VVVVVigil: Valorous Veterans Vanquishing Venal Vermin

[Ashen Lilies]

[Wenomir's House]

Cass nods. She looks... slightly relieved.
"Thank you."

[Purple Eagle]

"I hope so. Might change if I spend a lot of time in one shape more than human." If she starts living as a robin to avoid the pain of elderly-her's arthritis, for example. Her eyes light up when she accepts the book on distances in magic. It'll likely be some help, though before she dives in Karasu says something that makes her look up and frown. "My father gave me that bag, Kari. I'm... glad you didn't." She's not got much to remember her father by, and this rucksack- battered and old as it is- is important to her for that reason. He feels close when she uses it.

Karalie- Library

Karasu takes Natalie's free hand, looking quite apologetic. "I know, Talie, but... it looks pretty battered. How about getting it restored, instead? Maybe there's magic for that, too, that you can learn, so you never have to change it? Just... make it look better?" She finishes, reaching to cup Natalie's face in her hands.

[Earl of Purple]

Karalie- Library

"I'm a conjurer, Kari. I'm not a spellsmith or an enchanter, able to imbue objects with magic. I could fix it mundanely, I guess. Patch it up, make it look nicer, but keep the bag." Natalie knows there's magic for it, but I won't let her use it. Earl-magic is mean and doesn't like sharing. "I guess... I guess it is really old, maybe I should get a new one before it falls apart and it's no longer recognisable." She sounds quite glum at the admission; it's really not something she's happy doing.

[5a Violista]

[Leaving the Library]

Awen finally leaves the library so that she can go back to her room and rest.

...
It's something that has been on her agenda for a while, and only now she's getting to it. Of course, it's because her ribs are still broken and ribs take about two months to heal. She's just been putting off resting for so long, since she really wants to find out what went wrong.

[Reinholdt]

[Important Meeting]

"Hmm, unfortunately that option's not ready yet, so I couldn't tell you exactly how they'd do it. They have experience in similar matters, but because of the nature of the souls in question, they are being exceptionally thorough in their research into procedure and precautions. Which takes time, and unfortunately the invasion into Riverside did delay things on their end as well when they had to relocate."

"And I'm knowledgeable? I guess? But that level of magic theory is beyond me, so I've mostly stayed out of their way until they are ready." So Rein couldn't explain it even if he wanted. He was only ready for the option of transfer to his vault, not full closure.

"The risks are a bit more obvious, though. Such a ritual would necessitate exposing the souls themselves. Which always leaves a... minute possibility of escape. Plus whatever risks the magics themselves would contain." Rituals gone wild is a favorite back alley seller. "I had personally thought it was a higher risk than containment, but over a much shorter period of time. Forever is a long time. At least, I thought as much until today. Containment might actually be the greater risk."

[Shadowcaller]

[Important Meeting]

"Would we know about the mages you hired, Rein? I think I'd want some of their references at least. Just to get some ideas of who we're working with. I myself have only limited experience of working with souls. It's a sensitive issue from more than one perspective and with that in mind I'd like to know everything there is to know about these mages and preferably meet them if I haven't heard of them before." Cessie argues.

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

"Oh, you misunderstood. I'm totally a hero, it's just that I need people like you to write cool stuff about me so they know I'm impressive and stuff." Anika explains with a nod. "But do you want a massage or something, Rain? You look pretty stressed out. Didn't mean to dump so much on you at once." The druid chuckles nervously.

[Morty]

[Important Meeting]

"I admit that laying them to rest is a tempting prospect," Wenomir says. "If we contain them, no matter how securely, someone somewhere might still get the bright idea to try and get into them. Or a disaster might strike. I'd be glad not to have to worry about them. That being said, we do need to be sure before we try it."

