Walking Dead (Finished)

[Cefia]

Cefia was happy to have finally reached the town the Silver Hand, Sword, Lance, well Silver something was located. They seemed to be willing to pay for services, but that wasn't the reason for her being here. She wasn't low on money, actually she had managed to gain an excess of it thanks to her mercantile upbringing. The fact that people needed help wasn't a reason either, working for free was never in her dictionary. What she needed was a place to hideout.

She was not a wanted criminal, there wasn't even a wanted posted amid so many others that she can tell. She just wanted something that brings in good money for her handiwork and one that would detract the attention of her parents. It seemed they were alive and well, as well as booming with business. It was going so well that it seemed they were hiring a few people to look for her. Having evaded the lot she heard of, she found that a place reeking with monsters would surely detract the lookers. It wasn't like they were paying hardened trackers or warriors for their search. It seemed most of them was rather skittish travelling merchants.

As soon as she walked through the town gates, she finally let out a sigh of relief that she had been holding on for the trip there. It wasn't easy traveling by oneself, but the way she carried herself definitely helped. She readjusted her sack of her few worldly possessions, consisting mostly of gold and weapons, over her shoulders, her axes clinging together as the made contact with one another. She wasn't all that tired though, having taken her time to arrive, but she would fare better with a drink.

With all that in mind, it wasn't difficult to find the headquarters. As soon as she walked through the doors, she noticed that there were already a few people inside. Her free right hand instinctively adjusted her monocle atop her eye to get a better view of the place. Not wanting to alienate herself from the people, having enough to worry about with enemies, she casually approached a table with what appeared to be another green haired girl, a swordswoman, and two others swordsman.

"Ahoy thar," she grinned, giving a slow wave with her freehand. She paused for a moment, deciding that speaking like her usual thick pirate accent might not be the best approach.

"Pardon me, this is the headquarters for the Silver Cross? If so, this is where we can rest before starting the work, correct?" she asked, bowing her head slightly to take a good look at each of them.

[Mana]

Mana considered what she would order, juice or water? Tea sounded delicious, too. She had weak alcohol resistance so beer, wine, or something similar were forbidden. "I will have tea. Do you have some bread or anything? I am quite hungry." Fighting with empty stomach would be a bad idea, and she greatly doubted the sound of her stomach growling would help killing the undeads. The waitress smiled at them and then left after she finished writing down their orders.

It seemed everyone wanted to ask her about the headquarter today, she thought as another woman came to their table. Mana looked up to see her face, which was partly covered by hairs. If there was something that stole the Sacaen girl's interest, it was the monocle. For Mana, it was the first time she was such strange object. She didn't stare to it too long, though, she wouldn't want to give the green haired woman wrong impression. "Yeah, you are in the right place. We just arrived here, I guess it's same with you. Well, you probably have only a few hours for a short break. My friend said we were going to depart soon, maybe in three or four hours, I am not sure...There are some undeads heading toward the city and we are going to intercept them, you know."

"I am Mana of Hawkeye tribe, by the way. Nice to meet you! Here, you can sit with us." she said as she invited Cefia to join them. The swordswoman glanced at the others to make sure they wouldn't mind. Nah, she doubted these people would reject a new person joining into their little party.

[The Madness]

Oleg dipped his head into a nod to the newcomer. Her thick pirate accent reminded him of that boy, in a way. He smirked a bit, speaking out. "Ahoy there. And yep, you got the right place. You here too to help or were you hired?" He stroked his chin, looking to the other members of the party before moving his eyes to the newcomer once more. Eh, she looked fine. Young, but eh, she can probably still fight.

[Deleted]

At first, the on-guard swordsman lowed his arms a bit when the newcomer came towards them, but settled down immediately as the woman sat down and presented herself as friendly. Her accent intrigued him a bit, but he paid little attention to it afterward. Seemed like they had yet another addition to the team. Though the green-haired woman sure did have a number of weapons carried with her. Another one he should look forward to watching if the opportunity presented itself. Regardless, this was going to be pretty interesting. Their group was an odd combination, but they all seemed impressively skilled. Didn't know if he could say that towards himself though.

"I'm Veigue. It's a pleasure." He spoke up towards the new ally. "...Looks like we'll be having an even better time dealing with these creatures now." Commenting towards the still-growing overall fighting force, he had to wonder just how many undead they were going to face. Would have been nice if they had a rough estimate, but eh, doesn't matter at this point.

[Sylvia]

The green haired little girl turned, already in the middle of her greeting. "Hello! I'm Sylvia..." She started to trail off, "Uh..."

