Stay behind me, Kupo!" He called out to Gale strongly, but he wasn't completely certain where 'behind' was - the crowd made it hard to piece out where he should be. Still, he stepped around - trying to ensure that he was between Gale and any new shouts he heard, shifting his helmet down as he did so.

[Zerkai]

Gale's head whipped around as she heard the whistling and the ensuing panic as bandits attacked, eyes widening as she watched the bandits cutting people down.

"Bandits..? A-Alright..." Gale nodded, gripping her staff in her hands. Her first instinct was to try and get to the injured people, but with the chaos in the market it'd be hard to so she stayed behind Mako.

The red-haired mage continued to look around to found the nearest bandit. She was a White Mage, but she still had an offensive spell she could try.

[RelentlessImp]

[roll0]
Awareness 62, CoS 52.


"Wha...what? What's going on?!" Dei grabs at his staff and crosses it over his chest, looking around wildly for whatever it is that's causing the sudden ruckus. He reaches a hand out to catch Krystara's wrist to keep from losing her in the sudden insanity of the crowd.

[Daisuke1133]

Of course I couldn't just go out and find Master Dureem. Cinta thinks with a snarl, No, no, no; that would be far too simple. Instead I must contend with brigands at a time when he is nowhere to be found.

Her Kotetsu katana leaves its saya in a flash of light reflected off metal.

[Zefir]

Ezrael spots one of the figures in green/red. The sword and shield drawn he attacks him.

"Stop that you fool. These people aren't able to defend themself. I'm your Opponent NOW."

HP 126
MP 98

Effekts: --

Moving to the nearest Opponent.
Attacking it with the sword.
To hit:[roll0] ACC: 118 (62 Sword +30 Job +10 Level + 2*8 Agi)
Damage:[roll1]

[Naki]

Battle order:
18: Cinta (Equipping Kotetsu)
17: Bandit 6 (Attacking Krystara)
16: Bandit 8 (Attacking Ezrael)
15: Tylendal (Sleep @ Bandit 1)
15: Dei (No Action/Defend?, Unaware)
14: Bandit 3 (Attacking Lance)
14: Bandit 1 (Attacking Ty ~ Asleep[6])
14: Ezrael (Attacking Bandit 8)
14: Lance (Lullaby @ All Bandits)
13: Gale (Aero @ Bandit 5)
13: Bandit 2 (Attacking Cinta, Asleep[4])
11: Krystara (No Action/Defend?)
11: Bandit 7 (Asleep[4])
11: Bandit 5 (Asleep[4])
10: Bandit 4 (Attacking Mako)
9: Mako (No Action/Defend?, Unaware)

Anyone who has no action/defend is given a chance to act. Unaware only lasts until your Initiative comes up, ending instead of acting. Dei and Mako are the only unaware PCs.

Lance's Lullaby succeeds on Bandit 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8; Ty's Sleep succeeds on Bandit 1. This makes my turn infinitely easier. :D

Round 1
As the bandits cut through the crowd, our heroes jump into action, striking out and attempting to neutralize the would-be murderers. The bandits, however, quickly turn their attention to the newcomers, welcoming these new opponents. One of them smirks wide, and pulls his blade as he closes in on Ty and Cinta, "What's this? A little noble and his pet? Gonna try and stop us, are ya? Maybe yer parents should have taught ya to run and hide instead..."

The bandit holding the shopkeep, shifts, letting him go, as he kicks dust up into Lance's eyes, who shields off the dust flawlessly before his begins his haunting lullaby, causing a number of the bandits to fall asleep. Another does the same as he closes in on Mako, who kicks sand in the moogle's face, but to no avail, as he is apparently quicker than appears, suddenly realizing that there are, indeed, bandits about.

Two more of the bandits, ignoring their falling friends, turn on the Elvaan Rune Knight and the Paladin who has come to stand in their way, striking out with sound blows, but most of the effect is turned away by their armor.

Bandit 6
Attacks Krystara; 42, ARM Physical damage.
Bandit 8
Attacks Ezrael; 41, ARM Physical damage.
Bandit 3
Uses Dirty Tricks on Lance; Misses
Bandit 4
Uses Dirty Tricks on Mako; Misses
Bandit 1, 2, 5, 7
Fall Asleep before they act

Krystara may make her action, or Defend. Then Initiative is rerolled, and round 2 starts. Please be sure to denote targets on this round, now that you are aware of the exact number :)

[Kyrinthic]

As the enemys close to attack, Krystara shifts her weapon and takes a hard swing at the bandit attacking her.


I believe my CoS is 110, minus the bandits evasion
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Also, I assume the bandit hit, and that 42 is the damage, is that modified for armor already, or should I subract my 33 arm for a total of 9 damage?


"Stay behind me Dei, they mean business"

[Starsinger]

"What's this? A little noble and his pet? Gonna try and stop us, are ya? Maybe yer parents should have taught ya to run and hide instead..."

Ty glared at the bandit, "See what my father has taught me.", he spat venomously. The seal on his chest began to glow with a pale light, shining through his fancy clothes.

"The black wind howls, hear the reaper! DARK!" Ty stretches both hands out and black energy swirls around his open palms, coalescing into two spheres of utter darkness. He slams his palms together and an unnatural shriek is heard, followed by a pillar of dark energy erupting beneath the slumbering bandit (1).
[roll0] Magic Accuracy
[roll1]


HP: Full
MP: 114/137
Limit Gauge (on hit): 16%

[RelentlessImp]

Dei lets his staff flow around him as he falls into casting, eyes closing as he conjures the magic up from within himself. Lightning crackles around the head of his staff as it spins about him, the amulet around his neck glowing softly, its intensity rising and falling with the flow of his chant.

"Skies split and sunder, call down the Gods's Thunder!" Dei's eyes snap open and he brings the staff down sharply, angled in the direction of one of bandit that had struck at his sudden ally. A jagged bolt of lightning strikes from the sky, bright-blue and sizzling.


Thunder, dealing [roll0] damage, with [roll1] against M. Acc of 134, targeted at Bandit 6.

[fendrin]

Lance

Evading the filth thrown at his eyes, the guitar-wielding man steps back out of the stall into the street.

Well, at least he's not threatening the shopkeep now. And I'm not the only one fighting them...

Pulling his guitar around to the front, he strums a power chord.

"Alright, let's give 'em what they've got coming!"

OOC:

Action: Logical Etude - Magic Ability(2), Party Spirit Up (4)


Status:

HP: 130/130
Limit Gauge: 4%
Effects: Spirit Up (4) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)

Current Combat Stats:

{table]Eva: 24 | ARM: 27
MEva: 33 | MARM: 33
ACC: 46 | W/ Instrument: 108
MACC: 162 | MIND: 107
Expertise: 65 | DEX: 76[/table]

[Zefir]

Ezrael fights Bandit 8 with sucses on his side, but as well the Bandit managet to hit.

"You fool my training in the arts of sword fighting will show you where you stand."

Stats:
HP: 122/126
MP: 98/98
EVA: 18
M.EVA: 24
Limit Gauge: 20%
Effects: Spirit Up (4) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)

Attacking Bandit 8
To hit [roll0] Against Acc: 118
Demage [roll1]

[Daisuke1133]

OOC:
Grr... Forum ate my post. Take 2.

Outwardly, Cinta gives no indication that she even heard the bandit's words. Inwardly, however, she was seething.