[Purple Eagle]

"I'm a conjurer, Kari. I'm not a spellsmith or an enchanter, able to imbue objects with magic. I could fix it mundanely, I guess. Patch it up, make it look nicer, but keep the bag." Natalie knows there's magic for it, but I won't let her use it. Earl-magic is mean and doesn't like sharing. "I guess... I guess it is really old, maybe I should get a new one before it falls apart and it's no longer recognisable." She sounds quite glum at the admission; it's really not something she's happy doing.

Karalie- Library

Eagle-magic likes to be the lone magic type in a user, as well!

Karasu wordlessly makes an 'aww' face and pulls Natalie into a warm embrace. "Let's try and patch it up first. There'll be techniques out there to make it look nice again, patch up the holes and structural weaknesses with similarly-coloured material." Her voice, while soothing, has gained that quality it gets when an idea's popped in her head. "By the time we're done, it'd be good as new. You'll have your bag, patched up, and Bob's your Uncle."

She finishes, drawing back with her hands on Natalie's shoulders. "Chin up, Talie. Worst case, we'll just put the bag somewhere for you to be looking at, maybe find someone to miniaturize it so you can wear it as a necklace, or something." She makes light of the situation, trying to cheer her girlfriend up.

[Earl of Purple]

Karalie- Library

Earl-magic doesn't even share with other Earl-magic. Most of the time; there may be some exceptions. And some inherent magical abilities from other settings can mesh with Earl-magic.

Natalie's happy to hug back, heartened by the thought. "I don't think a rucksack necklace would look very nice." Besides, if it's that small it'll break far easier. All the bits it's wearing thin will be so much thinner. Maybe turning the material into a keyring or something might work, though? Hopefully it'll be fixable and such drastic methods won't be needed.

[Recaiden]

"The main risk is the mages themselves, I would say." Arlem says. "The one who came here did not seem...security-minded, to say the least.

"The second is that these are not ordinary souls. I worry that containment may end up being the only option for them."

[Reinholdt]

[Important Meeting]

"You might know them. The Fourth Tower. I mean, I expected nothing less than a meeting. The whole purpose of the visit today was to let you inspect what I had thus far." And to see where they stood on the whole thing.

"I've been taking my time investigating them as well. If anything, their recent split from the more dubious elements of their organization has been encouraging. Come by HALO at any time and I'll set up an introduction."

Rein glances at Arlem, with a slight raise of the eyebrow. "If containment is the only option, then it's the only option. But we need to ascertain that first."

[5a Violista]

[Ferry to Skybase]

Holly the Half Elf^TM arrives to the ferry location, getting off the train to go up. Unless something happened, a certain person named Swetlana, who wants to join Vigil, is accompanying her.

Holly, of course, looks like a normal half-elf. Dark skin, black hair in a braid, floral-patterned skirt, pointy ears, a mask on her face covering especially the scarring on the right side of her face, and a long glove going over her right hand (but not her left) to protect her hand and prevent whatever contamination from spreading - she had got some weird mutagen on her hand while investigating the skinwalkers.

She'll be fine, right?

"So unless you can fly, this is the best way up," she says, as someone who has gotten on the skyship ferry. "Even if you can fly, I'd still recommend taking this up in case they think you're an intruder or whatever."

[Shadowcaller]

[Important Meeting]

Cessie does raise an eyebrow when she hears 'the fourth tower'. "Yes, it's that group of wizards that aid's Malechenar, wasn't it? I've heard of them before too but in a different context. They must be a smaller part of a larger association. The word 'mage' threw me off though. Where I'm from it's usually reserved for actual eldritch users and not- well, binders of spirits. Still that should be their expertise I hope. Though I feel we have to meet them first of course before we can take any decisions." She turns to Wenomir. "First we'll deal with Cassandra of course. We can't really do anything until we actually have the souls. Once that is done we could talk to the fourth tower." Cessie shifts her gaze to Arlem and Rein. "Does that sound like a plan to you?"

