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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 9:20:47 GMT -6
In the light of the thunderclap a young man's body was silhouetted with a horse. "HELLO, DO YOU HAVE A PLACE WHERE I CAN GET MY HORSE OUT OF THE RAIN?" He shouted over the pounding storm. A young priest ran past him into the chapel with nary a glance back just before another ran outside to tend to the man. "YES SIR! FOLLOW ME TO THE STABLES! WE MUST MAKE HASTE ELSE THE STORM WILL SWEEP US OFF OUR FEET!" The priest genuinely wanted out of the rain but he still made good on his humor.
The young man had curly hair that smothered his head in a dingy blond. His robes were however quite nice and ornate. The church here clearly spared little in expenses. He led Cen out to a stable and inside the air smelled, fresh? Was that even possible of a stable? "We can put him in a stall by himself. Not many here have come with horses or the like." The youth helped usher the beast into place and bailed the hay before giving Cen proper attention.
With an outstretched hand he spoke, "I am named Sif. I help with the tithes mostly but more than that, days like today allow me to help the people directly. Back inside you'll find blankets and a warm meal waiting for you. Just speak with any of my brothers." He then pointed him to a door leading back to the chapel without forcing them back out into the storm. "I'm going to check on the other beasts here."
*
Emily sat against the wall huddled with a blanket. Alex had been taken elsewhere to help with the food and blankets leaving her all alone. She had a pouting lip at being refused permission to help. If only it wasn't for her arm. "Blood and ashes," she cursed under her breath. Looking up she noticed a man staring at her from a distance, or more accurately her armor. He had thin black hair and a narrow face with pursed lips. Altogether unpleasant in demeanor. Emily averted her gaze from him and subtly moved her possessions closer.
As though it were an invitation the man approached the girl. "I know that armor," he said with a haughty tone. "If you're wearing it you're either a thief or were in trouble."
"I assure you I'm no thief."
"Right, trouble then."
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Aug 16, 2016 20:41:19 GMT -6
A young preacher offered to show the former squire to the stables, and the young Cornwellian was immensely grateful, and showed it by thanking the man every few steps. He retrieved his massive horse in a matter of moments, and the tall rider pulled the horse behind him all the way to the stable. Though Thunder seemed willing to follow and get out of the rain, it seemed somehow... spooked. However, the horse quickly seemed to settle in, and the preacher offered the human member of the duo shelter inside. Cen quickly took him up on the offer after patting Thunder against the horse's thick neck.
Cen took a blanket once it was offered when he got inside, and though he wrapped it about his shoulders, he knew it wouldn't do much. His pauldrons and helmet were still in his pack with Thunder, as was his quiver of javelins, and his lance. His chestplate and greaves were as wet as his skin and his hair, and his sword hung in its scabbard on his hip. All that cold wet metal wasn't going to keep him warm, even in doors.
He wished he'd been able to bring his lance in, it made him feel more comfortable in the theocratic nation. If at some point a prophet soldier came for him, he'd rather have Sleipnir in his hand than his simple arming sword. He was efficient with the blade, but he was unstoppable with the spear. Well, no, he was harder to stop. He could likely be slowed down, but ho-boy, when he got that momentum goin' you were in a real rough spot if you wanted him to screech to a halt. Unless you were as capable a fighter as he was, and you had a weapon as effective as Sleipnir. Then you could probably stop him so hard he turned around.
As Cen made a half hearted attempt to dry himself, while leaving his armor on his shoulders and his sword on his hip to feel at ease, he overheard the word trouble, and turned an ear to what was being exchanged between a short woman and a gaunt faced man. For the moment, he only listened, but the word trouble was often the first sign of it. He'd learned that from the number of times men asked if he was looking for trouble before punching him in the face.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 9:42:21 GMT -6
"I'm sorry but, who are you?" Emily eyed the man suspiciously and slowly stood becoming on guard. There was no way he would try something inside the chapel surrounded by so many but he did not seem to like her presence here very much.
"I'm a member of the clergy here. Brother Ozymandius. You may call me brother Izzy as the others do." He pointed at her things. "The armor and blade of the famed inquisitor fein. They say she slew a dragon in single combat. Likely a fabricated tale but you get the idea of the legacy you carry."
"Few even know the tale these days let alone what her armor looks like. You are well versed in history. VERY well versed it would seem."
"Yes, I study it extensively here. But this brings me back to my initial inquiry, what kind of trouble are we in?"
Emily looked at the man curiously if still cautiously, "well, none..."
The man returned a questioning gaze before his shoulders seemed to slouch relaxed, "I see. That is good. I took you for inquisition and well, that is usually a bad sign of things to come."
"But I am inquisition. Inquisitor Fein." The man tensed again.
"How may I help you then, inquisitor?"
"I'm only here until the rain stops. Then I will be on the way. Once I dry though I would enjoy a chance to pray in the main chapel."