Pet?! I am no one's pet!

The kami she summons forth from her blade are not so composed. In their agitation they swarm over the bandit that taunted their bearer and inflict the full force of their furry on the hapless foe and his fellows.

Iaido: Kotetsu
Target: Group with the taunting bandit.
Action: Slow (4)
[roll0] Non-Elemental Damage vs M.ARM
Blade Exhaustion: [roll1] vs. 25

[Kantolin]

Mako kept his head low as he ducked and weaved a bit - thankful for both his moogle-like reflexes and his helmet.

'Composure!' He mentally shouted at himself - don't get overexcited. That led to mistakes, which could be fatal... not to mention that was not what dragoons did.

As best he knew.

He swung his spear as though it was a halberd - this was a distraction more than anything else, however, as the resulting thrust was his actual attack. After delivering it, he leapt backwards - stealing a glance at Gale to ensure everything was okay.


Attack vs bandit 4:
Attack Roll: [roll0] (Accuracy 120)
Damage roll: 40 + [roll1]
= 51 Damage

[Zerkai]

Gale watched as others battled with the bandits, some of the bandits being put to sleep. She held her staff a little higher and started to chant, casting a healing spell on one of the people that were injured during the fight. "Healing light... shine your radiance upon them."

Casting Cure on Krystara
Cure: 52 + [roll0]
HP: 84/84
MP: 131/136

[Kyrinthic]

Nodding to gale to acknowledge the healing magic, Krystara presses her attack.
Her goal appears to be forcing her opponent back with heavy blows.


[roll]1d100[roll] vs a CoS of 110 to hit, for [roll0] damage.

[Kyrinthic]

[roll0] (cause I fail at typing)

[Naki]

Battle order:
18: Tylendal (Dark @ Bandit 1)
17: Bandit 5 (Asleep [3])
17: Bandit 1 (Asleep [3])
-->17: Cinta (Kotetsu @ Bandit 3, 4, 6)
15: Bandit 6 (Attacks Krystara) ~ Defeated at end of round
15: Lance (Logical Etude @ Party)
14: Bandit 4 (Attacks Mako)
<--13: Cinta (Kotetsu @ Bandit 3, 4, 6)
12: Ezrael (Attack @ Bandit 8)
12: Gale (Cure @ Krystara)
11: Bandit 8 (Awakens; Attacks Ezrael)
11: Bandit 2 (Asleep [3])
11: Mako (Attack @ Bandit 4)
11: Bandit 7 (Asleep [3])
11: Bandit 3 (Attacks Lance)
9: Dei (Thunder @ Bandit 6)
6: Krystara (Attack @ Bandit 6)

Everyone lands their attack this round; Krystara, Cinta and Dei pound Bandit 6 into submission - with Krystara laying the final blow, she determines his fate.

Cinta was in range to target all of the bandits; given her Code of Honor, she cannot strike anyone currently sleeping with group attacks, undeniably reducing her effectiveness by over half. Her offender, however, was among the sleeping (Bandit 1), Ty notably struck him, but he didn't awaken.

Round 2
A dark void opens on the battlefield, bombarding the sleeping bandit who had insulted Cinta, but the magic did nothing to stir the bandit, however, the remaining civilians are unsure of the source of the void in the confusion, and panic continues to grow as they try to escape. At the end of Round 3 every remaining member of the battle will take 5% of their health in damage, from trampling.

The Mithra begins channeling her blade, and drawing the power from her katana, while the bandit who attacked Krystara, continues to do so, swinging his foot low to kick up dust, the dust pelts her roughly, but fails to achieve it's intended effect.

Lance's song cuts the air, and uplifts the party, bringing the benefits of the intelligent rhythm to the party, while, at the same time, one of the bandit's attacking Mako slashes out with his dagger, striking the moogle with the short blade.

As Gale begins casting Cure, the spirits inhabiting the Kotetsu rush out, and through the panicked battlefield, hunting out, and striking down the targets Cinta desires. At the same time, Erzael slams his blade into one of the sleeping Bandits, waking him, and causing him to stumble back. He catches his bearings rather quickly though, readying himself to retaliate in response.

In response to the dagger catching the poor Moogle, he twists and slams his spear into the bandit in return - catching him roughly in the side, as he took stumbles back into the square.

Lance finds himself under the continued assault from the bandit, using the cloud of dust from his previous failed attempt to strike out with his short sword, growling as he does so.

Tag-teaming the awake bandit attacking them, Dei and Krystara make a fine team - striking the advancing bandit with lightning, before the Elvaan Rune Knight turns her blade on him, striking the bandit down almost effortlessly.

At the end of the commotion of this round, the awake bandits find themselves pressed back a bit into the square as the party begins to close on them, bringing them closer together.

Bandit 6
Uses Dirty Tricks on Krystara; 32, ARM Earth damage. Blind fails.

Bandit 4
Attacks Mako; 45, ARM Physical damage.

Bandit 8
Awakens. Uses Dirty Tricks on Erzael; Misses

Bandit 3
Attacks Lance; 45, ARM Physical damage.

Bandit 1, 2, 5, 7
Remain Asleep; counter ticks down to 2

This marks the end of round 2 and the beginning of round 3. Please reroll initiative, and again, be sure to note which bandits still remain, as you quickly draw in on defeating them, one by one. :)

[fendrin]

Lance - Round 3

"Seriously, that's it? Let me show you how it's done..."

He begins playing a harsh, discordant, over-driven thrash of notes.

OOC:

Action: Foe Requiem [Target: Group Type: Magic Ability (4)]
Auto Hits for: 4xMAG+d12, MARM
[roll0], MARM
[roll1], MARM
[roll2], MARM
[roll3], MARM
[roll4], MARM
[roll5], MARM already dead
[roll6], MARM
[roll7], MARM


Status:

HP: 112/130
Limit Gauge: 12%
Effects: Spirit Up (3) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)

Current Combat Stats:

{table]Eva: 24 | ARM: 27
MEva: 33 | MARM: 33
ACC: 46 | W/ Instrument: 108
MACC: 162 | MIND: 107
Expertise: 65 | DEX: 76[/table]

[fendrin]

Sorry for double-posting, but I forgot to roll CoS for the Curse(4) component of Foe Requiem:
[roll0] 30% CoS
[roll1] 30% CoS
[roll2] 30% CoS
[roll3] 30% CoS
[roll4] 30% CoS
[roll5] 30% CoS shuffled off his mortal coil
[roll6] 30% CoS
[roll7] 30% CoS

[RelentlessImp]

Dei moves through the motions again, falling fully into the casting of the next spell, a shudder running through his body as the spell creeps through his veins. "Swirling winds, descend, rip, tear and defend!"

A sudden rush of air snaps through a downward spiral around a bandit, buffeting him violently.


[roll0] vs M. Acc (134*1.25 = 167), M. Eva, dealing [roll1] damage. Targeting Bandit 4.

[Starsinger]

Ty shook his head and the mark stopped glowing. Looking at the crowd, he sighed, Control yourself, Tylendal! This is exactly what you were trying to avoid, and now look at what you have done...

He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it looks like violence it was. ""Winds of the north, turn the land white! Blizzard!"" Ty chanted and his book floated infront of him, the pages turning on their own. A giant snowflake appeared beside Ty and flew toward a standing Bandit (3), spinning like a saw blade.

