Path of Exiles- A meeting in The Wayward Mariner

[redcoat]

Migration from the Enjin Platform

[opius]

The Red Coat: He was an Allurani. As much as she hated to admit it, it made everything make a certain amount of sense. Of course he'd keep it from her, she was Mareki. No matter how much he trusted with her, traveled with her, would he ever be able to separate her people and her? Not bloody likely, and she didn't blame him a jot for that.

The drink burned as she finished it, and her face scrunched up, betraying her feelings at the stinging, burning drink. She preferred a dark ale or a sweet wine, to be honest.

"So, Doctor- what are your plans now? Still travelling with Alistair and Jennar? Or...?" She was honestly curious. Alistair didn't seem like the sort to be running towards danger. It wasn't that he was a coward... he just calculated every risk before jumping. Jennar might- the half elf woman seemed in for a story more than anything.


Taliesin Taliesin drank from the glass that Sae forced upon him. He made no effort to savor the flavor. Instead he threw his head back and had the entire glass emptied as if it was just poured out. A slight hiccup sound hit his throat followed shortly by a belch. The burning did not seem to have the same effect on him.

His hands quickly moved to refill his own glass as he waited for word on whether there was more bottles of this stuff he was sharing. His eyes turned to Jaegar, accepting the change in focus.


Uberwulf X:"The contract is over," Jaeger replied before folding his hands in front of him. "Alistair paid my fare, and released me. The answer lies with you."

He narrowed his eyes in thought as he looked between the two half-elves. "I wondered what you would do; you seem the type to be curious about Ruin, and the nightmares. I'm not sure if your disagreements have changed things; I originally planned to continue with you, if you would search for information or your newest contracts pushed you that way. Otherwise, I'd go alone as far as I could, until it was too dangerous."


Ancelas: "Sounds as though ya'll have a bit to discuss," Dreena Dellmon said. "If'n you excuse me, I'll leave ya'll to it. Thank you kindly, again, for everythin' you've done for my family an' I. I know my pa rubs ya'll the wrong way, but he's appreciative too, even if he doesn't say it in so many ways."

The young woman smiled and stood, giving the three adventures a little bob of a curtsy. "If you need anythin' while you're here, just ask Greta or I. We'll be happy to take care of you." With a swish of her skirts she then turned and approached the table where Fyndrick and the Oakbrands were sitting. Fyndrick, the human farm hand, quickly moved to the side to make room for her and smiled, raising a hand to her back briefly as she sat and flashed him a smile.


The Red Coat: +Sae raised an eyebrow as he said that the answer lay with her. Well, that was... interesting. She played idly with the empty glass, thinking as to how best to word everything.

"Yes- even if the King doesn't come through with a contract, I'll be investigating the Ruin and all of this... situation. I have a bit of a personal history with it- a run in with a cult a year or so back. I always felt like I'd done a sloppy job of it, and if I'd been a bit more... patient... I could. Well. I'd not go so far as to say all this is my fault, but I feel like I could have done more if I hadn't lost my temper." Sae grinned ruefully at that.

"If you want to come with, I'd be happy for it. Gunslingers aren't meant to travel alone, and there's safety in numbers."+


Taliesin ::Taliesin held the glass and bottle, a hint of green energy tendrils leaving his pocket and the scabbard of his blade. His eyes moved to the corners, looking side-long at his companions. Jaegar wanted to follow them? Was this an honest desire or simple small talk. There was certainly more to 'The Professor' as Alistair referred to him.

"My place is at your side, Sae. " He said with a shift of his head to them. Small pinpricks of green pulsed in the center of his pupils. "Ruin is creating a wedge between all peoples. What you did to Elta is evidence enough. As much as I despise Naithrani - the elves need to be united. All peoples need to be united."

