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Post by Althea on May 17, 2017 23:36:36 GMT -6
"I will defend it with my life." Althea frowned for a moment at the thought of that, then her creased as she broke into a half smile. "Well, their lives, anyways." She, uh, wasn't joking on that one, but as with all things it was certainly her ideal to not have to take anyone's life in the process. Diplomacy, threats, even warning shots would all be ideal before she killed anyone. But she would if she had to in order to protect herself. Placing the notebook in her own pack, she was about as ready to go as she would ever be... which Althea wasn't entirely sure as to the quality of. Like, was that a good thing or a bad one? Maybe a bit of both. Sigma seemed to be about ready to go too, gathering his dual swords, or daggers, or whatever they were as far as she was concerned they would both hurt like hell to be stabbed with and she didn't want to find out either way.
So, uh, horse whisperer Althea was the plan? The dark mage was a little hesitant at the idea, not because she didn't know how to ride a horse, she did, it just felt a bit strange to be retrieving other people's stuff. That said, Sigma did make a pretty good point. As long as he wasn't just paranoid about being followed or chased, and his concerns were legitimate, it did make sense to minimize how easily he could be tracked. Certainly they would not look for her... initially. Once they got going on this adventure she's be fair game though. "Understood. I will retrieve him." She decided not to mention that she wasn't a GREAT horse rider but uh, good enough to not fall off and make it go in the right direction, usually, which was good enough for her!
Without further need for words the druid swept out of the room, making her way out of the inn and towards the stables, a journey that took some time on account of, well, she was NOT running the whole way even if it wouldn't have been super suspicious. Which it would. Young ladies dashing pell-mell down the main street with alabaster dresses flung wild to the wind was no basis of locomotion. That said, she was contrary to popular belief NOT an idiot, so help me Eris if you make one stupid comment I will end you with a thought yeah I thought so, aaaaaaand she had occasionally had to skip town... quickly... in the past, so it wasn't too hard to do a very very VERY basic job of moving quickly but not too obtrusively. By the standards of a shut-in mage. By the standards of, say, a thief, it was probably akin to a charging bull elephant charging through a procession of china shops.
Nonetheless no one tried to kill her along the way, so far so good, and the stables were easy enough to find as long as she followed the fetid stench of horse crap. The sleepy young man on duty didn't really give a crap about whose horse she took or question the simply web she wove for him - figuratively speaking, she wasn't ACTUALLY a spider person, even if they would be really cool, and the horse... more or less responded to commands. So all in all Althea was pretty happy to get the hell out of town as quickly as possible and only once out of town realize that "a bit to the north" was INCREDIBLY vague and that she had literally no idea where the hell Sigma was, between trees and bushes and the general 'it's god damn night' thing, so... it was going to be entirely up to him to reveal himself to her rather than vice versa.
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Sigma
Thief
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Posts: 151
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Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 18, 2017 22:11:48 GMT -6
Seeing her dash off into the streets, Sigma felt confidant about her abilities to retrieve Gambit. Thank god they didn't suspect her yet, if Sigma had been the one to do it, there was a high chance he would've been recognised, what with his grey hair and lighter frame compared to most men in Elibe. Deciding to get on with his own business, Sigma headed for the north eastern edge of town, somewhere not connected to any main roads, hoping that he could meet up with Althea by taking a detour through the wilderness. As he saw in the distance Althea fade into the crowd, he went his own way, being mindfull of anybody possibly following him. Making sure to blend in, he walked at a regular pace, sticking to alleyways as to not stay out in the open and running the risk of seeing a mercenary. He may be a bit paranoid, but with his past experiences, he knew how people like this could get when he stole information from them. The anger he must feel to have been stolen knowledge only he knew must be of incredible magnitude...
As he ended up in a small residential district, he stopped when he started hearing multiple villagers mumbling to each other inside of a house. Stepping closer while trying not to make a sound, he crouched under the window as he heard: "Those big oafs almost tried to attack me when they asked about a silver-haired man... I can't believe the guards are letting such barbarians run around the city! Gulping as he heard those words, Sigma picked up the pace and headed for the edge of town to enter the woods. His theory was true after all, mercenaries were hunting him down. Usually, Sigma was much better at keeping his identity a secret so this felt very stressful. At least for now he had left town. Dahing through the woods, he decided to head towards where he remembered the main road to be.