Attack
[roll0] vs 167 M.Acc
[roll1], M.Arm Ice damage


Stats
HP: 100/100
MP: 107/137
Limit:16% -> 48%
Spirit Up (3)

[Zefir]

This guy seems to be very tougth, but since Ezrael managed to dodge his attacks and hits him he it will go fine.

A short look around tells him that some of the other enemys are still asleep and the rest is stuck in a fight as well. Noting The singer a bti in trouble.


"I handle you first and then I'm going to help the other."

Round 3
Stats:
HP: 122/126
MP: 98/98
EVA: 18
M.EVA: 24
Limit Gauge: 20%
Effects: Spirit Up (3) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)



Attacking Bandit 8
To hit [roll0] Against Acc: 118
Demage [roll1]

[Kantolin]

He turned forward - to see a knife heading his way.

Almost reflexively he began what might have been a jump before realizing that he didn't want to do that, and managed to check himself before his feet actually left the ground. Still, that resulted in the bandit managing to gash him through his armour.

He swung his spear in a defensive arc, gave it a quick spin, and retaliated - giving a second thrust at the same bandit.

"Watch the crowd, kupo." He stated to Gale, although it was probably difficult to hear him over said same crowd.


Attacking Bandit 4 if he's still about, otherwise swinging at a different one.

Attack Roll: [roll0] (Accuracy 120)
Damage Roll: 40 + [roll1]
= 51 Damage... again. Weird.

HP: 121/133

[Kyrinthic]

"Stay near me" Krystara tells Dei as she circles the bandit attacking Mako

As she flanks the bandit, she tells the moogle "I've got you covered little soldier" and takes a swing at the bandit, taking advantage of his poor position.


1d100 to hit (vs cos 110) and [roll0] damage.

[Kyrinthic]

I have no idea why that roll didnt work. I have no idea why this thread is giving my so many roller problems :/
[roll0]

[Zerkai]

Gale winced a bit as the moogle took a bit of a hit from the bandit, preparing to cast an aero spell. But seeing both Mako and Krystara on it she nodded to the moogle dragoon, opting to scan the crowd. Looking for any other injured fighters battling the bandits, she set her eyes on Lance, repeating her previous chant.

Casting Cure on Lance
Cure: 52 + [roll0]
HP: 84/84
MP: 126/136

[Daisuke1133]

OOC:
Apologies for this taking so long to get out. Had a rather nasty case of writers block.

Cinta once again channels the kami of her blade. This time however, she is not so incensed, and the spirits are thus more serene with none of the prior agitation. Her rage ameliorated by the initial strike and by the fact that her sense of fairness and honour would not allow her to use lethal force against one unable to defend himself. Her vindication would have to wait for the offender to rouse himself. But in the meantime, there were other bandits that needed killing...

Actions:
Iaido: Kotetsu
Target: Any Awakened Bandits
Action: Slow (4)
[roll0] Non-Elemental Damage vs M.ARM
Blade Exhaustion: [roll1] vs. 25

Vital Statistics:
At the end of Round 3 HP will be reduced to 103

[Naki]

Battle order:
--->20: Lance (Singing Foe Requiem)
--->19: Cinta (Kotetsu @ Bandit 3, 4, 8)
18: Bandit 8 (Attack @ Erzael); Dead at end of round
17: Gale (Cure @ Lance)
17: Bandit 7 (Asleep [2])
<---16: Lance (Singing Foe Requiem)
16: Tylendal (Blizzard @ Bandit 3)
16: Bandit 3 (Attack @ Lance); Dead at end of round
<---15: Cinta (Kotetsu @ Bandit 3, 4, 8)
15: Dei (Aero @ Bandit 4)
15: Bandit 5 (Asleep [2])
11: Bandit 6 (Asleep [2])
11: Bandit 2 (Asleep [2])
11: Bandit 1 (Asleep [2])
10: Bandit 4 (Attack @ Gale) ~Dead before action
10: Mako (Attack @ Bandit 41)
8: Ezrael (Attack @ Bandit 8)
5: Krystara (Attack @ Bandit 43)

[i]Once again, everyone who made a roll, landed a hit. Dei, Cinta and Lance destroy Bandit 4, Mako and Krystara lose their target and I rolled for new, random targets. Mako crosses to Bandit 1, waking it up, where it will surely suffer Cinta's rage. Krystara turns on the only remaining awake bandit, Bandit 3.

Anyone with Code of Honor has a single valid target for the next round; Bandit 1, who is visibly weak. Everyone takes 5% of their maximum HP for being trampled.[i]

Round 3
Lance begins to sing a new, haunting requiem, as Cinta immediately begins to channel her blade again. One of the Pestilence bandits willingly meets Ezrael, blow for blow, slashing out in return to Ezrael's strikes.

Gale heals Lance's wounds, and with renewed vigor, his song cuts strikes at all of the bandit's minds, causing them to wrench in pain. At the same time, Ty takes the opening to cast his spell, striking the bandit attacking Lance, who, despite taking two seperate attacks, lashes out in the pain to strike Lance with his dagger.

At once, Cinta's blade unleashes spirits, striking out at the awake bandits, as the same time, Dei's gust of wind throws a Bandit from his feet, defeating him.

Mako turns on one of the sleeping Bandit, striking him with his spear cleanly and bringing him back to his senses, while Erzael defeats his opponent in a slice, clean blow. Krystara strikes down the bandit attacking Lance, bringing the total bandits to 4.

Bandit 8
Attacks Ezrael; 49, ARM Physical Damage.

Bandit 3
Attacks Lance; 47, ARM Physical Damage.

Bandit 2, 5, 6
Remain asleep; Counter ticks to 1

Bandit 1
Awake, but no action.

Marking the end of the third round, everyone takes 5% of their max hp in damage. Reroll Initiative and then round 4 starts. Cinta and Krystara (I believe) only have 1 valid target this round, as only 1 bandit (Bandit 1) is awake.

[Daisuke1133]

Seeing only a single bandit awake and near his end, Cinta decides to forgo calling upon the kami for a third time. Taking her blade in both hands, she lunges at the bandit and brings it crashing down upon his head.

And now you fall, cretin.

Actions:
Standard Attack
Target: Bandit 1
Action: Standard
To hit: [roll0] vs 120 - Bandit 1's evasion
Damage: [roll1]

Vitals:
HP: 103/109

[Kyrinthic]

Now that the bandits are mostly down or sleeping, Krystara tries to calm the crowds, looking around she quickly spots a small overturned box to stand on, shouting, "The situation is under control, please calm down and move away from the center of the square in an orderly fashion"


I figure I need to make a skill roll against either negotiation or leadership, Possibly with a bonus from the other, in order to have any useful effect on the crowd.
Negotiation: 42
Leadership: 20

[roll0]

[Kantolin]

The crowd surged in their direction.

Mako had lived in the capital for some time, and summarily knew what to do in a crowd. He shifted and weaved for a moment, dashing between legs -

- Gale!

And he hurried back, attempting to guide the crowd around her. With not very much success at all - the same feature which was an advantage to avoiding crowds, namely his size, worked against him now as he found himself trampled. Some guard he was.

Still, he kept at least some of them away from her, which was his goal.

He caught a glimpse of a bandit through the people racing about, and rushing forward with his spear gave him a fierce thrust, then hopped back to his position near Gale.