Sylvia stared up at the large lady, her mouth opening a little as she suddenly bolted from her seat and started scurrying all around Cefia like a mouse. "ARE YOU A PIRATE!? ARE THESE YOUR AXES?!" Her excitement wasn't contained one bit, marveling at the much larger woman's axes and stature. "How did you get so big!? I wanna grow that big! Ooo! Ooo! Can you teach me to swing an axe!?"

[Cefia]

Cefia was glad that at least they didn't look too aggravated by her first impression. She didn't need anymore trouble if she can help it. Agreeing to the swordswoman's invite she took a seat next to a younger, green haired lass. However she could seat herself, her weapons took some time to remove. It was simple enough to log them around, but when it came to just sit and relax, quite frankly it was a hassle. Perhaps this was a reason she preferred to be traveling outside. So with a bit of difficulty, she dropped her sack of possessions and soon her axes followed close behind, landing with a rather solid thud on the ground. She was careful enough to not lodge them into the floorboards anymore. It was nice to have a scabbard for a sword, but that hardly worked well when the weapon you carry is larger then you at times. 

"My name is Cefia," she introduced, using her more gentle and diplomatic tone. Sometimes she had to thank her parent's upbringing. However the lass' sudden barrage of questions caught her off guard. Well at least she was enthusiastic, with that considered, she might as well answer, there was no hurry in her for a bloodbath.

"Aye lass," she replied, her voice and tone completely shifting away from a merchantman and to the thick western isles she had picked up. 

"Born 'tis way, I don't mind showin' ye how to swin' an axe, just uh give a go' wit' that one," she chuckled, pointed at the largest of her weaponry, the Dragon Axe. The serrated edge was primed and ready to shred through whatever got in her way. It was also useful to shredding off armor from her experience. 

[Mana]

Cefia's accent kept switching between two very different ones. Her pirate accent was very alien for Mana, who had never met a pirate before. The Sacaen girl stared at the big woman when she was taking off her equipments. Those things seemed heavy, they even made some loud thud as they hit the floor. Cefia must be very strong to be able to carry so easily. "Wow, it seems you didn't have trouble carrying those big axes. I wouldn't be able to walk if I have to carry those things. You know, you are like my friend, he has ridiculous strength."

Mana furrowed her brows and looked away when she realized Caefia might be a pirate. The woman herself actually never commited any direct harm to Mana but the Sacaen swordswoman always hated brigands and pirates. She just couldn't stand being near someone who had ever pillaged, kidnapped, or killed innocent people for gold. Her tribe had suffered an near-extinction thanks for those evil criminals. Well, it might be too soon to judge her evil, besides it was also the first time Mana became acquaintances with a lawless type, she shouldn't be biased about this. It wouldn't be easy, though. A few minutes later, the waitress came back with their drinks and a few sandwichs. Mana quickly grab one sandwich and started eating, the girl was just too hungry and barely able to contain herself. The waitress saw that someone had joined the table but hadn't ordered so she politely asked Cefia what she wanted to drink.

"Hey guys, what do think about this guild? My friend told me that they don't get paid for exterminating undead. They always do it for free despite the danger. Most members are originally from Laus or Lycia so I can understand that their reason for this charitable work is probably nationalism or something. But I wonder, how they afford to pay mercenaries to help them? I mean, where they get their money from?" Mana asked everyone, trying to start a conversation. As she spoke the Sacaen girl began to wonder what the Sacaen people would do if this undead plague were to happen in Sacae.

[The Madness]

"My guess is that they fund it some other way. Mayhaps they gain funding from the church. Or mayhaps they work as protectors or mercenaries when the undead are not around." Oleg shrugged, taking his glass of wine as he sipped it, his eyes moving to each and every one on the table. "If I had to be my usual dry self, I would do a sarcastic comment about the church.. But I wish to aim no insults." He shook his head, simply focusing on his wine.

[Deleted]

Now that his tea had arrived, Veigue grabbed his immediately, but paused before drinking as a new conversation began. He had his own guesses on how they kept the guild running, and it was surprisingly the same as Oleg's guess. "...I'll have to second that. They likely gain their income from either a secondary job, or from an external method, such as donations. If others are devoted to your cause strongly enough, they'll help you keep afloat. It may very well gold coming from both too...or something else we may not know about." Taking a sip from his tea afterwards, he leaned back a bit as he gazed around the place. "The amount of gold needed to keep this place up and to hire this many people must be enormous...but it's worth it, I'd say. Not everyday do you have a group brave enough to take on creatures they don't know much about."