After a few minutes of running, he finally saw the road, and would you see that, Althea was just a few couple meters away from him. Quickly walking towards her, he told her: "Alright move back a bit, let me get on." he then climbed on his trusty steed like a true natural. The saddle was quite large and ample so two people could easily sit on it with no issue. Also Gambit was definitly a strong horse, built for carrying heavy loads so he'd be able to handle two passengers for a few days without too many issues. "No issues on your end i hope?"
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Post by Althea on May 20, 2017 19:18:48 GMT -6
Aside from a small start when the silver haired thief burst out of the - ok well he walked towards her, and it wasn't THAT dark, but she had been busy thinking about the fundamental nature of magic and its Byzantine interplay between motonic physics and - RIGHT Sigma was here. Having convinced herself that it was actually Sigma and not a fleshwalker, she had no issues with scootching back in the saddle so he could driv-er, ride. The horse. Again. She COULD ride a horse. That didn't mean she had to like it. Letting someone else handle that crap was a-ok by her. "No, no issues," she stated honestly and (by her standards) somewhat brightly, which was to say sounding slightly less vacant than usual. "I was not very impressed with the stable's security though. I could have been a bounty hunter out for your head and I am quite certain the young man would have let me take your horse anyways." The dark mage humphed, thoroughly displeased with the notion of people being bad at their jobs.
"Though speaking of bounty hunters and their ilk." Talk about subtle lead ins and all the tact of a raging bull elephant, she was out for blood tonight! Uh, figuratively speaking. She wasn't ACTUALLY a vampire, even if the back of Sigma's neck was... well it there. And attached to the rest of his body? Yeah she wasn't very good at this Vampire: The Masquerade thing. "Did you catch drift of any trouble? Should I be preparing for a wild chase or just an arrow between the shoulder blades?" Oh god, she had been infected with Eris's stupidity, she was making jokes now! At least they were in her usual deadpan tone of voice so she could kinda play it off as dark humor.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 20, 2017 20:37:18 GMT -6
Security was lax eh? Sigma found this surprising. Yes, they were only horses but when your country is right next to a warmongering nation, it feels like security should at least be a priority... Speaking of Etruria, he wondered how Argus's resistance was faring. He knew he was pretty far away from them but at the same time, he wasn't that much of a fighter, even less so a traditional soldier like Argus. Considering most of the force was made up of mages also, Sigma wasn't much of use with his hit and run and dirty fighting ways. All he could do was wait until they needed him to steal something or maybe spy on a noble of some kind. It would be useful if he tried to make a squad of stealthier units to get better usage out of his roguish skills. Maybe Argus would like that idea. Though he'd first have to FIND people that fitted that description...
He was suddenly taken out of his thougths as Althea asked him if he had run in any trouble: "Well I didn't personally run into any trouble... However my doubts were true, there ARE people looking for us, well, me to be specific but I'm you'll be hunted down the same the moment they notice we're partners in this mission. It seems like they were disturbing villagers to try and squeeze any info they had about me. And let's just say it didn't sounds like they were very gentle. Their paycheck must be a pretty big one if I had to assume." Giving Gambit a kick to the sides to signal to go faster, the horse started galloping at a pretty rapi pace considering the weight he had on top of him. He would definitely earn himself some treats after this ordeal. "However, this might be good. If they truly are unrefined oafs, I bet they thinly spreaded their forces. I mean, in their heads, they're looking for one person, a scrawny thief might I add. No need to stay in big groups. If we run into them we might actually have a chance to win..."
Looking back slightly, he could only see the white strand of hair dancing in the wind but he asked her a question anyways: "But before that I should ask you, how well do you handle yourself in a fight? I know you seemed fine with killing them if there was no other choice, but I'm still curious about what are your particular skills. Am I in fact speaking to a master of arcana magic perhaps? his half smile was enough to show that Sigma still felt that joking around was appropriate in this situation.