He hesitated before smiling. "Of course. That should be open to all who seek it." He quickly turned away and noticed a young man giving him glances. He looked at him a moment before lowering his head and swiftly leaving into another room.
Emily relaxed and sat once more now deep in thought. Why was he so worried about an inquisitor? Was something amiss?
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Aug 19, 2016 21:30:19 GMT -6
The inquisiton, oh Elimine, oh Mother Earth, oh Sacaen version of Mother Earth, oh every version of god or godess that had ever been or would be worshiped. Oh anyone who could get him out of this whole mess. Oh anything. Cen began a silent prayer without anyone in mind to send it to, that no one would talk to him. If he could just remain inconspicuous for long enough to leave, everything would be alright. What he wouldn't give to look like an Etrurian, to look inconspicuous. However, he probably stuck out like a sore thumb. The only non-Sacaen features he had were Lycian, and if more had looked Lycian he could have passed. But no, he had to win the genetic lottery and look like the utter opposite of everyone in the room. Not only was his face so different, but he had to be blessed with his ridiculous height as well, meaning that even if he was sitting down he could almost stand out among the shorter Etrurians while they stood.
He clung to the blanket, willing himself to dry as quickly as he could. Thunder wouldn't like it, but they could simply wait for the storm to let up even the slightest, then they could get going. The church itself had made the former squire uncomfortable, now he was faced with the threat of an inquisitor talking to him. He hated lying, but he wasn't stupid enough to admit that he didn't like the church. He was only stupid enough to find himself in Etruria, and in a church, and near a d****d Inquisitor.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2016 22:18:32 GMT -6
At first Emily was far too caught up in her own affairs and concerns she had hardly the attention to spare for the young knight and odd man out in the room. It was not until he began to look around and draw unwanted attention to himself that she noticed the foreigner.
He looked scared but perhaps that was merely due to the cold of wet clothes getting to him. She could recall times in the past that she had been so drenched in cold water she found herself crying despite not even being the slightest bit sad. She found herself smiling straight at him with a goofy grin. Realizing this she forced a straight face and looked at her gear instead, hoping he did not notice, or worse get the wrong idea. She did not need another Alex fawning over her obsessively.
With a sigh she knew that he had seen her looking at him and decided she ought to at least introduce herself. Standing she stretched briefly keeping a careful mind for her broken arm and strutted up to him. "Good afternoon friend." She gave him a warm smile. "I am Emily Fein, I am traveling to Bern currently and I could not help but notice you are a foreigner. Allow me to be one of the first to welcome you to Etruria. May the Saints guide and bless your passing."
Soon after the greetings a monk walked around the hall with a weaved basket. "Tithes! Give to the Saints and the Prophet!"
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Aug 19, 2016 23:50:39 GMT -6
"Good afternoon friend. I am Emily Fein, I am traveling to Bern currently and I could not help but notice you are a foreigner. Allow me to be one of the first to welcome you to Etruria. May the Saints guide and bless your passing." Oh god here it comes, here it comes, she's going to out him as an enemy of the prophet and he's going to get killed or thrown in prison. His mother always told him that he was too willing to do dangerous things if people asked him and now it was going to get him tortured by some old man in a silly hat who just wanted him to lie and say the the Prophet had invented everything he used in his daily life. Well, he might as well get it over with. He turned his head, and the Cornwellian was face to face... with a young girl.
Close up, she was much younger than he expected. There was no chance she could be an Inquisitor, there was no one her age in all of Elibe with that much authority. He could definitely believe she was in the Inquisition, but likely as a solder. She probably could make him look suspicious, but she couldn't lock him up for the rest of his life. Could she? Hopefully not. She'd recognized him as a foreigner right off the bat, so that was fun, if there was one thing Etrurians were noted for it was their extreme tolerance. He scrambled in his brain for a moment to remember the proper return phrase, then said, "And may she bless you." Then he toyed with the blanket before looking at her again, "Thanks, always nice to have a welcome. Bern's lovely this time of year, not as much rain."
Around that time, a man began making the rounds calling for a tithe. War bonds for the prophet more like it. Cen set his jaw but reached into his purse and began to roll a copper about on his fingers without pulling it out. He didn't want to give his money for something he didn't believe in, especially to feed the beast of death that stalked Elibe with the symbol of the Saint flying high. However, he needed to be alive if he ever wanted to help anyone again, or do anything about the Inquisition itself. Plus, he could look at it as a lodging fee, a price paid for time spent dry and indoors. "Hopefully the rain lets up soon."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2016 9:34:58 GMT -6
"Is it really?" Emily's eyes lit with wonder and curiosity. She loved Etruria but the rest of the world was such a mystery to her. What could this traveller teacher of the lands beyond here? "I would love to know more about Bern if you have the time to spare for it." She smiled warmly.
