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A Day of Respite

Scene details

Setting: The Vanguards return to Zerhem Kingdom to recuperate after the last adventure into the Mirage Forest. As the group catch up with Ivo, they are visited by a very familiar face.

Log


  It is a late afternoon at Zerhem Kingdom's city, activity bustling with life as ever. Many of the travelers would make their way to visit the shops along the square while the children are out playing. All the meanwhile, the daily activities seem as normal as ever.

  Within the Vanguard Association HQ, there is a bit of activity amongst the adventurers who have taken the work here. Many of them are turning in their assignments.

  One of those who are making sure to complete the assignment is none other than the young Boy with the Long Yellow Scarf. In his normal adventuring attire, his scarf flicks up as the door picks up a bit of wind. He finishes talking to a few others at the counter, and then he leaves in part.

  He requested a meeting with someone in the HQ, given that he may be the only one who knows. Of course, this was also the client. To pass the time, Reize is surveying for a -certain- someone. There is unfinished business... or conversation about a certain thing that happened back in the Misty Forest.
 

Ruidosa La Crima, Duchess of House La Crima has found Reize. Eventually, and the first thing she did apologizing profusely. "Look, I didn't know it'd affect you if I swallowed up the remaining dark energy." she whines. "...maybe I should re-read some things..." she says flipping frantically through her book and then burying her head in it as she walked along.

"But I gotta scoop up dark energy when I can because it's so way better than relying on blood alone..." she huffs as she keeps her head buried in her book like she's afraid Reize is gonna yell at her.

She sometimes peeks over the top of the book only to suddenly peek back down shamefully as she flips. She's clearly just....flipping to random pages.


  ... And there she is.

 Reize had questions. However, it looks like Ruidosa was already aware that he had questions for her and pre-emptively apologized for it. He gives a thoughtful look her way and then he rests a hand over her shoulder. "... Rui." He offers her a smile.

 "I figured that would be the case...."

 He gives her a beaming smile, "... Just -warn- me when you're about to do that. We're connected, so I can at least brace for it."
 


 As chatting clients and adventures pass in and out of the front doors of the Zerhem outpost of the Vanguard Association, one young man stands on the threshold, his freshly laundered blue cloak blowing in the breeze of others' passing, and heaves a sigh.
 Everything had been going so well.
 EARLIER THAT DAY
 "Your party has served us well, Ivo Galvan."
 The Cosmpolitan kneels before the two thrones that loom upon the raised dais of Castle Zerhem's throne room. From one, the speaker, a tall and thin man with a prematurely lined face and a long and noble nose, gazes down with tired yet keen eyes. In the other, a small boy sits wearing an overlarge crown, which he frequently must adjust. Occasionally he moves as though to lift it off of his head, stretching his neck back and forth, until a warning glance from the man compels him to reluctantly set it back upon his little brow.
 "It has been an honor to serve, Lord Regent," Ivo graciously intones. "We remain grateful for your benevolence in allowing our presence within the ruined aqueduct. All that we learn of the legacy of Vaeltrandia only affirms Zerhem's storied place in history."
 "Indeed," the regent says, sounding bored or distracted by all this. "We in turn are grateful for your party's... discretion regarding the matter of Princess Darcea."
 "But of course," Ivo replies. "And regarding the criminal Nais, we--"
 "However," the regent cuts him off, "a new and urgent development regarding the princess has come to our attention. A situation that must be resolved before we consider any proposals."
 "Ah," Ivo says, a hint of uneasiness in his eyes. "Naturally." He glances up at Zerhem's silent king, only to see the boy meeting his gaze curiously, quietly picking his nose.
 NOW
 "Well," the Cosmopolitan says to himself, "nothing to do but put a positive spin on it." And with one last sigh, he smiles lopsidedly and turns to enter the Vanguard Association building.
 It only takes a moment before he espies his familiar friends. "Good news, chief," Ivo says brightly, striding over. "The amplifier is functioning again and the, ah, sensor is working perfectly." Best not to say the word 'eidola' too casually or loudly. "Hey, Rui." He glances between his two younger (or at least younger-looking) companions. It seems he's interrupted an important exchange. Thinking quickly, desirous of staying on the right side of a maybe-real vampire curse, his smile broadens. "You're lovelier than ever. Why, is it my imagination, or do you seem especially energized somehow?"
 Quietly, he basks in self-satisfaction at his usual smoothness.

Ruidosa La Crima blinks. That's it. Just... 'warn me next time' and a ''smile'' and that smile makes her ''blush'' so much and she hides it behind her book, but maybe Ivo can see it from his direction, because she shoots him a ''look''. She ''huffs''. "I..I had some dark energy infusion is all. Much needed!" she insists at Ivo.