Attack vs Bandit 5

Attack roll: [roll0] (Accuracy 120)
Damage Roll: [roll1] + 40
= 50 damage

HP: 115/133

[Starsinger]

Ty flinched when the bandit struck Lance. To strike the maker of such lovely music... Ty summons another ice saw and sends it flying towards a bandit (1). "Winds of the north, turn the land white! Blizzard!"

Attack
[roll0] vs. 134 M. Acc
[roll1], M.Arm Ice damage

Stats
HP: 95/100
MP: 100/137
Limit: 48% -> 80%
Spirit Up (2)

[RelentlessImp]

"Well, this looks like it's mostly taken care of," Dei says, leaning on his staff and looking across the battlefield to the remaining bandits; one awake, the rest asleep. "I suppose those with blood on their blades can finish this up."

[Zerkai]

Gale took a fall and bumped her head thanks to the panicking citizens, but she got up quickly when Mako tried to guide some of the crowd from her. Leaning on her staff as she nodded to him with a smile and spoke up to say her thanks before casting a spell to try and patch him up. "Thank you, Mako.", She was suddenly speaking in Mogri now, so to anyone that didn't know the language they'd just hear "Kupokupo, kupo."

Casting Cure on Mako
Cure: 52 + [roll0]
HP: 80/84
MP: 121/136

Spending 1 point to unlock 'Language: Mogri'

[Zefir]

Ezrel notes that his enemy is defeted and heads to the man who helped him.

"Thank you."

Then he heads to the neares Bandit.

"Wake up man time to meet justice."
Round 3
Stats:
HP: 104/126
MP: 98/98
EVA: 18
M.EVA: 24
Limit Gauge: 100%
Effects: Spirit Up (2) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)



Attacking Bandit 6
To hit [roll0] Against Acc: 118
Demage [roll1]

[fendrin]

Lance - Round 4

They won't sleep forever, don't get complacent. Try to keep them alive for questioning!

He continues playing the same haunting melody.

OOC:

Action: Foe Requiem [Target: Group Type: Magic Ability (4)]
Auto Hits for: 4xMAG+d12, MARM Shadow damage & 30% CoS Curse[4]

[roll0], MARM CoS Curse[4]: 30% [roll1]
[roll2], MARM CoS Curse[4]: 30% [roll3]
[roll4], MARM CoS Curse[4]: 30% [roll5]
[roll6], MARM CoS Curse[4]: 30% [roll7]
[roll8], MARM CoS Curse[4]: 30% [roll9]

Note that his Code of Mercy means that if his attack would kill a target, the target is instead left with 1 hp.



Status:

HP: 104/130
Limit Gauge: 20%
Effects: Spirit Up (2) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)

Current Combat Stats:

{table]Eva: 24 | ARM: 27
MEva: 33 | MARM: 33
ACC: 46 | W/ Instrument: 108
MACC: 162 | MIND: 107
Expertise: 65 | DEX: 76[/table]

[Naki]

Battle Order
17: Cinta (Attack @ Bandit 1)
16: Gale (Cure @ Mako)
16: Bandit 1 (Attack @ Cinta Dies before action)
16: Bandit 5 (Asleep [1])
15: Tylendal (Blizzard @ Bandit 17)
15: Ezrael (Attack @ Bandit 7)
---->12: Lance (Singing Foe Requiem)
12: Bandit 2 (Asleep [1])
11: Krystara (Negotiates w/ Crowd)
10: Bandit 7 (Attack @ Ezrael)
<----8: Lance (Singing Foe Requiem)
8: Mako (Attack @ Bandit 5)
8: Dei (Does Nothing)

Everyone who makes an attack, once again, lands it. Due to a magic miscalc on my sheet, it appears Bandit 6 died at some point last round. Magically. Somehow. Cinta strikes down the bandit that wrongs her, while Ezrael and Ty zone in on the same bandit, weakening him, but not felling him. Mako strikes at another bandit, waking him. Lance's song weakens all of the remaining bandits, but fails to curse any (as they're all already cursed). Krystara finds no luck with the crowd as it stampedes out of the square, and Dei watches as the party fights for him, contributing nothing this round.

Round 4
The scorned Mithra lets her blade find home as the bandit awakens, he coughs and sputters blood, as the samurai gives him no mercy and no reprieve, cutting into him without remorse. He doesn't even get to raise his blade in return as he crumples to the ground - likely dead before he reaches it.

Tylendal and Erael tag-team against Bandit 7, Ty's ice saw being deftly redirected as Cinta cuts down his original target. At the same moment, Ezrael dashes in to strike the same bandit, rousing him from his slumber, but leaving him groggy and unable to react immediately.

Lance begins another refrain of his requiem, the haunting dread that follows a few moments later causes the only remaining awake bandit to grip his head in agony and nearly forces him to his knees, while the others show fits of unrest in their sleep. During this time, Krystara attempts to halt the fleeing civilians but finds herself unable to calm them as the last of the civilians advance out of the square, leaving the 8 combatants and their bandit targets. The groggy bandit roused by Ezrael slashes out at the paladin, but to no avail, his sluggish actions dulled by having just woken up.

Mako bravely joins the fray, striking another of the sleeping bandits, and rousing him, while Dei watches as the group 'mops up'.

The last sleeping bandit groans and slowly lifts himself from the cobblestone, swaying a bit, and taking in his surroundings, as the Lullaby wears off.

Bandit 7
Attacks Ezrael; misses.

Bandit 2, 5
Awaken either after their turn, or at the end of the round, missing their actions..

This marks the beginning of Round 5; all three remaining bandits are awake and active. There are no civilians left in the square.

[RelentlessImp]

"Hm. Well, looks like I might have to do a little extra lifting after all. Tsk." Shaking his head, Dei lifts his staff again and closes his eyes, throwing himself into the spell.

"Primal force of life, erupt into my foes and make them pay for their transgressions!" Flames erupt and descend around one of the bandits, spiraling about him and lancing into its almost tornado-like creation with bursts of flame.


[roll0] vs M. Acc (134*1.25 = 167) vs M. Eva on Bandit 5, dealing [roll1] damage, M. Arm.

[Kyrinthic]

Krystara watches the crowds not only ignore her, but actively shove her out of the way while she trys to calm them. Once they've all made their way out, she shrugs, thinking 'well, I did what I could, lets get these bandits under control now'. She moves towards bandit 7 to help Ezrael, stepping into an offensive stance as she does.


[roll0] to hit vs COS 110.
[roll1] for damage.

[fendrin]

Lance - Round 5

Seeing that the remaining bandits have awoken and realizing that they are likely to be killed if they stay that way, Lance shifts back into the lullaby he performed earlier.

OOC:

Action: Lullaby [Target: Group Type: Magic Ability (4)]

Bandit2 CoS Sleep[4]: 65, MEVA [roll0]
Bandit5 CoS Sleep[4]: 65, MEVA [roll1]
Bandit7 CoS Sleep[4]: 65, MEVA [roll2]



Status:

HP: 104/130
Limit Gauge: 20%
Effects: Spirit Up (1) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)

Current Combat Stats:

{table]Eva: 24 | ARM: 27
MEva: 33 | MARM: 33
ACC: 46 | W/ Instrument: 108
MACC: 162 | MIND: 107
Expertise: 65 | DEX: 76[/table]

[Kantolin]

Mako shifted, twirling his spear slightly. Okay, now it looked like things were under control - there were enough combatants within the square that they were doing well enough, so all that was left was to -

- his ears jumped up in astonishment as he heard his own language.

