#interaction: luminousrider

[blaiddllodi]

[ Garden ] - Need to get away from the thick of the party for a moment? Step outside of the dance hall, where Garreg Mach's own vaunted gardens await, gracefully decorated to take on new life for the duration of the evening.

The gardens are quiet. There is, of course, the faint melody of music carried through the air and muffled voices and laughter still but the volume is much more manageable for someone looking for the chance to take a moment to get away. It is beautiful out there, too, breathtaking even without the variety of plant life that it might have boasted at a different time of year.

The sound of footsteps crunching through snow cuts through her solitude and Altena turns around to see who has intruded. When she sees it's Dimitri, hardened features soften. As a friend, he's welcome to share this peace with her.

"Were you looking for someplace quiet, too? It's nice out here even if it is a little cold."

The cold was bracing, after the stuffy, warm air in the ballroom, the too-close press of too-many bodies, too-familiar, too-long gone, but keening for his attention all the same.

He couldn't pretend that he found calm in the beauty of the surrounding flora of the immaculately kept gardens, but Dimitri did find calm in the stillness, in the quiet, and in the dark, under the vastness of the sky and the twinkling stars.

"Ah, it's you." His footsteps stilled, and he didn't want to admit that he was looking less for merely quiet, but someplace to separate.

Altena was a friend, but even still it did not allow him the chance to strip the shell he carried around to lay bare in the silence.

He offered a smile, stilted, and moves forward the remaining few steps to her side. "I suppose I can't be surprised that it isn't only myself that doesn't enjoy these types of things for long."

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any expectation, not additional performance that he might have needed to put on - it wasn't a perfect escape, but it was a partial one, and if it was what he could take, then he would.

The silence stretched on for a moment, curling about them with the snow, before his brow furrowed, and without tearing his gaze from the starry sky he asked, "I suppose I did not expect for so many ghosts to join us."

[peerlessscowl]

Little Princess in a Terrible Mess

You’ve been trying to get used to this new, tiny life as best you can while your normal-sized classmates and colleagues try to find a way to reverse the curse. Up until now though you’ve had to go at it alone, making your own weapons and accommodations, but one day while you’re out foraging, you’re engulfed in a bright fire that, strangely, does not burn. Before you can make heads or tails of what exactly is happening, or if your feet are even still on the ground, you’re dropped roughly into a... house? Or rather, a dollhouse, but it can easily accommodate you and several of your allies. Beyond the windows, you can make out more fire, but vaguely there’s a face within the flames. PLAY. It commands you. Sometimes EAT. Other times SLEEP. You don’t know what will happen if you disobey, but there’s a stack of charcoal outside that gives you the creeps.

(Starter for @ladyleonster and @luminousrider)

Raven had had just about enough of this shit. It was difficult to tell if time moved differently with him being so small, but he truly had no way of tracking how long it had been since he'd been shrunk - for what? A bowl of stew to celebrate a group of people I'm not even involved in? who didn't even win?

He had some gripes about the situation, to very little end. Some of the monastery staff had been tasked with finding those who had been besmalled, and assured these folk that a solution was in progress, pending test results. It was promising, he'd been promised. That could have been anywhere from several hours to several days ago, but the world remained ever perilous. Finding food, trekking back to the safety of his quarters for lodging, nevermind class - danger waited around every corner, and for no saints-be-damned reason.

He stirred, groaning, awoken by a horrible scent in his nose, cold and cloying. He shifted, the angles of his body smacking against hard, smooth surfaces all around him, and he jumped, startled for a moment, thinking that perhaps he was trapped.

Which was true, but not nearly in a way he'd assumed. He was surrounded by…tapping a knuckle against it, he could not fathom it was glass - not sturdy enough, if he jabbed his elbow hard enough it would surely shatter - but if not glass, nor wood nor stone, then what? And why was it such a garish mess? All around him the slick hard surfaced shined a medley of saturated pinks, purples, and white. Tapping his toe briefly against the pattered floor told him that wasn't wood either, just more of the slick, hard surface.