She looks at Reize as she slowly lowers the book as her blush starts to subside. She sighs a bit. "Amplifier?" she asks softly. "That... thing Argent used...?" she asks curiously as she looks back to Reize and blinks.


  Seeing the blush on Ruidosa's face draws a bit of redness on his face, his gaze focused on her as he continues to pat her shoulder, and then he pets her head. He brightens until he hears a very familiar voice calling out.

 "Ah...?"

 He turns to the sight of the older teenager, his eyes widen in shock before he brightens. "Ivo, you returned!" He waves a hand, excitedly waving at the older man. It looks like one of their Companions is finally back with the group. It finally registers about the amplifier and sensor, "Oh! That is great news!"

 He considers, "While you've been away to work on the amplifier, Rui, Anna, and I managed to handle a couple of things." He furrows his eyebrows. "...I'll explain more about it later, though. I'm waiting for our client..."

 Soon, there is a voice that interrupts, "Ah, it is good to see you both, Ivo and Reize."

 At the entrance of the facility is a very tall bespectacled man. The figure bears a fair skin, black hair, and donned in simple clothing. However, his tall statue does provide a presence about him. In his hand is a small book. This was the very client who provided Reize the assignment of meeting with the La Crima manor long ago.

  It is the wandering archeologist, Professor Kellan Reynald.

 "I trust that the request regarding the Misty Forest was fruitful?" He tilts his head curiously to the side.


 Ivo's smile goes blank as he attempts to process if Ruidosa is happy, angry, or both. It occurs to him that maybe he could ask her mother how best to tell. Thinking of this, his eyes begin to take on a far-off quality as his smile widens. Now there's a woman that a man could--
 Wait, what's happening?
 "I-I'm sure it was," he blurts out hastily in response to the vampire girl's insistence before hearing her question. "It was damaged during Argent's use of Chaos to help defeat Draaken, yes," Ivo answers, calming. "It took time and expensive materials to repair. I more or less had to reconstruct it from scratch. But it should be more durable now, meaning it will be easier in the further to combine Argent's athame channeling techniques with modern Cosmopolitan magitech." A spark of interest is roused in his eyes. "And the more that we learn of the legacy of the Star-Crowned, the more techniques specialized to homunculi we might develop from their lost knowledge..."
 The fourth fragment of the Crux, as well as the vanished Star-Crowned capitol of Arcadios, remain to be found, along with their attendant secrets.
 "I'm looking forward to the stories of your adventures," he then says to his friend, smile broadening into a grin. "You always were a consummate storyteller. If you weren't an adventurer, I think you'd make a great historian--"
 Speaking of scholars.
 "Professor, what a pleasure," Ivo says, turning his delighted face to the new arrival. "Your every request has led us to incomparably exciting discoveries." Ruidosa included, though Ivo may be thinking of someone else. "Our resolution of the mystery of the Misty Forest led us to discover that an inheritor of druidic weather prediction techniques dwelled in the nearby logging town a mere generation ago. We think that it may be possible to revive these lost arts of Vaeltrandia."
 At least, if they can get the royal family to release Nais.
 "I hope we may be of further assistance in realizing your scholarly interests." Ivo glances to Reize, who is presumably more aware of the nature of the request, if anyone is. The Cosmopolitan is fond of Professor Reynald, despite not knowing him well at all. It is nice to meet a fellow scholar, who seems motivated purely by scholarly interests.

Ruidosa is pat on the head. This does not help the blush go away any faster. :IX Still, she relaxes, finally------ then they're approached by the client!

Ruidosa is vaguely familiar with the Professor through her mother. But she's never really talked to the man, it was always at a distance- mother knows things that was occasionally helpful in archeology. Still, she lets Reize handle the talk about the Misty forest, but she adds. "There was a terrible monster there. It's dead now." she says bluntly.

She eyes Ivo, who's sure is thinking of her mom. She purses her lips and looks away from Ivo and back to Reize.

"Also. We found a temple of some sort...? I mean..."

"These things always seem to be temples or ritual areas. Right?" she asks curiously.


  The interaction between Ivo and Ruidosa has the boy cant his head to the side, but decides not to pay too much heed to it. However, the subject of the 'Legacy of the Star-Crowned' earns a smile from the boy. "Great! Then we can bring back L---" Before he could complete the last part and likely earn a glance from Ruidosa, that is when the scholar appears.

  "Professor Reynald!"