As the tithes basket made its rounds Emily almost thoughtlessly and instinctively dropped a golden coin inside. The young monk looked at her and was about to speak when he simply shut his mouth and thanked her for her generous donation. "Of course. It is for the betterment of all." She truly believed her words when she spoke. She took the role of an inquisitor but she still trusted everyone. It showed her for the liar she was, or perhaps it showed that she was very new to this. Either way, both would be a strange and concerning tale of one cared to learn of it.
When the tithes were gathered the young monk met with the priest that had assisted Cen just a short time ago. "Wow, this intake is quite nice. We don't get this much unless the festivals are going on." One of them commented.
"Yeah, the sudden storm worked in our favor. What do you think they're going to get with it?"
"Hopefully some new curtains or robes would be nice. I just hope they'll spare a bit for us."
"I know what you mean, but hey, after the ceremony tonight we will be indoctrinated fully."
It seemed the 'inquisitor' could not hear the conversation, and besides she was far too fixated on Cen and his Bernese knowledge. Cen however could hear every word.
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Aug 20, 2016 10:41:45 GMT -6
The inquisitor was inquisitive zipp dipp zippady doo da day about Bern when Cen mentioned it. How could he bore her enough that she would go away. He could discuss the finer elements of Bernese top soil, or the way that people there farmed for beets. Something in that vein. However, he was interrupted by the tithe basket reaching them, and the woman placing a golden coin into the basket before Cen had a chance to drop his copper. Instead of his one coin, he produced two, and dropped them into the basket with a tight smile up at the priest. Great just great. He both looked like a cheapskate and he was next to the flashiest philanthropist in the entire church. So now he stood out, and also stood out as someone who was less than willing to pay the price for Elimine's love and hospitality. This day was fantastic. Just great. He was going to get murdered or locked up, but it was fine. He was fine with this, in fact he was glad it was happening. He was not glad it was happening.
He calmed himself, he needed to stay optimistic. Everything would work out, he'd be fine, he'd make it out alive and with his skin on his back where it belonged. He gave a similar tight smile to the young woman in response to her warm one and said, "Well, one thing about Bern is it's not all mountains, there's a lot more flat land than people think." There, that was safe right? No chance claiming the Eastern country had a few flatlands could get one locked up as a heretic. What was he thinking, anything could with the prophet running around.
Cen's ears happened upon another conversation. One about what the coin would be spent on. Fantastic, improvements for the church that seemed to the Cornwellian to be doing just fine. However, they also used the word Indoctrinate, which unless Cen was mistaken, wasn't the term preferred by the church. While keeping his head and his eyes on the young woman, metaphorically Cen had his head on a swivel, and his ears turned.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2016 21:39:21 GMT -6
Emily shifted nervously as Cen spoke to her, his stress was clear and it was rubbing off on her making the air feel thick like a swamp in summer. "Well yeah, no country is going to be built in an area that is completely mountains. It would make life really difficult." She shrugged and flexed her fingers awkwardly. This was NOT going the way she had thought it would. Well she should cut it off before the talk got any worse, and she would have if not for being tripped and falling.
Throwing both of her arms out she hit the ground hard. Her right arm was a little jarred but the left was in agony. Just that morning it was shattered by a lightning bolt and now it was slammed into a floor. She cried out in pain with tears in her eyes. "Blood and ashes!" she shouted rolling and nursing it.
"I am sooooo sorry, a man said condescendingly." He still offered a hand however and pulled her up. "You should come with me and get that healed." He looked at Cen and winked at him with a nod as he began to try and lead her off.
The two boys meanwhile had continued their conversation. Due to distractions and speaking it made it difficult to hear everything but Cen was able to make out a few valuable details. An underground chamber, something about Hargus, and something else about a smuggler bringing the bishop of the church a black pegasus.
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Aug 30, 2016 14:36:24 GMT -6
"Oh umm, that was a joke." Cen forced a small laugh to punctuate his feeble attempt at humor safe enough for an inquisitor. He was very funny when he was comfortable, at least he thought he was, but terror at the thought of being captured and tortured could be a real blow to the sense of humor. And dear Gaea was he uncomfortable in this eerie church, with black clouds looming overhead and casting a storm far fiercer than its shadow, and the fact that the only person who seemed to wish to speak with him was a woman in the bloody damned Inquisition. Then there was the creepy way a man involved with the church winked at him after tripping and making the girl cry out as she gripped her arm.
Cen reacted before he thought, "Wow, hey are you alright?" Cen placed his hand on her left shoulder, trying not to do anything that could hurt her further. He could have just walked away, let someone else help the Inquisitor, and he could just leave. He could just get up, walk to the stable and he and Thunder could weather the weather. But he wouldn't and he couldn't.
