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Post by Karen on Jan 14, 2014 19:30:57 GMT -6
The Acolyte finished packing her satchel, going over her inventory one more time. A vulnerary, trail rations to last the next couple of days, two full waterskins, and her prayerbook. She'd also packed a couple of spare robes just in case, one never knew when the need might show or how for that matter. Well regardless, she was always a person who packed light anyways, never really seeing the point of packing several bags full to the point of overloading and looking like they would burst at the seams any moment. Just her satchel and the necessities, that was what Karen valued for travel. She waved goodbye to the innkeeper and a couple of the other patrons that she'd spoken with and helped illuminate their faith.
She was on the road once more, a warm yet cool day with this breeze that passed by. It was gentle, unlike the gusts of wind she'd had to deal with yesterday. The Acolyte was two days away from her home village now. It'd be a great pleasure to visit her mother again. Well, so long as The Herald didn't have an Operative laying in wait to send her off elsewhere immediately. It had been a rather distressing sort of pattern to Karen. She knew it was all most certainly for the greater good, but still.
Even an Inquisitor like Karen needed a rest now and again. But still, the fight to spread the illuminating light of Elimine was a fight that Karen would fight relentlessly for. Then again, a rest and a pleasant visit with her mother was something she was also greatly looking forward too. Only time would tell whether it was an easy going day, another dispatch, or perhaps something else that awaited her. What ifs always were a big part of her occupation to take into consideration.
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 3:44:29 GMT -6
"Hey Karen." A snake of a voice slithered through the air, belonging to a snake of a man. He was standing nonchalantly, his back up against to a tree as the woman came walking down the road. He had been tailing her for a little bit now, but he finally decided to make his presence known, for a handful of reasons. The most important of which was that he was growing bored. It's never too much fun to trail someone with no idea you're there, there's no challenge and no fun. He was looking at the sky, nonchalant as possible. Of course sneaking up on someone like Karen is definitely a great deal more difficult than, say, a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks he's always being watched. She knew the tricks of the trade, so they didn't really work on her. Luckily for Zera, this sort of thing was his forte. Karen was more of an assassin first, spy second. Zera was the opposite, he was more of a spy then an assassin. Lying, sneaking, thinking of his feet, gathering info, all that good stuff. Of course he still killed people, that much was a given.
"Visiting home I see? Well, it would surely be a shame if... I dunno... someone gave you a mission to go all the way to Ilia and kill someone. Wouldn't it?" He taunted with a toothy grin. As always he used almost no body language, which was a necessity but also a depressing thing. He used to gesticulate and make grand gestures, but now that he had lost something... important, it made it more difficult. It's always better that no one knows just what he's missing, and to that effect he wasn't able to move his body too much.
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 4:04:50 GMT -6
There was this feeling that Karen had. A feeling of being followed for awhile now.
"Hey Karen."
She sighed inwardly as the voice reached her ears and her eyes reached his presence. Of course it would be the one man that could sneak up on her.
"Zerachiel."
Always a pain to deal with. It wasn't the first time that she had to work with him. Karen had to admit though, Zera produced results. He was the lurking shadow to her striking knife, the spy to her assassin. They did make quite the team when put together. It was hard to deny success when it came to a working combination. Even then, it never really improved her level of approval for the man. Yes, there was a certain amount of respect that Karen held for her fellow Inquisitor, but it didn't mean she ever had to like him.
"Visiting home I see? Well, it would surely be a shame if... I dunno... someone gave you a mission to go all the way to Ilia and kill someone. Wouldn't it?"
There it was. That smug grin he always wore. One of the things that left her with thoughts of strangling him. Though briefly she did note his lack of grand gesturing as he once did. Perhaps something had changed that Zerachiel wasn't willing to show. Regardless, Karen gave her usual facade of a grin when it came to her occupational concerns. Her attitude when she acted as an Acolyte was genuine, but the attitude she held when acting as an Inquisitor was a whole other matter. Her eyes hardened from their usual softness as she looked at the man's own.
"Yes... I suppose that would be quite the shame indeed. One might wonder where I'd get that order from, wouldn't they?" She'd continued walking, but now stopped as she stood near the tree where Zerachiel leaned. Her voice grew low. Even when it looked like no one might be around, there might be someone still. Just one of those many what ifs.
"The target and place? More trouble in Trent?"