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Post by Althea on May 20, 2017 21:37:40 GMT -6
Wonderful, there WERE people looking for them. Sigma had warned her of the possibility of course, Althea wasn't exactly shocked by the revelation, but she had privately hoped that he was just being histrionic and that no one would care. Apparently the thief had pissed off someone rather important though, or at least rich and well connected enough to very quickly bankroll and unleash mercenaries without too much fear for what would happen to them. Hassling villagers, hunting for him - and as Sigma noted, she was not some onlooker watching from a safe distance. It was in her employ that Sigma had enraged the man, and her agreement with the thief that led to this very madcap dash. "Then perhaps it will be easier to smash through opposition that cannot be avoided. Superior range and mobility give us a significant overall tactical advantage if necessary."
It was... fair that Sigma was uncertain of her capabilities though, the dark magician girl realized a little belatedly offered the benefit of perspective. She was privy to his by dint of what weapons he had - the sword and... smaller sword he had revealed in the inn room. Her weapons, on the other hand, were invisible. Intangible. Brought to bear from a plane far from reality. Most of the time she appeared nothing more than a woman in a white dress. It was in all honesty not something that Althea even thought about much at all. Despite the massive leaps and bounds her combat ability had improved by in recent months, she still refused to think of herself as any kind of warrior or even really a 'mage' (or shaman) exactly. First and foremost she was a researcher; that she wielded dark magics on par with or apparently above most by now was only a useful tool rather than a focus to her existence.
"I wield dark magic primarily," she stated simply to Sigma, not seeing any reason to drag him into her own dilemmas. "-and am proficient in both slower but more powerful applications and faster harassing fire. I am also capable of patching minor injuries, though healing magic is a tertiary interest at best. I do not enjoy combat but will aid you to the best of my abilities should the necessity arise. You wield dual blades in combat I believe?"
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 21, 2017 8:22:09 GMT -6
So dark magic and healing capabilities? Hmm, perfect, at least if he got hurt, she'd be able to patch him up a bit. That would work wonders to help their durability. He remembered Dawson using the same kind of magic so he could somewhat get a grasp on it. He knew it was very old magic, probably just as old as the world in fact, with unknown origins to even the most well versed shaman on Elibe... Man, Sigma could've been an incredible mage. Ugh, now's not the time to feel pity, they had a mission to carry out. No way Sigma was going to let that crypt go into the hands of that zealot!
"Well to be fair, it hasn't been long enough for me to say I know fully know how to fight with two swords. I use the smaller parrying dagger as a mean of defense more than a weapon. Shields are a bit cumbersome in my line of work you see? Really, the only weapon doing damage here is my shortsword. However I should tell you that I'm much more of a versatile combatant. Before I left my hometown, I never really learned to use swords properly unlike today where I actually learned from real warriors, so I'm used to fighting with cunning and guile a lot more than actually real and honest swordplay. I can still hold my own but I work a lot better when I can surprise my enemies."At the very least, Althea could help get their attention while he could catch them off guards. Or maybe HE could keep their attention on him while she charged up powerful spells... Anyways, at least their fighting styles could have synergy. But still, the fact people knew he was there ruined his usual element of surprise in missions of this sort. He hoped his skills had been trained enough to fight against mercenaries, after all, he didn't usually fight people this way. It was very true that Sigma prefered the use of tools and stealth to dispatch of his ennemies.
"Anyways, we need to be extremely cautious. They know we're taking this road since it's the quickest route to reach the lake. We need to ready for traps, roadblocks and whatever they're going to throw at us. I say we continue a bit for tonight then make camp where we'll have turns taking watch... If we spend tommorow just travelling by following the river, and i mean quickly, then we can probably reach our destination in about 24 hours or so. But that means we can't be slowed down by them or need to rest to heal our wounds. Otherwise it'll take another day." The more time they took, the more chances the place would ransacked... They should probably only sleep lighlty. A full 8 hours of sleep for the both of them would take much too long.
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Post by Althea on May 21, 2017 19:10:43 GMT -6
Well, at least he didn't start screaming and calling her a witch. A lack of a reaction was a pretty good reaction as far as she was concerned, but then again her standards were a bit... low by necessity. When half of Elibe would be happy burning you at the stake based on what magic you practiced, 'tolerates you' is about as good as it got. But hey, at least she wasn't a dragon right?