It was exceptionally strange to hear - he'd never heard someone who wasn't a moogle speak mogri. But it was spoken very naturally, and came with a swirl of soothing light which was almost secondary. Huh!

Then, afterwards, the words themselves jumped to him. He didn't think he'd ever heard a hume tell him thank you before - or well, not /really/ anyway outside of the emotionless reflex-responses which actually meant 'Okay you've done your job, go away'.

These two responses surprised him to the point where he didn't do his original goal of 'slowly backing away from the square', and found himself still in quarters with a now-awake and likely unhappy bandit. Okay, he spun his spear instead, bracing himself and delivering another swing.


Again swinging at Bandit #5 if he's still standing.

Attack roll: [roll0] (Accuracy 120)

Damage roll: 40 + [roll1]
= X damage

[Kantolin]

Damage is incorrect; damage is here:

Damage: 40 + [roll0]
= 43 damage

[Starsinger]

Alright, Ty, it is almost over, now to get some answers. Ty closed his eyes and began concentrating, he wasn't well practiced in this spell, it would take a lot more concentration than slinging a Fire or Thunder spell. A symbol ')(' appeared behind him as he focused, the symbol and his book glowing with a pale blue light. "Under the frigid stare of the dark Emperor, best to be frozen! FREEZE!" A pair of eyes appeared above bandit 2 and a column of ice quickly grows around him. But would it hold...?


Using Intuitive Magic to freeze Soldier 2 in a block of ice so we can question him. [roll0] vs. CoS 60
Stats: HP 95/100
MP: 40/137

[Zerkai]

Gale let out a small sigh of relief now that most of the Bandits were taken care of, not casting any more spells currently. She cast her eyes towards the people that fell in the initial attack worriedly. She opened her mouth and spoke a long string of 'Kupo's as she looked back to Mako.


For people that speak Mogri; "We should check to see if there are any survivors from the initial attack once all the bandits have been taken care of."

Status;
No actions this round
HP: 84/84
MP: 126/136

[Daisuke1133]

With the previous bandit dealt with, Cinta moves to a new target. With so few of their number defeated, she opts to utilize her own skills and sword-arm, rather than the power of the spirit residing in her blade. She moves strike the next bandit as she did to the hapless one she just felled.

Standard Attack on Bandit 7.

[roll0] vs 120 - Target's EVA.
[roll1]

Vitals:
HP: 103/109
Limit: 40%

[Zefir]

Ezrael keeps going on beating Bandit 7. Since the other joined him, too he seems more right of what he is doing.

"MEET JUSTICE."

Round 4
Stats:
HP: 104/126
MP: 98/98
EVA: 18
M.EVA: 24
Limit Gauge: 100%
Effects: Spirit Up (1) (Increases M.EVA, M.ACC, MND by 25%; x2 limit gain)



Attacking Bandit 7
To hit [roll0] Against Acc: 118
Demage [roll1]

[Naki]

Battle Order
---->19: Lance (Singing Lullaby)
18: Tylendal (Intuitive Magic @ Bandit 2)
17: Bandit 5 (Attack @ Dei)
<----15: Lance (Singing Lullaby)
14 Cinta (Attack @ Bandit 7)
13 Ezrael (Attack @ Bandit 7)
12: Bandit 2 (Frozen Solid)
11: Bandit 7 (Attack @ Cinta Dead before action)
10: Mako (Attack @ Bandit 5)
9: Gale (No Action)
8: Dei (Fire @ Bandit 5)
7: Krystara (Attack @ Bandit 7)


Most actions this round are wasted; Ty immediately succeeds on freezing Bandit 2, while Lance puts one of the remaining bandits (5) to sleep. Cinta immediately strikes down Bandit 7, following the lullaby, as Ezrael moves finish off Bandit 5. The rest of the party are no longer required to take their actions - any spells cast have their MP refunded (Dei), while the rest of the attacks simply don't resolve.

Round 5
Lance immediately begins to sing again, the soft tones of the lullaby coursing over the square and bringing a sense of a calm to everyone. At the same time, Tylendal focuses his energies in encasing one of the bandits in a frozen prison, where he cannot move, or act.

Ignoring the lullaby for a moment, one of the bandit moves on the Professor, striking him cleanly with his blade, and before the lullaby takes hold, and the bandit slowly drifts off to sleep, falling to the cobblestone once more.

Cinta, however, takes this moment to cleanly cut through another weakened bandit, who didn't fall prey to the lullaby, managing to block out the music. It does him little good, however, as the Mithra ends him before he can do anything about the music. Erzael follows suit, finishing off the sleeping bandit cleanly.

It's with this that the battle in the square comes to a close, it is devoid of anything except bodies - both those of civilian and bandit alike.

Bandit 5
Attacks Dei; 44, ARM Physical damage.

Bandit 2
Frozen for scene

Bandit 7
Dies before he can act.

This marks the end of combat; I'll let you guys sort out introductions, and decide how to follow up.

Total rewards: 7280xp (910 each), and 2560gil (320 each), 2 potions.

[Starsinger]

Ty smiled, Well, we certainly showed those sky-pirates! Still... It was rather fortunate that these others were here, I doubt the Mithra and I would have been able to handle all of them. He turned toward as many of his co-skypirate slayers as he could. "Thank you, everyone, I shutter to think what would have happened had you all not been here..." He smiled, genuinely thankful for their presence.
You would have been murdered by sky pirates, like the Mithra said. Because, face it, your magic obviously isn't enough. You would not last one minute on your own, Tylendal. Ty realized that the voice in his head was right... He wouldn't have survived on his own. Maybe I will get lucky and one of these brave strangers will be an adventurous type and would want to accompany me on my journey around Kenelm! And then it would be a quest just like the ones in my books, with romance, and dragons, and artifacts of great power!

[Zefir]

Ezrael drags his sword out of the dead body. He cleans the edge of the sword with a cloth whilse whisteling THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCN-a0NsNk&feature=related). With a trained move the sword wanders into it's sheath.

"No problem. Such things are very common if you travel around."

He sights. Seem like another reason I shouldn't come back

He heads to the other persons beating the Bandits.

"My Name is Ezrael Kaskadin. Would you all be so keen and tell me your names?"

He sais with a small bow.

[Daisuke1133]

Seeing that the battle is over, Cinta removes the blood from her sword before placing it back in its sheath. She notes that introductions are in order, but figures that none of these people are truly fluent in the sign language she uses. As such, she searches for the young servant she came to the marketplace with. Eventually she finds him cowering behind one of the food stalls, and after avoiding a fearful swing of the large leg of lamb that he took to wielding like a club.

Though he apologizes profusely for attempting to strike her, Cinta "says" nothing. She merely pulls him by the sleeve and brings him to the others so that he may interpret for her.

*My name is Cinta Sinaga.*

[Zerkai]

Gale let out a sigh of relief once the bandits were subdued or taken down, dusting off her white robes for a moment. When she was done she looked to all those that fought the pirate and defended the people with a kind smile as she addressed them.

"Kupo kupo Kupo, Kupokupo kupo kupo Kupo kupo Kupo. Kupo kupokupo kupo kupo kupo, kupo kupo kupo kupo kupo kupokupo kupo kupokupo kupokupo." The red-haired hume seemed to assume everyone understood what she said as she started to wander around market to check on the injured people.