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 4:48:02 GMT -6
"Well, whoever you get it from, it wouldn't be from me." He chuckled lightly. To be honest, Kraft didn't trust him quite as much as he used to. After all now that he was missing that special something, he was more of a liability than an asset like he used to be. It was a heavy blow to his pride, but there was nothing he could do but prove that even though he had lost that thing, that he was just as capable if not more so than all the other spies and assassins out there. "As my job isn't to send you off, but just to watch you." She pressed her back against the nearby tree near him, and it made him chuckle. She took everything so seriously, didn't she ever relax? If it wasn't her doing her job, it was her being an acolyte and 'spreading the word'. He couldn't understand how anyone could buy into that Elmine garbage, and much less to the amount that she did. Then she was also an assassin, and she justified it somehow. It was almost hilarious really, it made her fun to poke at at the least.
"Trent, huh?" He pushed off from the tree with a small chuckle. "I'll have to keep that in mind then." He added with a grin. "I'm sorry for leading you on milady, but it's just so much fun." He knew that Karen didn't like him, to be fair most people didn't. You don't need to like someone to work with them, if anything disliking one another made it more effective. You didn't let your emotions jeopardize thing, if your partner falls you don't grow angry and try to avenge them. You don't go back to save them. You finish your mission, and that's what's important. As long as they had something useful to offer one another, that's all that mattered. That's always been Zerachiel's philosophy.
"You're lucky this time blue, I'm not here to drag you away. As far as I know, you can finally visit your home. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but then again I'm not here to judge you on that. I'm just here to make sure secrets stay secrets and operatives stay operatives, people can grow... emotional coming home. Emotional people talk, and emotional people run. I'm sure you're not surprised, did you really think you could just go home without some sort of escort, right?" He had the sort of smug grin and cocky tone he always held, a sort of vain confidence that inspired some and drove other to want to wring his neck.
"Technically you're not even supposed to know why I'm here. That's no fun though, I think it's better that you know though. I'm not a man without any honor, you deserve some respect for your work. So I decided to reveal myself." He looked in the distance with a grin. "So this is where you're from? Humble beginning to be sure."
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 5:08:45 GMT -6
That was another thing that Karen supposed she had to give Zerachiel credit for. He always was a cunning bastard.
"Of course I expected someone. I was starting to get suspicious, really. Knowing it's you that's been giving me that feeling of being trailed, well it makes sense now. Still, you know better than anyone that I don't run if there's a choice. And when I do, it's for the mission."
This man always did get under her skin. His skills were always clear, but his faith was... lacking, for want of a better term. But... honor and respect? Well, that was new coming from the man before her. Rare was the day he'd say anything but a taunt.
...What happened to Zerachiel? She started to become curious now. Where was the usual pomp and circumstance? Where was the showman that constantly tried his best to look like the highest of class? Curious, quite curious.
"So this is where you're from? Humble beginning to be sure."
"It is. Still wouldn't trade it for anywhere else." There was a certain fondness in her village as she began to relax, starting to walk down the road again.
The village wasn't particularly big, but wasn't small either. If anything, it was actually rather quaint. The St. Elimine Chapel remained the biggest building in the village, not quite as garishly decorated as most of them, but still quite prevalent in it's beautiful architecture.
"Tell me, Zera. How have you been of late? I heard you were the one responsible for taking care of that Dragon. Congratulations on that. No small feat indeed."
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 5:44:47 GMT -6
"Oh I know, you're one of those types. You're full of honor and pride, you never betray and you never run. You're wholly devoted, and that's one of the reasons I'm not even bothering to hide. Still, it's protocol. They had someone follow me when I went home just to laugh in my brother's face." Unlike Karen, he had no good connections with his family and if they needed him he would sooner taunt them then help. Still she seemed to care about her family, and who they are, and had been trying to visit home for months now and they always made sure to make sure she had a mission to go on instead. The thing was, Karen thinks she's above running, but it was her types that were the most likely to. They cared about things other than themselves, which made them useful as well as dangerous.
He squinted his eyes and looked to the distance again. Kinda a dump, but considering where Zera was from, it was a haven. So he wouldn't say anything, the best can come from anywhere after all. "Trying to probe me for information, are you? I take it you don't know then." He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. She wasn't the type to gather information on people for the sake of gathering information, which made her completely different from him in yet another way. He knew everything about everyone, information was power, and he was the king. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes with a sly smile. "You've got a sharp eye, I'm sure you've noticed by now and are just being polite about it." There really was no point in hiding it from her, just the smallest bit of digging and she would find out in moments. Hell, she just had to ASK anyone and they'd probably tell her.