He lifted the remnants of the bottle and poured equally among their glasses. "My place is at your side, Sae." As the head dissipated on the ale he brought the glass to his lips, taking only a sip this time. "Silvanus has given guidance, but I can not undertake his purpose alone. Nor can I let you go against Ruin yourself." ::

Uberwulf X:A personal history? His eyes narrowed in contemplation as Sae recounted her previous meeting with the cult. Tali then spoke, twice affirming that he would move with her. It made Jaeger wonder if Taliesin was eagerly making up for whatever caused them to raise voices in the middle of the night. Everyone had given them space because even if they continued moving together, there was obviously something the couple(?) needed to talk about.

Eventually, the goliath was satisfied with his musing; he wouldn't prod about their relationship yet, and he would definitely not ask about why they seemed a bit more tense. He did, however, choose to mention something else Sae said.

"You do seem to have quite a temper, but I don't think you could have stopped this alone. Not with the army of dwarves I dreamt. If it was a premonition or look into somewhere else, the same way Ruin could see us, then it's best things turned out the way they did. It seems you'll have the strength of us all this time."

He gave Tali a nod of thanks as he lifted his tankard to his lips. "Alistair and his harem want to travel together as well."


The Red Coat: +Sae nodded, taking another sip of the drink. It was calming her nerves a little, and the idle twitching was tapering off somewhat- that was a good thing. Twitchy fingers were never a good sign for the young gunslinger.

"Well, not stopped it per se. Maybe delayed it, or had some warning. But it's no use crying over it now." She flicked her empty hand idly, brushing the thought away. She didn't like to think too much about what had happened with Elta.

When Tali said twice that his place was at her side, she smiled softly. It still hurt that he referred to her as an ally, and had kept secrets from her... but continuing to whine about the truth was pointless. Why complain that the grass was green or the sky was blue? She took a deep pull from the drink, and barely avoided spitting it out when Jaeger referred to the rest of the group as 'Alistair and his harem'. It took a moment of rough coughing for her to recover.

"Well, the more the merrier?" She said, giving Jaeger a red faced grin as she recovered her faculties.+


Taliesin :: Taliesin was showing the effect the swill was having on him as the stoic upright posture slumped and gained the slightest slow sway. "Harem?" He asked with a chuckle. "I mean, he does seem to have a minor following - but I'm not sure how he would manage with a Kenku. The talons ... the eggs ..."

Something on his mind locked back onto what Sae was referring to. "Sae, had you done more I would have returned to find you dead. 'She went crazy. She left Talos and then became obsessed with Ruin and started killing' " He parroted. Similar to the moment that they first met. "A deep swig and his half filled glass hit the counter causing some to spill out. "True Mareki seek honor in battle. What the now War Chief did for the Naithrani ... the innocents ... no follower of Talos would lead their troops in something so weak and dishonorable."

Right thumb and pinky came together causing index, middle, and ring fingers to extend. Down to the counter, pulling shifting, coming together to mime the bolts of Talos. The left digits came down and traced vines and leaves, imagery that he saw in front of him. Visions of the past crept behind his eyes as silent thoughts screamed. ::


Uberwulf X:Jaeger's ever-present smile grew slightly at Sae's needing to halt a spittake. It reverted to its previous state when Tali referenced their origins, but he ultimately nodded. There was a moment of companionable silence, each of them left to their thoughts and drinks, before the large man spoke up once more.

"There is something about you I admire. It may be your training that made you the way you are, despite and because of your fire. People who get things done, those are the ones I'd rather travel with. We'll probably be calling you a lot, Sae, so pardon us if we abuse your title a bit as we move through cities... but your badge gives us all a bit of a pass to move about more freely. We were lucky this time, finding a noble and her guard, but I'd suspect that we'd meet more like the Delmonds and the tieflings... trying to get by, trying to escape."

He took a large swig of his drink; there was only a sip left when he placed his cup back on the table.

"Answers are good. Whatever helps us find answers."


The Red Coat: +Sae blinked a bit at Tali's... ramblings, carefully reaching over to tug the glass from his hand. That was probably enough booze for him, since he was a bit of a lightweight, it seemed. Even lighter than her, by the sounds of it.