Mogri translation"I am Gale Holtz, White Mage of the Church of the Triad. It's a pleasure to meet you all, but we should check to see if anyone survived the initial attack."

[Kyrinthic]

Krystara carefully scans the square, making sure all the bandits are disabled, and there are no more hiding before she kneels to wipe her sword off on the cloak of a downed bandit. As she stands back up and sheaths the sword, she replies,

"I am Krystara Kesethia, a diplomatic embassy from Altaego. I fear I may have been the intended target of this attack, and apologize that you were involved."

Then turning towards Dei, "I fear your tour of this city may be cut short, I should probably leave for the castle at once"

At which point she turns and starts heading towards the exit of the market that leads to the castle.

[Starsinger]

Ty shook his head, either the Elvaan woman was right, and she was the target, or she was being self-important... of course there was the third option, that she was in fact behind the attack in the first place. Faking being attacked by bandits to gain sympathy. He called out to her, "Wait! Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here with us until the Western Sun returns. If you were the intended target, surely there might be others lying in wait." And that way we can keep an eye on you...

He grinned sheepishly, "Where are my manners? I have forgotten to introduce myself. Tylendal Kalamvir, son of Lord Artalan Kalamvir. On behalf of House Kalamvir, welcome to Vin Cressal, diplomat Kesethia." Ty bowed very formally, she may have been Elvaan, but she was still a diplomat and thus worthy of respect.

[fendrin]

Lance

Casually getting back on his bike, Lance wheels over next to Gale, and leans over, whispering in her ear.

Hey pretty lady, you might have more luck in Common...

With a wink to her, he turns his attention to the rest of the group. Playing a soft flamenco (something like this (http://youtu.be/AIzKsNIRrV4)), he says:
"I am called Lance. A wandering musician seeking truth, beauty, and justice, and of course the ultimate in music from all lands..." his voice trails out as he finishes his song with a flourish.

"The young lord is right my lady ambassador, this may have merely been a prelude to a more subtle attack."

[Zerkai]

Gale blinked quizzically at Lance as he whispered and winked to her.

" Kupo? Kupo kupo kupokupo Kupoku-" The White Mage stopped mid-kupo upon her realization as to what language she was speaking, eyes growing wide as she covered her mouth.

"R... Right, of course. My name is Gale Holtz, a White Mage of The Church of the Triad. Is anyone else injured?" She introduced herself again with a bow, this time in Common. her eyes scanned the others, unable to keep track of and heal everyone in that battle.

"Huh? But I am speaking Commo-"

[Kyrinthic]

Krystara stops for a second, pauses and turns towards Tylendal.
"You are right of course, although it strikes me as odd that they were called off on 'important classified matters' right before the attack."

"It is a pleasure to meet a noble who is willing to stand up and protect his people as he should", she bows formally to Tylendal as she says this.

She pauses a moment before continuing on, pondering the wisdom of seeking help from complete strangers, but she is in a strange land, where its entirely possible the very people who invited her in want her dead.

"I admit I am quite new to this city, it would be nice to have some others with a known face with me when the guards return. I worry how much my opinion of events would be trusted."



HP: 171 / 180 -- MP: 111 / 111 -- Limit: 40 %

[Kantolin]

Mako looked around the square quickly. The guard would be here soon. On the one hand, he had the chance that he wouldn't have problems happen to him in particular as he was guarding a hume from obviously bandits, and there were several other humes in the square who would agree that the bandits were just that.

On the other, more focal hand... he'd just killed humes in the marketplace, for any reason. If someone - anyone - decided that they were upset about this and needed someone to blame, or wanted to ensure that he got no credit, or just didn't like moogles, he could be executed or at least arrested with as little as that. His ward was also not from Kenelm - her weight certainly wouldn't hold against any noble's or possibly even the guard's.

Thus he was about to try to edge Gale away from the square before it became too clear that they were involved when she stepped forward, checking on the injured.

He cringed, moreso as she spoke mogri. He'd still never heard his language spoken before by anyone that wasn't themselves a moogle, but at the moment his focus was on leaving. He reached towards her, saying softly, "Gale...", with the intent of both suggesting she stop speaking mogri and that they creep off.

...which was when others began to introduce himselves, and he instead froze. House Kalamvir - he'd heard of the house. Granted, not directly - all the noble houses kind of blended together in one entity of problematic - but it was still a noble. Terrific, now a few words and to jail or worse he'd go unless he was on that noble's good graces.

Thus he tuned in what was being said again - or rather, returned it to the front of his memory. A diplomat, a noble, a musician, a white mage. Many people not from Kenelm - and it felt like an array of eyes were on him, in particular, which meant he couldn't creep off. Although he found himself calmed increasingly by the soothing song Lance played - he'd always been very fond of music.

Thus, a bit hesitantly, he stepped forward instead. "I'm a little surprised the guard isn't here already, kupo." He stated, thus officially cementing himself as present and focal. "They're going to want to speak to everyone here."

He kept an eye on Gale - that was, after all, his job - and one on the noble who probably had some ploy with this.

[Zefir]

Ezrael looks at the white Mage.

"I only got some minor wounds, which could wait until the stronger wounded ones are cured."

He heads to the diplomat ans formaly welcomes her in the Elvaan way.

In Elvaan
"Welcome to Vin Cressal the city that hate's non hume."
He seems to dislike this fact as well and he just wants to give her an advice of what may happen in this city.

Then he heads to Tylendal. He is a noble one which may help him gather some informations he wanted befor he visits his family.

"Ah the House Kalamvir. maybe you could help me. I was away for a long time and I haven't got any informations about the house I'm from. Do you maybe have some knowledge about the Kaskadin?"

Stats:
HP: 104/126
MP: 98/98
EVA: 18
M.EVA: 24
Limit Gauge: 100%

[Zerkai]

Gale looked down at Mako as he started speaking, blinking curiously as she didn't seem to understand the situation he might be in. As she heard Ezrael speak in Elvaan she winced, putting a hand to her head as she felt a small migraine. She looked back to the group of people, diplomat, child of a Lord, a musician, most seemed to know a few languages.

"Okay... first." She brought up her staff up, chanting her healing incantation as she cast the spell on Ezrael. Once she had finished she took a look around at the others again, speaking up in a language that wasn't Mogri, Elvaan, Mithran, or Galkan.

For those that speak Ancient; "This is a shot in the dark, but are there any here that know this language?"

Status;
Casting Cure on Ezreal: 52 + [roll0]
HP: 80/84
MP: 121/136

[fendrin]

Lance

The musician blinks a few times and stares at the polyglot white mage.

"I haven't heard... you may not want to be that carefree with your words. Or your languages. There may be some here that would be more interested in you than you would care to discover."

[Starsinger]

Ty looked down, trying to tactfully answer Ezrael's question when Gale began speaking in Ancient, drawing his attention. Maybe it was her Wendshari accent, but Gale's Ancient sounded differently than Ty had ever heard the language... not necessarily wrong, but certainly different.

Ancient Be very careful, shooting into the Dark. You may awaken a demon. Ty looked at Gale, very seriously, "Lance is right, I would not continue flaunting about your linguistic prowess. If for no other reason than you might be misconstrued as someone vying for Demi-Human rights and equality. His voice was colder and his tone even. The penalty for treason was harsh, and anyone involved with a traitor became suspect. He hoped the gravity of that wasn't lost on the White Mage.