"Yes, I took care of the dragon." He reached to his cloak that draped over his form with it's billowing waves. His left hand was the same as always, clad in a leather glove. Which begged the question how he even managed to get it on, that was a secret he wasn't willing to reveal. Loosening the cloak slightly, he held up his other arm. Or, rather, what was left of it. "But he took something from me as well." It was a stub that reached out to the elbow and then just vanished. It was wrapped up in the long tied off sleeve of the black tunic that laid underneath the black leather armor of his. You couldn't see the actual flesh ending, but it was obvious what happened.
"Still, killing a dragon and only losing one arm? I got off lucky."
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 14:25:55 GMT -6
"Oh I know, you're one of those types. You're full of honor and pride, you never betray and you never run. You're wholly devoted, and that's one of the reasons I'm not even bothering to hide. Still, it's protocol. They had someone follow me when I went home just to laugh in my brother's face."
"Sounds about right. I suspect they were more concerned you were going to kill them than run though." Karen knew little of Zera's family and she didn't care to know more. But from what she did know, well, it was no surprise that the other Inquisitor could be so petty. If ever you got him to talk about them, it was all insults and derision.
"Trying to probe me for information, are you? I take it you don't know then."
Ah, that annoying chuckle and smirk. It was a combination that worked wonders in pissing off targets before now. Karen on the other hand wouldn't be riled by it. Yes, she had to admit she didn't particularly care for gathering information that didn't involve her mission, but she wasn't completely out of the loop when it came to the info game. Even she had some things that Zera might not be fully aware of.
Still, Karen was slightly surprised that news of Zera's sacrifice in the line of duty hadn't reached her ears yet. "I must admit, to only lose an arm in bringing it down is most impressive." She continued walking along. "That Marcus was definitely a troublesome one..." The Inquisitor paused a moment. "That reminds me though, do you have news of that traitor Richter? Last I heard he was heading towards Bern. As well as some rabble starting up trouble in Ilia. Events are starting to prove more troublesome."
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 14:55:54 GMT -6
He bundled his cloak together once more and let out a lengthy sigh, his faced wrenched out of it's usual cheery demeanor. "I wouldn't know." He said frankly. "He vanished off the face of the earth after the events in Bern, and I didn't stick around after I got the dragon riled up. I just ran and got myself healed before I died of blood loss." He remembered the event vividly, it was as if he could feel the creature's teeth tearing into his flesh even now. So long after it happened. The worst was when he forgot he lost his arm, he remembered one time when sitting he tried to lean on it and fell face first onto the table. Not one of his cooler moments. "I've also been secluded up here in Etruria ever since the event." The reason was obvious, he was now a liability. Not an asset. He was rarely sent on mission, he couldn't spy as effectively, and the lack of an arm made it hard to lay undercover. Such a thing is just the sort of outstanding detail that causes a person to remember someone better left forgotten.
"He was there at the battle in the arena, but after that? Who knows. Hopefully he's dead in a ditch somewhere. Still men like him don't die so easily, we had him in our belly and somehow he's managed to escape from right under our nose before. I was out on a mission at the time, but I heard all about it when I returned. Simple despicable, I daresay we'll never get a chance like that again." He rolled his neck around, cracking the tired joints. "Look, I know you don't like me. I mean I'm not exactly your biggest fan either, but I will do my best to behave while I travel with you." It wouldn't be hard, he once went around for over a year as some schlub named 'Roland' and no one even suspected a thing. Well outside of that old man Inigo, who 'mysteriously' vanished. Also he totally just invited his self onto her excursion, it was a forgone conclusion really. It was either he'd travel with her, or he'd stalk her, it was his job after all.
To be truthful, he sort of missed being undercover. It's been so long since he's done so, nowadays he just did stuff like this and rudimentary information gathering with the odd assassination of low priority targets. It was a bit depressing just how much his standing fell, from Kraft's go to guy to just some... low class hired hand. Still, Karen didn't need to know that did she? He grinned as he looked at her again. "You should probably get moving, I bet you can't wait to go home."
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 15:51:07 GMT -6
"He vanished off the face of the earth after the events in Bern, and I didn't stick around after I got the dragon riled up. I just ran and got myself healed before I died of blood loss."
Damnation! The traitor was in the wind again and it'd be a long while before they'd locate him, unless he made himself public. To stray away from the Light with such a sizable force... The heretic was dangerous. No, he was far more than that. He couldn't be allowed to grow stronger. And with the rabble rousing going on in Ilia too... Perhaps it was only a matter of time now. The Ilians were turning into another Bern for lack of a better example. Growing stronger by the year, expanding their dominion ever more. They were getting too damned dangerous.