[Morty]

[Important Meeting]

"I didn't even know the word 'mage' until I came here. 'Sorcerer' was the one everyone used." Wenomir shrugs. "But that does sound like a plan. I will contact Cassandra and ask if she knows where to look for the souls. But maybe we don't need to wait with ascertaining if those Fourth Tower magicians can really release the souls. I can contact Cassandra while Cessie meets them."

[Recaiden]

"Of course. Just be prepared for the worst."
Arlem answers.
She nods to the commanders. It's a reasonable course of action, and Wenomir's suggestion of working in parallel makes sense.

[Purple Eagle]

Earl-magic doesn't even share with other Earl-magic. Most of the time; there may be some exceptions. And some inherent magical abilities from other settings can mesh with Earl-magic.

Natalie's happy to hug back, heartened by the thought. "I don't think a rucksack necklace would look very nice." Besides, if it's that small it'll break far easier. All the bits it's wearing thin will be so much thinner. Maybe turning the material into a keyring or something might work, though? Hopefully it'll be fixable and such drastic methods won't be needed.

Karalie- Library

If it's that small and retains its physical properties asides size, it wouldn't break any easier! ^_^

"Don't worry, Talie, we'll get it fixed, soon it'd be right as rain." Karasu kisses her girlfriend's nose, then points to the book Natalie's currently holding. "We can do that afterwards, though. Let's go practice, we can use the training room for that." And Karasu leads Natalie to the training room, where they train some for magic, then spend the rest of the evening hanging out while the scene ends.

[Reinholdt]

[Important Meeting]

"I've already lived through the worst," Reinholdt replies.

"Sorry about the naming confusion. My world didn't have mages either. Just the Siamese monks." Reinholdt stands up. "I'm fine with either of those two options. Whenever you're ready to check them out. I shall inform them you will be coming."

Rein pauses with a thought. "Unless you want the inspection to be blind and unannounced. There are merits to that, though they seem ambiguous." There are reasons to do surprise inspections, but Rein couldn't think of a definitive one for this situation off the top of his head.

[Shadowcaller]

[Important Meeting]

"Might be best to tell them. If they're prepared they're prepared, if not I think we would notice either way." Cessie turns to Wenomir. "You really think it's best to do both at the same time? I mean, we can't do anything without knowing about the souls first." She looks to Rein again. "Why don't I talk to these wizards after Wenomir has clarified a few things regarding the souls. That way I'd have more information to tell them. From what I understand wizards need a lot of information to go on to get the desired results. It takes a lot of planning to deal with spirits after all."

[Morty]

[Important Meeting]

Wenomir rubs his chin.

"Let's not complicate this further by a surprise inspection. Cesse is right, though, that it'll be better to go meet those mages with information about the souls in hand, if not the souls themselves. Let's wait until I've at least asked Cassandra about it."

[Seeking Cessie]

After Cass has left his house, Wenomir cleans himself up some more and goes to find Cessie.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Important Meeting]

"Would we know about the mages you hired, Rein? I think I'd want some of their references at least. Just to get some ideas of who we're working with. I myself have only limited experience of working with souls. It's a sensitive issue from more than one perspective and with that in mind I'd like to know everything there is to know about these mages and preferably meet them if I haven't heard of them before." Cessie argues.

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

"Oh, you misunderstood. I'm totally a hero, it's just that I need people like you to write cool stuff about me so they know I'm impressive and stuff." Anika explains with a nod. "But do you want a massage or something, Rain? You look pretty stressed out. Didn't mean to dump so much on you at once." The druid chuckles nervously.

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

"O-oh."

And then Rain is presented with a choice! On one hand, she's not that much stressed out. On the other hand, she could get a massage from a tall purple elf chick. A tall, very muscular purple elf chick...

"I-I think that might be nice."

[Recaiden]

Already lived through the worst? That's so optimistic.

The next step is all up to Wenomir, and is the biggest unknown factor left.
"Do we have any other concerns before Wenomir goes to ask?"

[Reinholdt]

[Important Meeting]

"Yeah, alright. Wait it is. The priority is recovery anyways."