"Well, thanks Jaeger. I admire you as well. You're good, competent, and fair. As far as the badge?" She waved off the thought. "It's not abuse if that's what it's for. It's a knife to cut through bureaucratic bullshit and get what needs doing done. As long as we aren't roughing up innocents in the name of the Order, I think that they'd approve of our methods. They seem to be approving so far."

She frowned a little, sipping her ale. "What concerns me most immediately is how far this is spread, and how fast it is spreading. They rolled through Donal's Crossing as if the guards were made of wet paper, the city without defenses. Which makes me wonder how defended the town was, and whether or not some of those defenses were sabotaged from inside. A small pocket of Ruin cultists is worrying, but it is even more worrying if they are in communication and prepared to create weakness from inside."+


Taliesin ::Taliesin was distracted envisioning the symbols of the deities that covered his entire life. As the glass was taken away his right hand moved to clutch the neck of the bottle. The silent moment afforded little change in his thoughts, stewing over the conspiracies building in his mind. Jaeger and Sae's interaction only served to fuel the machinations.

"We are stuck at the impasse regarding whether we try to proceed covertly, or if we make it clear that we're actively pushing back. Both paths have their merits." He lifted the bottle as if to take another drink, but instead poured the rest into Jaeger's glass. "I don't know about Donal's Crossing ... what we were told about the Dragon and the army that preceded it. Perhaps we only got to see the the advancing party the could push through faster."

With silent focus he placed the bottle down. "A badge gets us in, but without a way to detect Ruin we may only be walking into deaths waiting arms." Silence fell on him again as he went back into thought the minor sway in his posture still there. ::


Uberwulf X:He wouldn't have been displeased if he didn't get any more in his cup, but brows raised as Taliesin gave him another pour. It was met with a quiet thanks and small nod as he responded to the both of them.

"There was a large shadow there, in the fire. I couldn't make it out, man or beast... but it helped them ruin Donal's Crossing. I wonder what other sorts of bad magic and bad troops they have, that we would end up meeting?" The thought was punctuated with a huff, allowing Jaeger an excuse to drink. However, this time when he finished his sip, he looked into his cup. He certainly wasn't getting drunk, but he was starting to feel it begin to run its course.

"How would we even detect Ruin? A magician, a priest? An alchemist able to work with a magician and use some of the red metal to let us see them instead?" He of course was referring to Alistair, though he wasn't sure if the little guy was up to the task. No matter, this was the brainstorming part of the conversation.


The Red Coat: +Sae shrugged her shoulders at that one, leaning back in her chair and leaving both cups on the table- she was starting to feel the edges of a pleasant buzz, and this wasn't the sort of conversation that could be reasonably had drunk.

"Probably a cleric or a paladin- that's the only thing I can think of for detecting their evil. The Faylin- the family that I... investigated before and found ties to Ruin with- I can barely tell you what about them set me on edge. After months and months of close interaction with them, they just felt too normal. Too upstanding. Frankly, when I broke in I expected to find some light treason, or smuggling, something like that. I did not expect to find a hidden altar and a ledger containing names." Sae shrugged uselessly.

"I studied to be a cleric, but I was ruled a bit to wild for Talos's service."+


Taliesin ::Taliesin shrugged his shoulders in response to the mention of a large shadow. "I had seen the larger creature leading the attack in the streets, but if there was something against the light of the fire over the rooftops then I missed it."

He listened to the conjecture back and forth between Sae and Jaeger. His thoughts actually aimed towards Alistair. He opened his mouth to offer his opinion, but he only furrowed his brows at a revelation she had hid from him. He had forgotten what he meant to say and instead addressed what intrigued him. "A ledger of names? But you only killed Elta ... what names were on it? Why did you never tell me?" ::

Uberwulf X:Jaeger fell quiet as he looked between the two, content to let his drink warm his belly as the two continued discussing things they apparently kept learning about each other. At least he'd be there to play referee if they got rowdy from their liquor.

The Red Coat: +Sae's fidgeting stopped, a quiet stillness falling over the elf- it was unusual to see her freeze so completely.... and a little unsettling to those that would know her well. Moving slowly, Sae clenched and then unclenched her fist.