"Look, I know you don't like me. I mean I'm not exactly your biggest fan either, but I will do my best to behave while I travel with you."
Karen raised an eyebrow slightly. The sacrifice to kill the Dragon really had humbled Zerachiel that much, had it? "The only thing I remember you being a fan of was other men." Karen commented idly. She hadn't a problem with what gender a person loved, but if ever there was someone who had Zerachiel's affection, she pitied them.
"Far as I'm concerned, I've still traveled with worse. At least you can provide some entertainment sometimes." She continued on her walk towards home. It really was refreshing to be able to truly head home again, present company excused. She took a deep breathe and started to loosen up, allowing her Inquisitorial attitude to step aside for her usual behavior as a simple Acolyte of St. Elimine.
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 16:28:37 GMT -6
So she was insinuating that he fancied men, was she? He wasn't angry at her accusation, mostly because it was true. "I would appreciate if you kept the private details of my life private." He said with a small sigh, for someone who sat upon her high horse looking down at all us lowly trash in the gutters, she was eager to bring things like that up with absolutely no remorse. While she herself may or may not have issue with the idea, it wasn't a secret that it was highly irregular and considered quite unnatural to many. To the point of invoking fury amongst some, the fact that many of those who became incensed also happened to be devout followers of Elmine wasn't exactly a comforting correlation. It was no closely guarded secret, but he prefered that it didn't become simple common knowledge. "I'd have thought you'd be above such a thing really, I suppose we're rubbing off on you." He looked at her with a toothy grin.
She began to walk once more, and he shrugged while he followed her. "I'm not sure how much I can provide on the entertainment front, I used to be able to juggle but that's kind of hard nowadays." He walked with almost no movement of the arms. She knew, but someone watching may not, and he'd prefer to leave it as a surprise if it came down to that.
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 16:36:40 GMT -6
"I'd have thought you'd be above such a thing really, I suppose we're rubbing off on you."
"Don't get me wrong, now. I believe love comes in all forms. Frankly, I don't have time for it though. And even if I did, all I'd leave behind is sorrow." She frowned at this. It was pretty much the story of her own mother and father. Something that Zerachiel would realize. "I know you're inclined to certain concerns of the Church and admittedly, I am loathe to agree with you in some form."
"I'm not sure how much I can provide on the entertainment front, I used to be able to juggle but that's kind of hard nowadays."
Karen did get a small chuckle out of that. "I remember you being quite the avid "tale teller" as well. So tell me a story, bard."
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Zerachiel
Assassin
To many you will simply be another fool of a bloody king, but to me you shall always be a friend.
Posts: 99
Profession: Etrurian Assassin
Affiliation: Etrurian Inquisition
Affinity: Light
Profile: Zerachiel
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Zerachiel on Jan 15, 2014 16:50:26 GMT -6
Zera rolled his eyes with a small groan. "Who said anything of love? There's a lot more important things in this world then love, and there's more to attraction then wanting to stay with someone for a lifetime. An afternoon's the most I can stand usually." He said with an almost grumpy sound in his voice. "It's not just the church, it's people in general. People mistrust that is unusual, and they fear that is different." He said with another shrug. "It's a fact of life, and one that's gotten me far. It's how I killed the dragon after all, the beast was slain by the hands of his 'allies' simply because they feared it. I may not be a giant lightning breathing lizard, but I am unusual and that's more than enough to get people to be angry."
"Love's not important though. Not for us. Not for our kind, if anything it's a liability. Something that lets you be easily controlled, if you hold a threaten a man a fearless man does not care. If you threaten his child, however, even a fearless man is powerless." He spoke with a certain kind of certainty that would probably be depressing if it wasn't simply so true. It wasn't as if he'll ever have a child anyways, so it wasn't of importance. "I think I've spoke enough on the subject." He finished with a small sigh.
"However I must admit, I'm not exactly as I used to be. I haven't done much traveling you see, but if that's what your highness demands then I suppose your jester must oblige." He rolled his eyes once more. "Back, quite a while ago, I was undercover. Roland Hawkthorne was the name I went by, I met Rayl his self. I would have slit his throat if that was my job, but I was under strict orders to stay undercover, so despite the painful desires, I repressed it. A shame too, next to Richter, Rayl was easily one of the most wanted men in all of Etruria." He began to recount his journey as a simple mercenary.
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Edrick
Shaman
Even in darkness one can devote themself to the light.