As he went to try and check on the young woman, he overheard another group of odd statements from the conversation a few feet over. This time it sounded far more ominous. An underground chamber, Hargus, a smuggler, the bishop, and a black pegasus. That all sounded... dangerous. All of it together. Cen's hand drifted down, resting his off hand on the arming sword at his hip. He looked over the young woman. She didn't carry herself with an air that implied familiarity with battle, and it showed. He whispered, "I think it would be a good idea for you to leave, or at least fahnd some place safe Miss." The word Hargus had set him on edge. All the people here and in the surrounding area could be in danger. He'd heard of the destruction that name carried with it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 8:10:12 GMT -6
"It was a joke!?" Emily looked surprised but also enveloped in an embarrassed shade of red. "I had assumed you were serious. You said it so... So... Matter of factly" now that she thought of it it should have been obvious.
The shady man was none too pleased when the young man took the girl and her attention from him. There was a subtle huff as he nodded his head and walked away joining with the two boys that were speaking before they all went to another room as a group. Off to something nefarious no doubt!
Emily hissed at the pain in her arm, all things considered she was doing well in regards to it. "I am well, thank you." She looked at Cen and realized something. "I don't believe I caught your name."
Her eyes narrowed at mention of going somewhere else, a safe place. She turned her head ever so slightly and looked around. "Whatever do you mean? We are in an Etrurian chapel, what could possibly be safer than here?" He did not mean to cause a raucous did he? She looked as though she would reprimand him and beret him with a tongue lashing as she planted her fists into her hips and leaned forward. "You are not going to try and cause trouble here are you? I'll have you know that the church is not helpless to help themselves. Why, Father Severus, a man who helped raise me is one of the strongest magic users I know!"
She tilted her head but kept an eye on the troublemaker. Her lips were pressed in a way to emphasis attitude. She seemed more like a big sister than an inquisitor now.
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Cen
Cavalier
Cowards die many deaths, the valiant taste of death but once.
Posts: 196
Profession: Bodyguard
Affinity: Light
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Cen on Sept 10, 2016 8:56:59 GMT -6
On instinct Cen didn't think to hide his identity, "I am Cen, son of Cedidale." It was probably a bad idea to tell an inquisitor who he was, but there was no chance he'd be on some sort of watch list for enemies of the prophet. He hadn't done anything that noteworthy standing against him. Or much to stand against him, but that would change, somehow it would change.
She had a very Etrurian response to his warning, by insisting that the Church was a safe place. It was the willing ignorance of face, rearing its dull head in front of his very eyes. Bandits could raze a Church the same as any bank or bakery, an army could claim it like any fort, a storm could tear it asunder as easy as the rest of the world. Man's monuments to gods didn't provide and protection the gods themselves weren't willing to give. And he certainly doubted Elimine was willing to give any today, if she was real with any sort of power this storm was an omen of her ambivalence to the rider and inquisitors safety.
Further, she inquired as to whether he'd be the one causing trouble, and made a passive threat to his own safety that was far more annoying than it was intimidating. Cen had gone through his share of fights, and though it had been one of his hardest he'd defeated a powerful magi. He didn't tuck his tail at the thought of some old man creating a light show with a few hand waves and silly words. However, annoying or not, a part of the inquisition or not, she was still an innocent. She needed to be safe, and if Cen drew breath that meant it was part of his duty to ensure she did as well.
"Ah think in a few minutes it may not be the safest place. Sounds like something shadey might be happenin' and I don't want you caught in the middle of it. Don't know what exactly, but I think a lot of people in here aren't very safe. I'm not causing trouble, Ah plan to buffer it."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2016 13:14:56 GMT -6
He was not causing trouble? He planned to be a buffer against it? None of them were safe and he suspected it would all start in just a few short minutes? Emily's face seemed to soften and lose the attitude it had carried just a moment before. "Well then Cen, son of Cedidale,allow Emily, inheritor of The Lady Fein's will to help you buffer this threat." She looked at her slinged arm and then her armor that lay on the floor. Well, lives were more important than gear. She could afford to leave what she could not carry behind. Or better yet.
"I apologize for asking this of you, but would you help me dress into my armor? If there is villainy afoot then it is my sworn duty to bring it to light and see the truth." She began to pick up a bracer and gingerly worked it onto her injured arm. "I hope your fears are unfounded but... We cannot afford to sit and wait. Tell me, Cen son of Cendale what makes you believe there is trouble? Surely not a simple omen such as a storm?"
What was his game? Was he an overly suspicious fool or was he perhaps onto something? What a tragic day it would be if there was a great crime committed within the walls of this beautiful church, but greater tragedy, nay crime of sloth it would be if she, an inquisitor on a mission to find the truth about their own great prophet could not see it and end it. "With me you have the full backing of the inquisition." She showed him a pin that denoted her station. It was a high position reserved for few of her standing and surely stolen.
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