You're not a dragon either, right? f**k off
Yeah definitely not a dragon.
"Everyone has to start somewhere. Six months ago I was capable of no more than a basic Flux spell." She smiled - again not really relevant to Sigma but who cared - and continued in a bit of a softer tone. "But it is good that you are aware of your limitations. Knowing your limits is crucially important to breaking through them and pushing onward... and fighting for your life also offers great incentive to develop quickly. Just keep throwing yourself into life and death situations on a daily basis and you might be the next Saint of Swords or Prince of Blades before you know it!" By all that was holy, if she hadn't just survived several months of exactly that, Althea would have accused herself of bullshitting too. "But um, try not to die. At least not until you help me get into the crypt. ...That was a joke. Just - just for clarity."
Sometimes she regretted opening her mouth. Such as every single time she ever said anything, for example. Jokes were supposed to be funny apparently, she kept forgetting that. But in all seriousness it was good to know what Sigma was capable of, for better or worse. It wasn't quite the simple and practiced dynamic of 'meatshield and tank' that she and Jalid practiced, or even synergistic magical offense as per her and Shara - but it was what it was. And if he could take advantage of her hybridized offense that would be for the better for both of them. Well, the ideal would be to skip any fighting at all, but... yeah. "I... will do my best to keep up with you," Althea stated somewhat doubtfully, not enthusiastic about the plan on account of her preference for sleep, but she could not argue with the practicality of it. And if it meant access to knowledge, she was willing to deal with a bit of hardship. "The variety of magic I practice requires intense concentration and mental acuity, so it would be wise not to pick fights when I am too exhausted if possible though."
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 21, 2017 20:57:13 GMT -6
Sigma started getting plenty of feelings of joy when she mentionned Yaen, the Prince of Blades. Getting somewhat of an excited tone, he responded by saying: "Oh please, if anything I'll make my own title! Something fancy and grand to rival with the Winter Lion or the Crimson Demon! Well, there's a lot of wishful thinking in that statement but still, I believe in it heh..." Althea had just triggered Sigma's "Famous Heroes" button. Whenever the thief talked about figures in history, he always got giddy wishing he could also stand besides them in the history books... Oh man, he still remembers years ago when he kept hearing about Kenshin's exploits in Sacae...
Ok enough, now's the time to concentrate Sigma! There's something waiting for you at the end of this so don't screw it up, ya hear? loomking ahead despite the lack of light to actually see properly, Sigma couldn't notice any moving shapes or anything that would indicate mercenaries. At least for now they were safe. Every minute on the horse moving counted after all. He'd probably continue until he felt tire enough to need to sleep. Sigma was a night owl considering most of his contracts and jobs were done at nightime. He also never needed much sleep to function, 6 hours of sleep felt like a vacation for him, so he'd probably have to think moreso about how Althea was doing instead of him... Magic apparently was something very draining, Sigma wondered how casting a spell actually felt. Did it hurt? Did every spell make you feel drained of your energy? Maybe when they'd have the time he could ask Althea. Oh! The horse will also need to sleep... I wonder how much I can push him with two people on his back... Ugh, I hate having to take time to rest but it might actually have to happen.
Like the pragmatic that he was, Sigma thought of a strange way to help Althea with countering sleep deprivation: "Well, to be fair I'm the one controlling the horse. We won't doing a whole lot of stops if possible so if you need to recuperate, you might as well just sleep on the horse. I could even grab a bit of rope and tie you to make sure you don't fall off..." Ah yes, ever the pragmatic. Sigma hadn't even thought about how sleeping on a moving horse was quite strange. All he was thinking about was ways for her to gain back some energy. He actually thought like this for many things. For example, Sigma always seems to come up with strange tactics and plans to overthrow his opponents. At least thinking outside of the box usually worked for him... Though in this situation, actually realising the awkwardness of telling a person he had only met days ago to sleep while leaning on him is something he should've probably realised before talking...