[Kyrinthic]

Krystara raises an eyebrow at gale when she speaks in ancient, but then turns when Ty replies.
"Oh yes, wouldnt want people to have rights and all that, downright inhuman." she replies with a scowl.

[Starsinger]

Ty looks at Krystara, "Wanting that is fine. Asking for it is what makes trouble... This is not Wendshar and this is not Altaego. Around here we watch what we say lest someone who has power and does not like what you say removes your ability to say it again." He sighed as he realized he was rapidly losing his chances at any of these people accompanying him on his journey. He opened the book he had been carrying and waved his hand over it, causing black letters to form on the page.

Ty's DiaryAquarius 22nd, 407PC.
Today I began my exile from Vin Cressal, mandated by my father. I am to return only when I have given up my "foolish ideas" and see the world "as it really is" or rather, how Lord Kalamvir sees it.

I went to the market to buy supplies, and ran into Minister Dureem's bodyguard. The one father keeps making lewd comments about, the Mithra. She mentioned I might be killed by bandits, and then suspiciously, the market was attacked by Sky Pirates. I cannot prove she was involved, but I cannot rule it out either. Thankfully there were quite a few of us in the market who fought off the Sky Pirates.

The other Sky Pirate thwarters are, an Elvaan Diplomat from Altaego, a Wendshari White Mage who likes to show off her linguistic abilities, a lady(?) who was accompanying the Diplomat who was casting spells, a small moogle, a swordsman asking about the Kaskadin, and a handsome musician. I tried to warn Gale, that is the White Mage, against flaunting her language speaking around, but people took it the wrong way.

[Kantolin]

Mako gritted his teeth at the responses being given.

Why were they saying things like that? Statements like that would get him enslaved, arrested, or killed due to pure proximity! You'd think these people would be more acclimated to keeping their mouths shut.

He hated how much attention he was bringing to himself by speaking up, but at this point he had to. "That's a good point, there are several here new to Kenelm who may not understand what's going to occur." He said, perhaps a bit overly loudly - this wasn't really his forte at all, but arguments among humes were bad for moogles.

"The guards are going to show up - I'm a little surprised they're not here already, kupo. They're going to question the h...." He paused for a brief millinstant, as he didn't want to say 'the humes' as the goal was to try to defuse that conversation line. "- to question several of us, so they can get a good feel for what happened. There were a lot of h-people effected, kupo, so that shouldn't take too long to sort out. Normally when I see it, the entire process only takes an hour or so, so it won't be so bad."

He then turned to Krystara. "Too bad this happened, though - it must be interrupting your business here, Krystara. I'm not sure if you were the focused target, though - the bandits didn't seem to be focusing their fire in any particular direction, almost like they were out for general chaos instead."

That was probably more than he'd said in the past week altogether. He bit his lip slightly, eyeing mostly the humes to see if it'd stick into a less volatile conversation.

...where were those guards?

[Zerkai]

The mage looked between the others worriedly as the discussion got a little hostile, fidgeting with her staff guiltily as she head Mako speak up. She did speak up again as conversation turned to the bandits "Perhaps this was a distraction? Though if they wished to draw the guards attention, they seem to have failed." She spoke aloud as she took a look around.

"... I apologize, I should have explained myself first. I suffer from Amnesia, taken in and raised at the Church of the Triad for three years. I have a feeling I traveled through this city once before." She explained as she looked to Ty, Lance, and Krystara.

"I do not know what language I was speaking before. I could speak it as long as I can remember from the past 3 years, I don't know what this language is however. I did not even know I could speak Mogri till I started speaking in it." She finished as she looked down to Mako.

[Kyrinthic]

"The language was ancient, it is somewhat rare outside of the scholarly. You must have an interesting past, I wish you luck in recovering it someday.", Krystara replies, appraising the mage.

[Zefir]

"We should really stop talking in different languages. We all seem to be part of this fight. Some may be more related to the attack than other, but noone of us seem to have known about this. If the guards came up we should go and start our own researches. If the bandits really wanted to assassinate the diplomat, why should they do it here in the mid of the market?"

Ezrael sais. Either way he takes a closer look at the dead bandits searching for something noticable like a Tattoo or seal that shows where they belong to.

[fendrin]

Lance

Lance gazes at Gale for a moment, absorbing her story.

Amnesia and speaking ancient... this beautiful lady is becoming even more interesting. I bet she'd be a real asset.

"Amnesia, huh? That's got to be annoying. Well, anyway, you all are right, this is definitely a sticky situation and we all need to watch what we say and do. Whether we like it or not, we're all in this together."

Well, I wanted to get a measure of the new ambassador, guess I'll be getting to know her a bit more thoroughly than I anticipated.

"If the guards aren't here yet, there must be either a much larger situation they are dealing with, or there is someone with a lot of power involved in the attack. In either case we shouldn't stay here. In fact, it might be best if we got out of the city altogether, lay low for a while and see what happens."

He ponders for a moment.

"They'd be anticipating that you would return to your airship, so we can't go there. Probably the best thing would be for you to disguise yourself and we can just walk right out the front gate, or maybe hide you in a cargo shipment. I should be able to get a hold of suitable vehicle to pull it off... Unless one of you locals have an idea of how we can get out of town undetected? Underground tunnels, sewers, or the like?"

[RelentlessImp]

Dei rouses himself out of his stupor of staring at the dead bodies, blinking rapidly. Everything everyone's said replays itself in his head, and he takes a quick look around. He starts at the mention of guards; he doesn't really want to be here when they show up.

He makes his way to the rest of the group, leaning on his staff, his other hand resting on the folded up airship resting on his hip, a tiny block of metal dangling from a leather thong. "My name is Dei," he introduces himself to them. He turns to the elf woman, sketching a quick bow in her direction.

"Thank you for protecting my hide from those dangerously sharp blades those men were carrying. However, I feel that we should quickly move away from this locale before the Guard shows and starts asking questions; nobles and ambassadors involved in local scenes of carnage begin to make the politicos nervous, and people start to disappear when that happens."

He turns to the others, taking them in in a moment. "As I used to live here, teaching at the local college, I do have a place we can go to hole up - if it hasn't been sold or rented out by now, at least. Once we get out of the street and out of public eye, I suggest we pool our resources to figure out where we go from there."

[Naki]

From the northern square, the faint clatter of claws on cobblestone can be heard, over the low rattle of reins and the clank of armor and baldric. The first indication of the guards returning to the square.

Standing amidst the bodies of civilian and enemy alike, and finding yourselves wondering which side the guards will take you for, you've found yourselves a number of pressing options:

a) Dei has offered shelter to regroup and hide from the Western Sun. Many of you know that this method implies guilt, and if you don't move quickly, the guards will catch your flight, only further solidifying this accusation. You'll be able to remain in the city and learn more of what has occurred, but danger will lurk at every corner as you must evade the Western Sun.

b) Lance has suggested fleeing the city altogether. This presents itself in two obvious manners:

b.1) You may flee via the airship port. The Elvaan ship that brought Kystara to the city is still docked, and may be commandeered for your own personal use. Guards are stationed here, but are few in number, as Krystara witnessed. Violence here would be inevitable.
b.2) You may flee via the western or southern gates. This method might prove more dangerous, as it requires passing through the guard outposts to reach the outside of the city. Guards will be greater in number, but time is of the essence - beating the couriers to the Guards may ensure safe passage, without violence.
Escape, Navigation, Streetwise or Lore: Kenelm -10 (Success Varies by character)
b.3) You are aware that there is a number of exits to the lower plains outside of Vin Cressal via the sewer system. The guards would be unable to find you here, but you'd find yourself in new dangers, as monsters roam the sewers.

c) You can always stay and explain the situation to the Western Suns. This risks disbelief, however. If unsuccessful, or the guards don't believe you, you may find yourselves jailed, or provoke violence from the Western Sun. If successful, you may learn more about the situation directly, and maintain your innocence and safety within Vin Cressal.

d) There are always other options to dealing with the situation - quick thinking might allow you to create a number of other plans. But none of these have presented themselves yet.

