The Advent of Judgement

[Gabriel]

A few days have passed, and now only two cities away from the capital of Bern, the group seems even more spread out than when they first arrived by boat. Gabriel got down from Starlight and patted the horse before tightening the reins to a nearby column.

As was his custom by now, he chanted a spell on them, making sure that anyone who decided to try and steal Starlight would get a zap or severe burn. Probably even both. Unlike what he had expected at first, it wasn't really that hard to imbue elements on different objects. The problem had been keeping the spells active for long periods, and even more so if he decided to leave the surrounding area of the object. It was not something that he hadn't managed to overcome with a little practice and time, though.

"There's not much for us to do right now. All I could find out is that the last big rebellion attempt ended with their leader caught and being put in prison. His or her current state is unknown, and apparently the ones he or she was with have disappeared." he said to whoever was still following him. He had a rough idea of those still there, but it had been a while since he last took a look behind him. It...scared him. The fear that he had been left alone, what with almost half the group leaving shortly after arriving at Bern.

"What do you suggest?" he said, finally turning around, a glint of sadness in his eyes. Where had Rayl gotten to by now?

[Zerachiel]

"I'm not sure." Roland had finally broke his fast of silence after what felt like eternity. He was standing there quietly for most of the time, it felt as though the majority of just about everyone decided to abandon them. Which was despicable, seeing as this was the job entrusted to them by Sir Rayl. To just leave like that was unconscionable. Still they did, and felt perfectly justified too. He stuck around, with his distinctly clean shirt.

"If there's a rebellion leader that's been caught, then that doesn't bode well for the rebellion. Whether this is a good or bad thing for us remains to be seen." Back when the others were splitting off and whatnot, Roland was out taking care of the docking and fees and making sure no one asked any questions. It was hard, but it was an important job, of course he missed all the excitement and by the time he had returned the group was cut in half. In fact it felt as if he was the only person left besides Gabriel. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Gwen or that pompous blowhard Inigo. While that wasn't particularly a bad thing, he welcome the accusations of being a spy right about now over the eerie silence.

He too was supposed to look into the situation, but he didn't learn anything he didn't already know. "But with a leader in jail, that's just asking for retaliation. We should keep an ear to the ground and be wary of the political climate." For some performers, they hadn't needed to prove themselves. It was almost sad, he had been practicing his knife tossing. No one cared much about something like that in times like this, no one but nobles. Which they may be able to use to their advantage in the future. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a big upset some time." It felt like Bern was just a rubber band being stretch and stretched and stretched, seeing how far it can go before it snaps.

[Gabriel]

OoC: Certainly didn't expect you to turn up. Glad that there's still someone around, though.

Gabriel's eyes met those of someone else as he turned around. Roland. Perhaps the one he had least expected to stay around. Even less than Jade or Grayson. He had spent little time around the man. Just barely enough to know his name, and to know that Rayl seemed to find him trustworthy.

He looked around. No one else had followed him, apparently. Did he lack the leadership skills of Rayl? Most likely. That must have been the reason why the group split up so fast after arriving at Bern. Was their only reason to join this little trip the chance to be next to Rayl? To join him in battle and make a name for themselves? Perhaps it's better not to know.

"As I expected, the wisest choice would be to stay low profile for the moment. We need to find out what motivates the rebels, what is Ilia's current position in the country and what both sides know of the other." Gabriel gave Roland his back and pondered for a while before dropping a little more information. "Once we know that we can use the rebellion to our advantage. Our primary objective is to stop the fight, no matter who wins. We need an ally against Etruria. Whether it is the combined forces of Ilia and Bern, or their forces separately doesn't concern us."

"If you have no objections, then we should head to Bern proper" he said, turning around to face the man again. "And thank you for staying around" he finally added, almost smiling.

[Zerachiel]

OoC: sorry I kinda got lost back a while ago and gave up >< eventually I caught up though.

"In all honesty, two travelers wouldn't cause much of a splash anyway. Even if you went around shouting you were an official Lycian investigator, everyone's far too busy with their own business to give it a thought." It was sad really, there was such a chaotic kind of camaraderie before. Even if everyone didn't get along, they were all on a mission and were forced to behave and accept each other. Quite like mercenaries on a mission, or atleast the good ones. Bad ones quickly learned that trying to play solo and ignoring their comrades is a good way to end up dead. Not to say you should just blindly trust people. Trust is nice, but not necessary. What is important is what you can do for each other. As long as you both have something the other wants, trust need not apply. And what you both want tended to be to live and to succeed.