Posts: 114
Sacae Fame: 1
Profession: Jack of all Trades
Affinity: Light
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Post by Edrick on Jan 15, 2014 18:40:27 GMT -6
Looking down at his handmade map, it was nicely drawn with fine details where he had been but it was mostly crude sketches where he had not. He too often took the same roads between places. According to his map, there was a small town a bit out of the way that he had never been to before. It seemed that the road was a lesser road and not used as much. He wasn't really doing anything right now so it was a perfect opportunity to take in the area. With that in mind he began to jog down the road taking any noticeable details to add to his map in progress.
After a while Edrick finally arrived in the town, he wasn't even winded. Being physically fit sure had it's advantages. He pulled up his hood to cover his face and then took out his map to write down details of the stretch of road, it was pretty average so far. After finishing the new portion of the map he put it away and began to check his supplies, this would be as good a place as any to stock up if he needed to. "Hm, let's see..... My vulenary, a couple of tins of water, skinning knife, some salt, some dried and salted meat, et cetera. Looks like I've got enough supplies, I guess I'll just be passing through." he mumbled to himself. On his way out of the village, there were two people standing there conversing, they seemed to have supplies so they might be leaving the town also. Traveling together would be more practical. Without taking off his hood he decided to talk to them. "Excuse me for interrupting you two, but do you happen to be leaving the town? Would you mind if I traveled with you if you were? There is safety in numbers after all."
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Post by Karen on Jan 15, 2014 20:55:00 GMT -6
"Who said anything of love?"
And here came one of those mistrustful loner rants that she'd heard more than a few times from Zerachiel. If there was anything about him that made Karen pity the now one-armed man, it was hearing him say such things. To lose such faith in all the world and truly mistrust one and all, that was a pitiful thing indeed. But besides that, he had a point. Love was not a thing that the Inquisitors of Etruria could indulge in. Their work was not for the weak willed, nor could they afford more loose ends than necessary. Their lot was a lonely one. That was just a simple, yet brutal truth.
At least things were starting to take a lighter tone as the cloaked Inquisitor launched into a tale of espionage and high adventure. "The Paladin Rayl? No jest?" She listened to him continue on, going all the way through Lycia and down to Bern, capping the story with the dreadful dealings of the Arena and the fall of the Dragon known as Marcus. "You truly did have one hell of an adventure, Zera. I almost envy you in this instance."
She paused as she heard distant footsteps moving her way, her eyes swiftly looking back and then forward again, in the blink of an eye, catching the distinctive figure of a man heading their way.
"Excuse me for interrupting you two, but do you happen to be leaving the town? Would you mind if I traveled with you if you were? There is safety in numbers after all."
"Well, I suppose if my companion doesn't mind, then I don't either." She gave a grin, though inwardly she was already starting to contemplate on whether or not she'd need to put this tall fellow down.
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Saturos Prox
Swordmaster
The Wildcard
I'm almost incapable of lying. I'd be a terrible spy.
Posts: 351
Etruria Fame: 1
Profession: Undercover Operative
Affinity: Anima
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Post by Saturos Prox on Jan 15, 2014 22:31:39 GMT -6
"Mind if I come too?" came a happy-go-lucky voice from just behind Edrick. The source was a taller man, shirtless and dark-skinned, with a unique coat of green face paint on the right side of his face. He had a sword on his belt, but little else in the way of accouterments. He was waving to the three of them like an old friend, but that's just how he greeted everyone. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I overheard that you were going to Ilia." He stopped waving, but continued to walk towards the conversing travelers, a wide smile on his face. "I hate to pry, but I've been in town for a couple of days, and was looking for some traveling companions. The road to Ilia is dangerous, swarming with bandits you know, and like the hooded man says, there is safety in numbers after all."
As he finished approaching the three of them, he looked towards the girl and nodded his head. "Obviously we've never met, so I'll introduce myself. My name is Saturos Prox. I'm a merchant from Etruria, and I'm looking for safe passage. I can pay you handsomely, if that's what you're after, but I'd hope a fine acolyte of Elimine would be above such base desires." His gaze then shifted, slowly, to the hooded man, before he offered his hand to be shook. "I've never met you before either. Hi, I'm Saturos Prox, a soldier of Bern. I deserted years ago, so I fill my time wandering from place to place. Ilia is my next destination. I'm good with a sword, so I can make sure you get there safely."
Then, with surprising surety, the swordsman's gaze flitted to the man, and his smile disappeared. "You I know, Zerachiel. We need to talk."
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