"I didn't read the ledger, beyond confirming what suspicions I had about the Faylin family. I handed it over to the tribal forces at my arrest, and it was confiscated along with the property of the Faylin family. It was also used during their interrogations before they were sentenced to death."

Sae held her breath a moment, a dark look coming over her eyes as she was in that day. The hot fury of the betrayal. The bitter taste of anger and fear at finding the altar. Elta's face, muttering something as she drove her dagger into his neck, silencing whatever excuse he was trying to give her.

Letting out a sharp exhale, she drained the glass closest to her, letting the burn take away the painful memories.

"You know me, Tali. I'm not much of a reader. Shall we go find the others? I think Konane mentioned getting some new clothes, and I think these pants have seen better days."+

Taliesin ::Taliesin could see he struck a nerve, but he wasn't about to let things go. He rose to his feet, as if he were readying to leave "And was there any other executions following the Faylin's? Or had it ended there with no further action?"

He looked to Jaeger for a moment, giving a nod as if signaling they were leaving. Turning back to Sae he took a deep breath. "If it ended there, then we have a known place to start ... whether or not we want to be stealthy." ::

Ancelas: Greta Dellmon returned then, nervously tugging at her apron as she emerged from the kitchen. "Sorry folks, looks like the Red Dragon's the best we got. No one ever orders it so we're a mite short of refills at the moment. I've got some more base ale if you want some, but..."

She looked from those seated to Taliesin, who looked ready to leave. "Oh. Headin' out? Sue I can't tempt you with another mug, or maybe a bit a' food?"


Uberwulf X:Jaeger watched Greta return, and put back the rest of his drink. The oversized cup was placed down gently, before his shook his head. "The lady is right, we have to find the others before too long. But we appreciate the drinks you gave us."

He considered dropping another gold since it was all but assured that they were going to all hit the road together, and Jaeger could put his amazing ability to find money on dead foes to eventually make up for that tip. His eyes turned to Taliesin and Sae once more, reading the various expressions (and lack thereof) on their faces before taking the time to draw out two more gold, placing them on the table.

"I'm paying it forward: a bottle of Red Dragon and a meal. If I'm not back in a year, drink it for me. Take care of yourselves," he said quietly and sincerely, before facing the two elves.

"Talk about killing while we find Konane, not here," he advised, signalling his readiness to leave as he took to his feet. He would follow them out, when they decided to actually exit.


Ancelas: Greta stared at the two gold coins, eyes wide, and took them with trembling hands. Most of the drinks they served was a few coppers, meal and a room would cost a silver. The amount of gold she had made thus far was as much, if not more, than her family made in a month.

"Th-thank ye... m'lords, m'ladies. Good fortune to... to you and yours." She scooped up the coins and caught her cousin's eyes, waiting for the patrons to turn their backs to her before mouthing her astonishment to Dreena, who had turned to watch the exchange. Dreena, meanwhile, smiled at her and mouthed back 'I know' before looking up to Jaeger, Sae, and Taliesin.

"May the gods favor you in all y'all endeavors," she said, and her words were echoed around the table. Fyndrick touched his head and heart and wished them the blessings of Helm while the Oakbrand brothers brought fists to their chests, wishing them the strength and courage of Moradin.


The Red Coat: +Sae stood quickly, eager to follow Jaeger's advice. She didn't want or need to scar the ears of their traveling companions. Frankly, she didn't want to talk about it at all. The room spun for a second as she stood, reminding her that breakfast had been what small bite of rations she could stomach many, many hours ago.

Instinctively, her hands shot out, catching both Jaeger and Tali at the elbows. A deep, calming breath, and she stabilized herself. Letting go of both gentlemen, she gave a wan smile to the Dellmons. "Take care of yourselves." She managed to mutter, slipping from the bar with her escorts.