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Post by Althea on May 22, 2017 17:17:52 GMT -6
Althea couldn't help but giggle, the soft peals of laughter almost girlish in their gentleness compared to her more typical stolid directness. Something about how Sigma had responded just reminded her of a boy speaking of his heroes - unknowing and uncaring of the men and women behind them, unwilling or unable to acknowledge that in reality they could well be abrasive assholes or even self-serving narcissists who just got slapped with a title for being in the right place at the right time. She wasn't laughing at him, though. More at herself if anything. It was - something akin to how she had once seen people. How she wished she still could. She was so used to being bitter and sarcastic about everything, at least within the safety of her own mind, that sometimes she forgot that deep inside there was a bit of idealism in everyone.
"Perhaps so, Sigma. We live in an age ripe for a new generation of heroes to rise. An Elibe wracked by war and unrest fiercer than any since the Scouring, a world of monsters and men all at each other's throats. There is great possibility for those willing to push themselves beyond their comfort zone, who do what they believe is right, and help drag our world kicking and screaming into a better future." Her levity dulled but did not disappear as she added her own two cents to the subject. "For me, I would rather simply focus on my studies. Time will tell how well that turns out. So far, outlook not so good." The last few words came out in a bit more of a sing-song voice, inspired by a fortune teller she had heard once when younger.
The idea of being... tied to a horse helped to control her silliness, causing a raised eyebrow at the thought, but she supposed it was likely practical. Better than falling off at any rate. "Well, we shall have to burn that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime I will endeavor not to require such treatment."
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
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Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 22, 2017 19:42:56 GMT -6
It was true, Elibe was not in a stable place with all of the undead and monsters rising ever since Ostia fell. Sigma had always wanted to do something about it but seemed to never actually seriously try to work towards that goal. However, ever since he had started to travel Elibe, a new confidance had swelled up inside of him. He felt more capable than ever before. Maybe it was thanks to Orcleous's training or simply life experiences, but one thing was certain, he knew he would be able to accomplish something great if he kept it up. Quite a polar opposite when compared to Althea. To simply wish to learn was something he could understand, but to not desire anything else was a bit jarring. To want to acquire knowledge but to not have a set purpose for that knowledge was very different from how Sigma did things. Every single bit of information he collected was meant to be used at later point, nothing being unecessary. But who knows, maybe she did have a reason to search for said knowledge, something she probably didn't want to share with a stranger considering the nature of her research.
He chuckled a bit when he heard her go back to her regular monotone tone after he mentionned the strange sleeping apparatus he proposed to build. It was an expected response now that he had realised it. However he believed that she would come to trust more in his ideas when he would be able to actually show off the efficiency of his improvised plans.
Looking a bit to the side of the road after another hour of riding, he noticed some small hills and how overall, the landscape seemed to have a lot of slopes in this area. Not only that but it seemed like there was trees'a plenty. Gambit also seemedto be tiring himself out with how late it was becoming. Deciding to be considerate for the poor horse, Sigma pointed towards the hills to show Althea: "See those? I bet we can hide behind them, maybe even find a natural overhang to rest under. With the size of them we have a low chance of being noticed by our pursuers... So, ready to set camp?"
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Post by Althea on May 24, 2017 13:50:20 GMT -6
For whatever reason Sigma didn't seem interested in pursuing the subject, whether because he disagreed with her assessment or her goals. It was hard to tell, and while the lack of conversation was a bit disappointing she could live with that at least. Althea had spoken only the truth as far as she was concerned. Even if it was not the entire truth, with the weird development lately where she was starting to like people and places for some ridiculous reason. Preposterous indeed. But she did not see an issue with knowledge for its own sake. Maybe it would be useful eventually, maybe not, but it never hurt to know more. It was intellectual curiosity; as far as she was concerned it was the purest form of learning.
Nonetheless it was not exactly relevant to questions of bunking for the night, or, ah, 'camping' as he put it. Althea died a little inside at the thought. She liked camping about as much as she liked having rusty nails forced beneath her fingernails, or Etruria. Too many bugs, too bumpy, not soft enough, and no one to bring her free food in the morning. But at the same time. It wasn't exactly an... optional assignment, and she had certainly camped out before, though usually inside ruins rather than in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Didn't mean she had to like it though! But pragmatism demanded she take it seriously rather than whining about the conditions. And Sigma was right. "...You have a good eye. Yes, staying out of easy sight would be wise. I... hope you have something resembling bedding."