[Zerkai]

Gale eyes widened as some members of the group knew of the language. She leaned on her staff as she thought about this information. "Ancient? Thank you for your assistance, I now have some ideas to find out more about myself." She bowed her head to the group while they spoke of there they should go next, considering going with Dei since he worked in a college, possibly a place she could study to find more information.

This idea flew out the window as she heard the rattling of reins and armor clanking, the sounds of guards approaching stirred something in the mage, quickly overtaken with a panicked expression as she hurried, running around the square to look for something.

"Guards- Sewers lead Out of here-out of city!" The White mage that had been keen on staying here and tending to the wounded was now turning over the dead bodies with her staff to to find some kind of entrance into the sewers as if possesed.

[fendrin]

Lance

Lance quickly moves over to the lady mage and assists her, a grim look on his face.

[Kyrinthic]

"You go, take the other non-humes with you to be safe. I will remain and help explain what happened, as it would look poorly upon my people if I were to flee after the attack, they might even think I was responsible if I left." Krystara replies, standing resolutely to wait for the guards to arrive.

[Zefir]

"I will stay here as well. I just arrived here and I don't really want to run off. On the other hand I could help explain the situation."

Ezrael stands near the elvan to underline his statement.

[Daisuke1133]

Stay or go... damnation, I cannot run until I find Master Dureem. I don't trust the guards to listen, but I must stay.

Cinta moves to stand alongside Dei, Ezrael, & Krystara with the servant close behind her.

*I will stay. I cannot go running off until I have found my employer.*

OOC:
Crap... Writer's Block has taken a jackhammer to my brain. That was... bad. :smallfrown:

[Starsinger]

Ty shook his head, he couldn't afford the scandal, and he certainly could not afford to be seen in the presence of a traitor to the Empire. "Good luck with the Western Sun... If things look ugly, head for the diplomat's ship. There is a village a few days' journey south, if you would like, we can wait there for a few days in case you have to make a run for it. Also, Ezrael... I would not go about telling people your surname. I..." Do not tell him... You do not have time. "I will explain when next I see you." With that Ty waited for someone to begin walking toward the sewers so they could escape.

[Kantolin]

Bad. Bad bad bad - everything was going counter to his expectations. Days like this made you wish you'd just stayed at home and kept your head down properly.

Okay, so now his hope had to be that either he'd be dismissed as 'some moogle', or at least that he wouldn't be recognized. Normally he'd have stayed for the guards - okay, normally he'd have vanished off before this reached anywhere near that point but once he was sure people weren't hurt - but either way! It was time to go.

He headed towards the sewers, attempting to help others get there as necessary.

[Naki]

Cinta, Ezrael, Krystara
As the three of you stand firm, the others rush off into the nearest alleyway, where they only spare a glance before disappearing into the shadows. The clacking of claws and clatter of armor grows louder and louder, before the armored chocobos, with their mounted riders appear at the top of the marketplace. They stop to take a moment to gather the scene before the leader pushes forward. The group moves quickly, the great yellow birds stepping lightly over bodies as they close in. Spears level off from 5 directions as the Western Suns spread out around you.

"You are under command of the Imperial Guard, third division Western Suns, to explain yourselves at once." The commander, the only one without a spear, dismounts as he speaks, pulling off his helmet. His russet hair, just barely hiding the hint of a point to his ears - a half elf.

"I am Commandant Leirusso, head of the Imperial Guard. I desire to know what exactly occurred here. Why are there so many slain?" The man tucks his helmet under his arm, and against his side, looking from Cinta, to her translator, then to Ezrael, and finally Krystara.

Gale, Mako, Lance, Tylendal

The four of you slip off into the shadows, catching only the final glances of your short-lived allies as they stay behind to face the Western Suns, while you head to the nearest sewer entrance, with Gale - the amnesiac cleric at your lead. It's strange, while she knows so little about herself, she seems quite familiar with the layout of the city.

She weaves to and fro, leading you quickly through alleys and corridors, until she comes to stop at the grate. Mako and Lance wedge it open, and pull it aside, before letting Tylendal and Gale drop down first, before Lance closes it once everyone is inside.

The smell is horrible, and you can hear the chittering of rats, or maybe some kind of insect echo through the sewers. Monsters are said to slip into the sewers from the various drainage pipes that you intend to use to escape, but that'll have to wait - first you'll need to see what lies ahead.

Once light is attained
The location of the Sewers you have dropped into seem to be on the western side of the market - meaning you'll have to pass back under the market to get to the eastern drainage. There's no less than 4 tunnels leading off, however - one to the north, the west, the southeast and the south. Any of them will, eventually, lead to a drainage pipe, but will leave you with very different distances to travel from there.

[Kyrinthic]

"These villains attacked in broad daylight in the middle of this market. We helped the rest of the civilians flee and defended ourselves." Krystara replies defiantly.


Dunno if I need to make a negotiations check or anything, but if so, [roll0] against a 42.

[Zefir]

Ezrael keeps an Military stand and bows a bit by introducing himself and the others.

"My Name is Ezrael. Paladin of Wendsha."

He points at the elf.

"This is Krystara."

Then to the last on.

"And this is Cinta."

He waits a moment so the guards could take a look and memorizise the name.

"It's just like Krystara said. We all where here at the markt for different reasons, as suddendly these Bandits show off. We didn't got enougth time to savle all pasangers, but we took controll of the bandits as soon as possible. I'm not sure why they attacked here, but me and the others teamed up to get them down."


He waits for the respond of the guard now hopin Cinta won't spell out what Ezrael missed on prupose.

[Daisuke1133]

Hm... I'll go along with your little farce. I've nothing to gain by revealing it. Cinta thinks to herself as she formulates a response for the guards. She hopes that the servant is not too frightened to interpret for her effectively.

*It is as they have said, good guardsman. It is my only regret that these bandits were not thwarted before they could take the innocent lives that they did. Though I do apologize if any of you feel we overstepped our bounds by fighting the bandits before you and your men could arrive to apprehend them.*

*And if I might be so bold as to ask a question of you, sir? My employer, Minister Dureem, seems to be missing; and I am concerned that he might be in danger. Do you or your men have any indications of his location or where he might have been last seen?*

[Zerkai]

Once they were in the sewer Gale leaned on her staff, eyes wide and her breathing heavy as she covered her lower face with her robe. "Haah... haaah... I think... I think I've done... haaah... this before..." Once she caught her breath she stood up, eyes watering a little at the stench.

"Okay... I vaguely recall fleeing the city the same way, so its probably good I didn't stay and wait for the guards."