"Tali. I understand that the current thinking among the Mareki is that I brutally executed my fiance in cold blood, defended myself as easily as I would defend myself in a drill yard duel, and walked away without scar or punishment. But the fact that you think that is true..." She frowned deeply, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"The time between me finding that forsaken Altar and leaving for the Black Tower is a blur. If you want cold facts, write to Erevan. Frankly, he'll have a better account of it than I do. Hell, find any beggar on the streets of Kel Mar. They probably remember it better than I do. Now please, I am begging you, drop it."

With that said, Sae averted her gaze for a moment, trying to take more deep, calm, breaths. She hadn't yelled... that was something, right? Turning to Jaeger, she gave him a wan smile to match the one she gave the Dellmons.

"I'd... appreciate it if this stayed between the three of us. It... it isn't something I'm overly proud of. Please. If the King's mission does take us to Ilyria, the rest will find out soon enough. Until then, I think it is best we wait and see what he wishes from us, instead of trying to borrow trouble."+


Uberwulf X:"So, you aren't... together? I assumed you were, but the past couple days have had me thinking otherwise. Anyway," Jaeger said as he waved his hand. "I know well enough not to talk about this, don't worry. Just keep mindful of your cups and voice and the others won't worry either."

He tapped his nose. "Do you want to ride on my shoulders, since you were about to trip over yourself?" He was obviously exaggerating, but despite the conversation sure to resume or come to a close between Sae and Tali, he was in a good mood. It probably had something to do with the drink.


Taliesin ::Taliesin wavered and had to catch himself carefully as Sae grabbed hold. His eyes dropped to her hand. After she righted herself he was ready to help steady her further. But the assumption she made, the wording, it felt like an attack to his narrowed focus.

"Really - you think that I would believe you a cold hearted killer? You clearly don't know me at all." His body lurched to the side, eyes narrowing at Saw. "I can't ask Erevan because we were traveling together when everything happened. And I have been seeking answers in as gentle a way as possible, but you refuse to tell me anything and then accuse me of seeing you as heartless when I ask for any details even if it isn't about you!" He reached into his pocket and took another gold and slammed it on the counter. Jaeger's words were missed in Taliesin's ears.

"You say it's all a blur and yet you know that the remaining family was executed ... but you can't remember if anyone else was implicated or if things just ended. That is mighty selective blur you have there" Heavy footfalls signaled his moving on. "And the King wont send us anywhere near Illyria. We just told him that chaos and ruin were knocking on the front door. The last thing he will do is ask us to go to a foreign continent. You're more likely to be tasked as a scout or messenger within this land." He stopped at the door to The Wayward Mariner he placed his right hand flat against it. "Everything matters in this fight. Keep hiding things, keep pushing it back because it is something you don't want to think on and we will miss something that will get us killed." That was his last word on the matter as he opened the door and ventured back into the light of day.::


The Red Coat: +Tali kept pushing. Of course he did, he never really understood when to drop something. Mareki were commonly referred to as wardogs, but it seemed that between the two of them, Tali seemed to be better at growling and snapping whenever he didn't get his way.

No matter how it affected her.

He raised his voice at her for the second time in as many days, and Sae rolled through the mental exercises that Kaladin had insisted she learn during her time in the Black Tower to control her temper. Control. She was in control, no matter how Tali stormed at her. Mentally rolling through the formula for black powder, accuracy statistics for a rifle over a pistol, the construction of a blunderbuss. The numbers rarely meant anything to her- she'd been trying to brush Tali off when she said she wasn't a big reader, but she hadn't been lying. Her skills never laid in academia.

She instead let him storm out, looking down at the table. Her ice blue eyes were sad as she answered the question Jaeger had sort of asked them.

"Together? No. He's made it very clear that we are only allies, nothing more. Since the end of my arranged marriage, I have been very, very single." She grinned then at his offer of a piggy back ride.

"Nah. I can walk. Maybe not in the straightest of lines, but I can walk. Shall we let Tali sulk and go find the others?" ((Deception, Rolled 5, -1 mod)) She did a terrible job of keeping the sadness from her voice at the most recent turn of events, but Jaeger seemed like the sort to let things go when they were in public and it was obviously painful.

You know, like a friend would.+