  The man has a calm smile about him, looking over at the ensemble. There is the young explorer who he had taken an interest in, the magitech adept and fellow scholar, and the young vampire. He stops at the young vampire before he adds, "Ruidosa de La Crima. It is finally wonderful to meet you face-to-face." Hearing Ivo's feedback puts a smile on the man's face. "Ah! That is fascinating." He considers Ivo's last part, "To fill you in, I requested for your young friend to explore again. There were recent rumors about creatures taking hold since the last time you collectively explored the woods." He gives a frown, "It gave the expeditionists quite the scare before they fled."

  Ruidosa's answer abut the monster has the older man run a hand along his chin, "So it was true... a monster inhibited the place." He becomes quite intrigued at the mention of a temple. "... A temple, you say?"

  At this point, Reize steps forward, glancing at Ivo and Kellan. This is where the explorer gets to fill both in. "When we explored the Misty Forest once more, there were shadow creatures, from shadow wolves to a giant shadow spider." He closes his eyes, "Beyond the mist lie a set of stairs. The mist do not touch beyond the halls. What we found was a spacious hall, there were strange symbols all around. The torches lit up on their own as well. And beyond that, there were four diamond-shaped slots."

  The man gives a thoughtful look, "...Intriguing." He smiles, "I guess this is where I will do my part to research this and provide you all my findings." Kellan looks at Ivo, Reize, and Ruidosa, "I would hope to count on you to find the secrets once I gather further information about the place."


 Ivo grins. "I should have surmised there would be more than one mystery afoot," he remarks lightly, looking between Reize and the professor. "I've been spending too long in the laboratory."
 He listens intently to the account offered. Slowly, his brow furrows, his grin fading as his lips purse in perplexity.
 "A temple of shadow creatures? Hmm." He blinks. "On the one hand, we're familiar with the style of the Vaeltrandian druids, as in the case of the wooden shrine at the Painted Remains and the similar architecture in the logging town. This temple doesn't sound like the work of druids. But on the other hand, one of Kernunnos's faithful familiars is said to be the so-called shadowcat. A connection isn't impossible, but..."
 The magitech engineer pauses.
 "It's hard to say what's harder to believe," he murmurs. "The same druids working in a different style, or a different religious community dwelling within what was Vaeltrandian territory. But in my readings on Vaeltrandia, I don't think I've encountered anything like 'four diamonds.'"
 The Crux was split into four by Kernunnos's followers, but the party learned that from the eidola himself, not from any records.

Ruidosa La Crima bows as she frowns a little as Ivo mentions the shadows. "Well. It might had been one Shadow creature making many, but it's gone now." she says. She frowns a little. "And there was nothing in the chamber like diamonds. Maybe they're hidden in the forest or..." she says. "Somewhere else. Maybe we're missing information. Lots of..." she flips through her book.

"Information..." she says as she frowns and turns the book on it's side before turning it back rightside up and flips through the book again. "Nothing about a temple with four diamond slots here." she says as she frowns. "So mom probably didn't run into anything..." she says...

Then she starts filling in the book with the information about the temple encounter as she scribbles with her pencil, scribble... write... scribble.


  "Well, they weren't in the temple. They occupied the forest. They may had made it home after we dealt with Nais a while back." Then suddenly, Reize perks. He is on the verge of asking about Nais, but decides against it when he realizes that they still have their client nearby. After all, the client doesn't need to know everything going on, right?

  "Interesting... Interesting." Kellan smiles once more. It is pleasing to hear the efforts that the group made. To Ruidosa, he nods. "Ahhh, do not worry, I'll look into this, now that you've cleared the way for me." The professor starts to make his leave, "I shall see about filling in the gaps. Until we meet again." The professor leaves...

  There is a sigh of relief. One part of the request done. At least payment was provided prior. Reize looks over towards Ivo, offering his older friend a smile, "... That was one of the events that we ran across. There was one other event." Once the professor is gone, the boy adds, "When Ruidosa, Anna, and I took a request to look into a situation at Lake Gerisia, we traveled out to chase the rumors of deadly siren."
 


 "Farewell, Professor!" Ivo says, raising his hand to wave. "I look forward to your future discoveries."
 Nice guy, he thinks.
 "Oh?" But the Cosmopolitan is soon distracted by Reize's most interesting comment. "How thrilling. And did you get a look at this siren of legend? Any sketches, perhaps?"
 He stands to lean over to peer at Ruidosa's book, just in case there are any sexy mermaid types drawn on the page she's on, before he thinks better of it and looks away. It's not his fault. He's got Madam La Crima on his mind.
 "I imagine the Romancing SaGa might not have been suited to a stealth mission by water," he murmurs, "what with the sound of the magitech engines." Maybe he could devise an upgrade for those based on Fabroxo's work for The Capo's flagship, the Sweet Francine. Well, loosely based. Better not to follow Fabroxo's methods too closely.