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 26, 2017 13:42:45 GMT -6
Leaving the beaten path, Althea asked Sigma about how equipped he was with camping tools... Well somebody is about to be very disapointed, that's for sure. "The only thing I have is an itchy wool blanket, sadly. Guess I should've told you I come from Illia. Just the fact I don't need to worry about hypothermia is good enough for me. After spending most of my childhood as an urchin sleeping in the cold streets of Edessa, I can sleep just about anywhere..." He still remembered the first weeks of being homeless. His mother had disapeared to who knows where and had *forgot* to bring Sigma with her. He hadn't heard from her in any way after that, and anyways, it's not like he actually wanted to see her again...
Dismounting from his horse, Sigma took Gambit by the reins and led him slowly into the forest. As they got deeper into the woods, it wasn't long until they found an overhang with enough room for the both of them. Tying Gambit to a tree, Sigma climbed to the top of the overhang to scout their surroundings. "Good, I don't see anything moving in the distance, I think we'll be safe tonight." Being attacked in the middle of the night was not ideal afterall. Their numbers were vastly superior so with no element of surprise, Sigma knew that they wouldn't last long.
Now that he knew they were well hidden, Sigma took out a couple of supplies out of the haversac attached to Gambit's back. A few rations, a waterskin and the blanket Sigma had mentionned earlier, well to be fair, it could be argued that with how rudimentary it was, this could hardly be considered a real blanket. Giving the thick fabric to Althea, Sigma smiled a bit while saying: "Sorry if this wasn't what you were expecting. I imagine people with a more scholarly occupation must be less used to roughing it in the wild like this...
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Post by Althea on May 26, 2017 19:18:42 GMT -6
"An itchy... wool..." The dark mage's eyes glazed over in practiced resignation as her mind, in much the same manner of a battered wife, accepted yet another misfortune raining down upon her like a bad-luck bukakke. ...She was going to blame Eris for that one and never think of that again. Regardless, it took very little processing power to recognize the simple fact that bitching about it would be about as useful as - something that was not very useful. It wouldn't do much good, was the point, and would simply serve to add unnecessary friction to their relationship when she had been the one to accept his terms. She couldn't quite repress a small sigh nonetheless, but masked it as best she could with a wry smile. "It has been some years since I was last forced to sleep on the ground as such," not since she'd been a teenage escapee from having her family murdered by fellow villagers, that was, forced to make her way in a world that had forsaken her. "-But I will endure it in the name of knowledge."
Not like it was her first rodeo of sleeping on the road, just... usually not literally ON the road. Or ground. Rip. She dismounted as well as Sigma began to scout out the immediate area, only realizing a little late what he was doing - she was used to having guards to do that for her. At least it was good news, rather than, say, 'Lycia's entire united army is here to kill us.' Which would be bad. "Well, hopefully this temporary reprieve will offer us enough respite to attack the morrow with vigor." Or tired eyes and a headache, but who was counting? "And I appreciate the concern, but I will endure. I have been on many digs before and learned somewhat to live with with it. I should have thought to bring more myself." All she really had was a pretty small blanket that was usually more of a dust stop or minor cushion when lying on hard ruin floors while inspecting said floor, but it was a valued companion!
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on May 26, 2017 22:28:29 GMT -6
Sigma couldn't help but smile as he watched Althea struggling about the fact she was about to sleep on the damp forest floor. It was like watching a kid fishing for the first time...and then having to clean out the fish guts. Sigma wished he could've kept that kind of innocence a bit more in his life, but sadly his birth had other plans for him. After having to eat whatever you could find, no matter how rotten or disguting it was, your standards for living conditions become extremely low after that. So much so in fact that Sigma would eat whatever he found sometimes without even thinking about the fact he had actual income now to eat well. At least he'd be able to survive the longest if Etruria decides to salt the fields of every nation to kill them slowly... Ugh, let's not think about that for now.