Reinholdt shakes his head slowly. "I have no other concerns I need to discuss at this time. If there are no questions you have of me, I'll take my leave."

[Shadowcaller]

[Important Meeting]

Cessie nods to Rein. "We'll keep you updated, Rein. Once Wenomir talked to Cass we'll see what information she has to share."

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

"Alright, just sit down, uh..." Anika looks around until she spots a backless wooden bench some distance away in a relatively private area of the base. "There. That's perfect."

Once Rain has taken a seat Anika will start off with a light shoulder massage. Her height makes it rather easy to do. "But yeah, no need to be nervous around the people here. We're all just that, people. We can fight good, but I've never really tried music. Is it true that if you play well enough you can make magic?"

[Seeking Cessie]

Wenomir will find her in her temporary office by the barracks. Once he has knocked on the door and she has bid him to come inside she folds her hands and places them on the desk in front of her. "So what can I do for you, Wenomir? This doesn't have to do with Anika, does it?"

[Morty]

[Important Meeting]

Wenomir nods.

"That seems to be all for now."

[Seeking Cessie]

"...no, it doesn't." Wenomir's not sure why Cessie would expect that, but never mind. "This is about Kr. Or... not her, exactly. It's complicated. An elven sorceress named Cassandra... broke into my house yesterday. She said she has Kr's memories and she proved it. She told me about things only Kr would know about. Apparently, she's... part of her mind comes from Kr, part of it is her own. I don't entirely understand it and I don't think she does, either."

[Recaiden]

With everything talked out and a plan of action settled on, Arlem heads to leave the meeting.

[Reinholdt]

[Important Meeting]

"Well then, good luck. And thank you." Reinholdt gives a surprisingly deep bow before excusing himself and leaving.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

"Alright, just sit down, uh..." Anika looks around until she spots a backless wooden bench some distance away in a relatively private area of the base. "There. That's perfect."

Once Rain has taken a seat Anika will start off with a light shoulder massage. Her height makes it rather easy to do. "But yeah, no need to be nervous around the people here. We're all just that, people. We can fight good, but I've never really tried music. Is it true that if you play well enough you can make magic?"

[Elves]

Rain plops down, gathering her shoulder-length hair up a bit to make it easier for Anika to reach her shoulders. She rolls her neck around, humming with appreciation for the massage.
"I've met bards who could. Never done it myself, but I know a few simple spells."

[Shadowcaller]

[Seeking Cessie]

Cessie's expression is neutral as Wenomir explains. All she does is folding her hands together as the listens.
Once he's done, she takes a moment before replying. "I realize that this is a private matter and all for you, and I of anyone should respect such things. But I feel I need to ask what she told you that made you trust her so. The story is quite extordinary and thus it requires extordinary proof to back it up. What I feel I lack the, ah, context of is why KR would suddenly be an elf. We do know that the cuthun creatures had her body in their possession and that she disappeared during their attack. So what exactly happened between then and now?"

[ELVES!!!]

Anika is quite proffesional in her massage. It's like she's been trained in this or something.
"Oh cool! I've never all that good at spells that don't involve healing so what can you cast? Can you show me?" She asks eagerly.

[Ashen Lilies]

[ELVES!!!]

Rain rolls her neck around a little, humming with pleasure at the massage.
"Oh," she says, becoming a little flustered. "It's not much at all... a few basic tricks, a charm to clean and mend my clothes... something to heal a few scrapes. Someone I met once taught me those."

[Morty]

[Seeking Cessie]

Wenomir paces up and down, rubbing his chin.

"Good question. It's a few things, really. She did tell me about things that only Kr would know. And she acted like her, too. Sometimes. Like I said, it's complicated." He stops his pacing. "She thinks of Kr as dead as dead and of herself as having absorbed her memories. But there was one time where she spoke of Kr's actions during the battle as if she'd done them. I think that who or what she is now was born during the fall of Vigil, when Kr... died. I'm still processing all of this."