The guild members do look very friendly to where they wouldn't abuse money given to them either, so it was safe to assume that whatever method of income they use was pure. Though it's always said never to judge a book by it's cover. No one knows what goes on beyond the scenes, and most of the time, it's something you wish you hadn't seen and you'd end up in a serious pinch with no way out. But if what Mana said was true and this was out of the goodness of their hearts/charity, then there wasn't much to worry about in that department. Besides, he wasn't the one upholding the law, so not like he could get involved and intervene with any possible shady activity if he wanted to.

After taking another sip from his tea, he simply awaited everyone else's responses. He was actually interested in the conversation...for a change. Normally he would have just said his usual one liner and sit quiet.

[Sylvia]

Sylvia squealed a little as Cefia answered her questions and even allowed her to pick up one of her axes. Looking at the thing, it was really big and spiky. That thing could probably even rip through those really heavy armored guys! "Oooooo..." The little girl wrapped her hands around the handle, moving it over to the edge of the table and using it as leverage to start trying to pick up the immensely heavy axe. Amazingly enough, she managed to get it up into the air and starting to swing overhead.

"YEE-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Sylvia was then quickly falling over backwards, luckily not into any other person. The axe however made a deafening thud as it found itself embedded in the floor, handle sticking up in the air. Sylvia herself began to get up, rubbing the back of her head. After turning to look at the axe itself, she grimaced and quickly got back onto her feet, starting to pull it by the handle again. However, the axe wouldn't budge. What followed could only be described as a comedy routine. After pulling didn't work, she started to push it from underneath. After pushing didn't work, well. Sylvia started jumping up and down on the handle like a rabbit and even that didn't seem to budge the mighty axe.

Finally, she plopped down on her butt near it, feeling quite tired. "Guh... I'm sorry, it's stuck..." She apologized sheepishly to Cefia.

[Cefia]

Cefia simply ordered herself a drink and a bit of meat. For her size, she ate strangely little. The waitress was very polite, she'll give a proper tip. Knowing what it was like to work around fighters, she felt sorry enough. Sure she was a greedy person, but she was wasteful when it came to spending the money. Well that would be how most merchants would see it. It was appearing to be a rather cheerful day, but when Mana asked her question, she lowered her eyes and took a moment to word her question as if in deep contemplation. She heard the other's idea, but unfortunately she didn't think a operation like this was that simple when it came to funds.

"Well where I'm sure some of the funds are from donations and church, I don't think that amount would matter all that much. There are a number of ways I can think of, just by using a few laws within Laus that could possibly help turn up a number of funds. For one, from the documents of Elerain Larkus, service for the people labeled as non profit is subject to a number of tax refunds. Now if the church was supporting this, quite frankly that opens a number of doors to various connections. Importing goods from various merchants while being linked with the Laitel pact would allow for an outrageous amount of discounts especially buying in bundles," she began, spewing a lecture on the current state of politics, treaties, laws, and especially trades. Even When Sylvia got her axe lodged, she simply nonchalantly pried it free and laid it down, without stopping her speech. It wasn't until the waitress finally got around to delivering her drink and food, did she pause for a moment.

"Though, that is just my hunch," she smiled, holding up her mug in good cheer and taking a nice long swig of ale. Not as good as rum, but little is. 

[Mana]

"Okaaay....wrong question...." Mana felt like her brain was being fried after she listened to Cefia's long explanation. She could understand Oleg and Veigue's argument but Cefia had beat her with a strong hammer of knowledge. Well, she wasn't completely helpless about things like economy, politic, or law but the pirate was just too smart for her to follow. Maybe banging her head against the table was a good idea....Was a pirate always this smart? Thankfully, Sylvia was being funny and cute while playing(?) with Cefia's axe. It made her overheated brain feel fresh again. Seriously, that lecture was the most life-threatening experience she had ever had, even beat that time when she fought against Marcus. The maiden of sword laughed and almost fell from her chair when Sylvia failed her last attempt. "Well, I guess we all agree that the funding probably comes from the church and some other ways," she said as she summed their arguments. It was pretty good discussion, although it almost killed her.

"So they are basically good persons, after all. I guess that's why they get warm reception from the townspeople. Which reminds me, when my friend was guiding me to this place, he often received some free food or greeting from the townspeople, mostly girls," she said. This "friend" she talked about was the one who invited her to this town, Albert the White Lion. Mana was quite surprised about his popularity and wondered why that guy got a lot of admirers, though. "I guess we don't need to worry when we are with them then," she added with enthusiastic voice.

"By the way, Oleg? It seems you are not very fond of the church....Mind if I ask why? I mean, I am not their follower because I have my Sacae religion but I don't really see the church as something bad. Sorry if I ask something unpleasant, though..." she spoke again, this time the girl seemed to regret asking about such sensitive subject.