"Good to hear. I honestly don't know how I could handle somebody who would refuse to eat if he didn't have gold silverware. Not that I'd be annoyed, it's just that I think I would probably creep them out beyond belief really..."Turning around, he got under the overhang to lay down. Gambit decided to do the same as he went to sleep after that exhausting travel. Sigma hoped he could keep up the pace until they reached the ruins... Otherwise the mercenaries would definitly find the place before them and that researcher would take whatever it was his employer needed to procure. It might be considered theft, but Sigma usually didn't care about that. The law had never did him any good, why should he have to follow it? Anyways, just from the first impression, he already trusted Althea more than that man, so having her be the posessor of whatever arcane secrets laid deep in the earth felt like a better idea than the alternative.
As he streched for a bit after having taken off his bandanna, he decided that wanted to learn about his travelling partner thanks to his curiosity taking over. It wouldn't hurt to ask right? He wasn't an expert on magic, but he still found the subject interesting. "So tell me, what are the things you research exactly? Ancient tomes with archaic powers? Recipes for elixirs to boost the human's capability of manipulating magic energy? Oh! I know, trying to find the location of that weird city i heard about a few years ago... The rumor said it used to be some kind of oasis in the desert or something? Arc-something? I don"t remember..." of course, that last one was meant as a joke. He had only heard about that rumor from old drunk mercenaries in the taverns. Honestly, how could a city like that even exist without people knowing about it?
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Post by Althea on May 27, 2017 1:01:42 GMT -6
Althea stared blankly at Sigma for a few moments, then broke down giggling as much to her own surprise as anyone else's. "I'm sorry, I just - the thought of golden silverware - would it be called golderware? It's been a long time since I'd even seen silver... silverware," and another peal of mirth escaped her, "I'm not sure what I would do with it. I think I would be afraid to touch it lest I accidentally dropped it, given that it would likely be worth more than I." That was actually a sobering thought admittedly, a full set of golden silverware (could she patent the word goldenware?) would take enough gold and craftsmanship that they would actually likely be worth more than the lives of most individuals in Elibe to many people. Not in objective value perhaps, but certainly economic.
...Well, that was enough of depressing herself for one day. Or at least twenty minutes. Scooting in under the overhang as well, Althea sat down against the back of it and squirmed around for a few moments trying to make herself comfortable. Her dress was... not exactly built for yard work, but here they were. She eventually managed to find a way to sit that kept any rocks from poking into her back while using her own blanket as a bit of a cushion against the earth and a mediocre covering for her middle and upper body at elast though her feet where gonna have to fend for themselves unless she could curl up under there just... right. Eh. Good enough.
"Arcadia is -" a bloody myth, she was about to say as always, also she had recently met a LITERAL f**k**g DRAGON which uh actually did do a lot to open the question of how... wise her recalcitrance to even accept the rumor was. "...Unlikely to exist," Althea continued after a few moments, roping in her initial reaction and the light hint of salt that followed after. "But one of my favorite subjects is investigating lost civilizations, yes, especially those more magically inclined. Much was lost to the Scouring and long before, but tales still persist. One that I have interest in is the legend of Nan Madol... ancient tomes suggest that it was once a mageocracy that practiced powerful and terrible blood magic somewhere deep in the sands of Nabata, and some scattered accounts suggest even terraforming and perhaps spacial magics unknown to modern Elibe. It disappeared long before the Scouring, but some believe that even if bits of it were exaggerated, it may hold the keys to blood magic."
She paused, smiling wryly at the thought. "I cannot say anything about that, but in my studies I have found some circumstantial links to its existence, and they were... fountains of the foulest dark magic I have seen. Though with interesting usage. One site even had animate guardian statues. I nearly lost my head to one while trying to translate some carvings." Good ol' Bryn, saving her ass again and again. "Otherwise I tend to investigate less blatantly evil relics of history. Attempting to determine the veracity of Tir na Nog, the 'Land of Youth,' visiting dig sites across Lycia and Nabata in particular with the occasional visits to Ilia and rarely Bern, so on and so forth. There are a vast many secrets buried in Elibe, Sigma, things we of the modern age can but dream of. Many turn out to be falsified tales or exaggerated legends, but some... some are real. And they make every failed journey worth it."
And some leave you with incomprehensible books and obnoxious voices in your head. Eh, can't all be winners.
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