  "Actually..." Reize looks at Ivo, and then he reaches into his satchel to procure something. "It was stranger than that..." While he rummages along the satchel, "They were singing attempts to specifically reach -us-." The boy's expression turns quite serious, "... I couldn't see them through the mist; we when we explored deeper in the water, it was full of mist. The song that they sang was somber, almost as if they were mourning."

  "They reached out to us because we're the ones who vanquished the Deathless Draaken. They reached out for us with a request." Finally, he draws out a crimson gem. It gives off a gleam before the boy hands it over towards Ivo.
 


 Ivo's playful expression turns subdued as he examines the crimson gem that Reize has handed him, his own reflection gazing back at him from its glittering surface.
 "A magnificent stone," he remarks thoughtfully. "I can't tell at a glance, but... could this be similar to one of the gems embedded in the skin of the dragonkin lord or that foolish merfolk chief? Related to Aurita Meloda's beastkin blasphemy? If they somehow knew of Draaken's defeat, then..."
 He looks back to Reize, eyes widening.
 "A lost tribe of Aurita Meloda? One that traveled by river to Lake Gerisia when the salt water overtook the city? The possibility never occurred to me, but if so... that would be extraordinary."
 Amazed, the Cosmopolitan is silent for a moment just to let the possibility sink in, blinking.
 "Do they... wish for us to negotiate their return? Or...?"


  The boy responds, "I don't think they were the mermen. I remember that they referred to themselves as separate from the mermen and lizardfolk. When I conferred with Kernunnos after our trip, he was able to tell that they were 'elementals'." He points to the gem, "They asked that the gem was to be given to Cutini Nak. She will know the meaning behind the gift."

  He pauses, "...And from what Kernunnos mentioned, in their current state, it sounded like they were dying." He thinks back, "..But I felt their strongest wish."

  "'For Meloda to accept us again'."

  He looks at Ivo, "Maybe if we undo what Draakan did, they may be able to return to Aurita Meloda."
 


 Ivo's eyes widen again.
 "Not beastkin, but elementals!"
 His gaze grows distant, as it does when his mind is racing.
 "Of course. With the power of Meloda gracing the city, even elementals could dwell there in peace. But so long as Meloda's Blessing churns on, the power of Chaos will mingle with the power of Water that remains concentrated there even after her departure..."
 Features turning resolute, Ivo nods to Reize.
 "Even with MegaCapo keeping the peace between Cutini Nak's people and Aurita Meloda's other denizens, it was already necessary to do something about Meloda's Blessing. It's certain that The Capo and his ilk will make another attempt to acquire that power for themselves. I'm concerned that it's too dangerous to attempt to destroy or dissipate it within the city, lest its nigh infinite power be released all at once. But..."
 He crosses his arms, quirking a smile.
 "As I was reconstructing the magitech amplifier, I was thinking about how Argent's athame was able to contain the power of Chaos, if only temporarily, and stabilize it, if only barely and at cost to herself. Reize, I hypothesize that a star of sufficiently massive quantity and refined quality might be able to contain Meloda's Blessing. Something capable of channeling truly extraordinary amounts of magical energy."
 His smile widens.
 "Something like the completed Crux of Creation. Don't you think?"


  Reize listens in on older older friend's thought. His eyebrows furrowed, he slaps a fist to his palm. "We definitely need to do something about that!" He grumbles, "They've been through enough and don't need anymore people trying to take over their land." He thinks over how they can resolve the issue.

  ...The idea of the completed Crux of Creation is met with widen eyes, "...Yes! That would be great! We can use that to contain the blessing!" He brightens cheerfully, "We'll be able to handle that! We have an additional reason to get the Crux completed!"
 


 "That's right," Ivo enthuses. "We'll find the lost legacy of the Star-Crowned and what we need to restore Lily, and once we're done, we'll use the Crux, the great creation of the Vaeltrandian druid followers of Kernunnos, to revive Aurita Meloda and ensure that Meloda's Blessing will never be misused again." He grins. "Humans have treated the beastkin poorly since the latter's golden age. It would only be proper if a human relic were given over to ensure the return of beastkin prosperity."
 He looks to Reize's pendant, smile softening.
 "That would be quite a fine legacy indeed, don't you think?"
 Surrounded by people in the busy Association, there is no response from the pendant. But, though it might be a trick of the light, for a moment it seems to flicker almost happily.