OoC : We will continue talking for a few posts before playing Resident Evil. I want to wait in case someone want to join us. Hal said Claire's horse would, by the way. Unless, everyone ask me to bring out the main event/battle .

[The Madness]

"It's just a simply thing. Let us say the church and my son never got along after the lad's mother.. Passed on." Oleg furrowed his brow, grunting as he spoke. "Some tell me he was burnt for being accused of being a witch.. Some say he got into an argument with the local bishop that led him to ending up dead.. All I know is that when I was on a job, someone from the church offed my son." Oleg sipped more of his wine, a sad look on his eyes as his wrinkles and the eyes making him look even older than he was.

[Deleted]

Veigue's eyes shifted over to the mercenary's when he answered Mana's question. Well, it was pretty obvious that did bring up something the apparent middle-aged man didn't seem to take pleasure in remembering. It wasn't Veigue's place to say anything, but the sad look in the man's eyes sort of reminded him of himself nearly a decade ago. While their pasts were obviously different with differing tragedies, the swordsman could sympathize. While he didn't have much of anything or anyone else to rely on, family was all he had. But when that was stripped from him, he was almost lost within despair. Perhaps that's what Oleg was feeling...or perhaps he drunk those feelings away, since he seemed to take quite the liking to alcoholic beverages.

While he didn't exactly have much to add on to the rest of the conversation, the mention of Oleg's reasons set him on the quiet side as he took another drink from his sweetened tea and gazed in another direction. Memories of the past were depressing thoughts to recall, but seeing Sylvia playing around with Cefia's axe was at least able to give him a little smile and chuckle for a couple of seconds before returning to his disturbed expression. It wasn't that much different than how he normally looked, so it was possible no one would notice something was on his mind. They'll likely move on to something else soon so he'd be able to clear his mind faster.

[Iadra Zobek]

Iadra was sitting in the tavern of sorts, a small plate of food in front of her. Not much, just a light salad. One must keep themselves fueled up else they suffer the pangs of hunger on the battlefield, just as so it was also not wise to over indulge before such a exertion. She was partial to the lightly tossed greens, for when she stayed at her convent they had eaten almost exclusively from the garden they tended to every day. She made sure to gather meat however, for Setanta. The hound was a lover of meat, he barely touched the vegetables even when she tried to sneak them under the table. Upon her lapel she bore a badge of sorts, the silver cross of the guild she had joined this evening. While she was not quite an official member, she had found it difficult to leave this place. Every time she prepared to depart, another wave of the accursed remnants arose and she found herself staying to support the men and women of the Silver Cross. It had been well over a few months now, severely dampening her search for her father and brother, but it can't be helped. If she could use her magic to assist these men and women, then she could simply not refuse them. They had since inaugurated her as an unofficial member. She accepted no coin, of course not how could she do such a thing? All she asked in return was a roof over her head, food for her stomach and some meat for Set.

Setanta laid at her feet, chewing at a sort of dog bone. The wolfhound was covered in shaggy black fur, and large beyond most measure. It was easily the largest dog she had ever seen, most people were afraid of him at first. That was of course until they met him, and learned what a gentle and kind soul he was, just like his mother. He growled a small bit as he tore the flesh off of the bone, smacking his chops loudly with each bite. It stood quite at odds with the woman sitting next to the hound quietly eating her food.

Then there was a sudden thud, the entire tavern could hear it. Everyone looked over to see a small girl hopping up and down upon an oversized axe's handle. It was rather comical, it appeared like something you would see an artist draw and never something in real life. Then the large brawny woman next to the child picked up the axe as easily as any other man would a fork or knife, not breaking her stride or concentration and continue to talk about whatever it was the small group had been conversing about. She quietly raised from her spot, Set's ears poked up and he looked at her, quickly heeling besides her as she started to walk towards them. By this point no one was paying them any attention but Iadra, they all appeared to be volunteers or mercenaries. It was only the proper thing to do to greet them.

"Greetings." She spoke in a soft voice as she strode up to the five. Smiling and picking up the ends of her vestments and lightly curtsying. "I do hope I am not interrupting you." She added. "However, I have noticed that you are all mercenary and volunteers, am I correct?" She asked, looking at each of them and keeping good posture and eye contact. "My name is Iadra Zobek, and I would like to thank you for assisting in the fight against these undead for whichever reason you may have. Your assistance shall be a great help." Setanta looked at his master, and then at the people. Not confused, as this sort of thing happened often. His chops still a bit bloody from the meat he just devoured.