He sat atop his own horse. He wasn't experience fighting atop it, but that by no means meant he had not experience in riding. "Etruria. Elmine save me, I'm sure happy to be out of that place." He muttered and looked over at Gabriel. That was right, he was Etrurian too. "Kinda funny that the only two seeking to stop the country are FROM the country." He smirked, soaking up the irony of the situation. Even with Inigo and Gwen, had they come, it would still be an all ExEtrurian extravaganza.

"Think nothing of it. It's my job. Us soldiers know a little something about duty, and us mercenaries know a little something about loyalty to the employer. In fact I'm a bit sickened so many people just left like that. Bumming a ride and then taking off without so much as something for our troubles." He groaned, rubbing his hand in his stallion's mane. "Besides, it would just awful to do this alone. But enough of my sentimental mushy goo, I'm ready whenever you are."

[Gabriel]

"Truth be told, I'm not against Etruria. Just Kraft. It was because of him, albeit only by proxy, that I was thrown out of Delfia. But Etruria follows Kraft, which is how I ended up in this mess" his hands had turned on fire by the time he had finished speaking. It had been a long time since he last spoken about his anger towards the despot.

"As for the rest of the ones that came with us...I'm sure they had their reasons, so I'm not going to judge them. It would have been better if they simply said it outright, though." Gabriel disenchanted Starlight's reins and had her drink some water before hopping on. Provisions would last both of them until they got to Bern, so that wouldn't be a problem now. With a day and a half of traveling, they'd be at the capital's gates. Now would be the perfect time to practice his firewall. He'd probably need it soon.

"Well then, let's go".

OoC: Just a tiny bit more and this would have made for C level support.

[Zerachiel]

"Well, Etruria's in the junkheap now because of Kraft. Being against one is like being against the other. He's so strict on his stranglehold of the land that it's virtually the same thing." He groaned, hiding it withing a small sigh. He hadn't been thrown out of anything, but rather left on his own volition. So he couldn't say he understood just how Gabriel felt. He did understand the feeling of being from a place that everyone seemed to hate, and the latent nationalism that was packed up with that. "If we want to save our home, the best course of action would be to get rid of the one behind everything. Once all the smoke is cleared, we can push things for the better." He leaned his head over to Gabriel, a delicatessen didn't have as much cheese as the smile he wore.

He scooted back into to place with a small laugh. "Anyways, don't worry about having to judge them. I will. I will judge them hard enough for for the both of us. Silently judging of course, making small tut noises in my head all the while." Gripping the reins tightly he nodded his head after his little comments, following wherever Gabriel was leading him.

[Gabriel]

OoC: A month and a half. Talk about being stuck in time.

Time passed by ever so slowly. They had been riding for a long time now, stopping only to let their horses rest at the river west of Bern and once night fell upon them. Gabriel knew what was coming for them. He was sure that day was getting close. Restless, he decided to try some of his old tricks a hundred feet away from camp. Roland was thankfully asleep by the time he stepped away. He didn't want to put strain on the only man left following him at this point.

His Elfire and Thunder tomes were still in tip top condition. He had spent little time trying to push the limits of the tomes, unlike what he had done with the Fire tome he received when he was little, and consistently replaced as they grew weaker and weaker. Memories of that week rushed through Gabriel's head. His first Fire tome lasted no more than a few days, much to his father's surprise. Much like any noble kid, someone had attempted to kidnap him at a young age. The attempt was thwarted easily, given that his father was close by when it happened.

Still, he had a need of self-preservation since then. He wanted to be able to fend off attacked for himself since then, and his first tome was the key to that wish. Perhaps it was time to bring back those petty spells. One never knows when they could be useful.

Red runes came into being as Gabriel waved his hand in the air. The depictions of "fortify", "protect" and "scorch" now hanging in the air in old Etrurian hastily distorted themselves into a flaming beast, and settled down once they had covered a wide area in front of him. The Elfire tome felt like burning iron in his hand, the price to pay to keep such potent magic active. Stacking the Thunder tome on top of it, right hand now opened towards the sky and sparks overflowing from it. One swift motion and lightning had enveloped the fire, slowly shrinking it into nothingness.

I should be careful with this, unless I want to end up burning myself into ashes. But I'm glad I can still do it. We should be at the gates to Bern tomorrow by midday.

OoC: Feel free to post(if you want) if you're still there, Roland. I know you last logged in a few days ago. To be continued in Punishment.