"What in the world?"

RISE.

Raven whirled on his heel, hand automatically going for the swordbelt on his side before he remembered that he had not had a proper weapon in ages. The makeshift crystal weapons remained abandoned underground, and a quick glance around did not reveal anything he could use. Cautious, he stared down…the sun? No, not bright enough, and if he squinted, he could see what passed for a face, pressing against the side of his cell.

The light shone at a door, briefly, and he felt it speaking at him again.

JOIN YOUR FAMILY.

The blood froze in his veins, and Raven jerked his head to the door - his family? Here? Impossible - but - how - ? And he dashed, vaguely noticing that it was his bare feet slapping on the floor as he scrambled in the direction the light shone.

"Mother - ! Father - ! Prisc - !" He cut himself short, breathless, when instead he found Lady Ethlyn and another young woman, brunette and beautiful and muscular. His heart hammered in his chest, and, furious, he turned to face the sun once more.

PLAY.

[bxldrsdraumar]

She hadn't really meant to read the birthday announcement board but as she walked but it, a name and a date caught her eye. Her uncle, her mother's brother, is celebrating his birthday today.

She doesn't know what she should do. She doesn't know him. He doesn't know her. It seems silly to get someone like that a gift. She supposed she could ask her mother for ideas but the day is today and she doesn't really have time to go shopping.

So Altena does nothing and almost forgets about it completely until she passes the man himself in the halls on her way to class. She's startled by his existence and his overly cheerful demeanor but she is able to mumble out a quick "oh um happy birthday...uncle."

((assuming this takes place after they meet each other akdhskdh))

She is a brusque presence, Ethlyn's daughter, to be sure, though he feels Quan in her – he feels him in the set of her jaw, in the movement of her shoulders, in her gait and presence. He feels someone else, as well, and it niggles at the back of his mind. 

But he cannot help but feel an immense love for her – just the mere sight of her, awkward though she is around him. Still, he practices restraint – they are not so well acquainted, and she is yet skittish, seems to be uncomfortable in her skin, despite the clear power. 

And so when they find themselves at opposite ends of the hall, moving toward each other, Sigurd's fingers tap against his side, energy buzzing to bestow the affection on her that he is used to. He hums at his restraint, and settles a soft smile on his features as they pass each other, a nod of acknowledgement but not of obligation. 

When she stops, mumbles her well-wishes, he halts, and his hand reaches out for her as she continues. "Ah! Hold, Altena! If you would – I mean, that is – I was on my way to the training ground. I fear I have been remiss for the day, but – if you'd like to join me - ?" 

He leaves the question open-ended, and bows at her, raising before he adds. "If you would join me for a bout, I would be most honored. I should like to better acquaint myself with my niece, and I have an inkling you are not one for words." 

[sayhwaet]

It had been easy to assume that Linus's choice in dress had just been a him thing at first but, the more she looks around, the more she realizes that he is far from the only person missing a shirt tonight. She isn't someone who attends fancy things like this but she's curious. She doesn't know any of the other men but one of them knows her and maybe that's enough.

"Hey um..." Altena is awkward in her approach to Beowolf. Since she first spotted him, he's added some additional accessories to his ensemble. He really doesn't fit the picture of a person attending an extravagant ball that she's held in her mind. It's kind of intimidating. "Can I ask you something? I've only been to one other event like this before so I don't really have a frame of reference other than what I've heard growing up. Do people dress like this often?"

Though he knew at the moment he was the picture of a right idiot, Beowolf knew better than to let his guard down in this hall - knew that he didn't quite belong here, and emphasized it all the more with first his refusal to respect the setting, then later with his refusal to comply to what one might have called social expectations.

If they wanted him in nicer clothes, they might have paid him better. But what did he know?

Despite this bridled hostility under the veneer of a cheerful fool, he did rein it in for them kids that approached, for whatever reason, and especially so for the kin of his kin, blood of the womb to the blood of his covenant, and for Altena he reserved a warm smile and a hand on the shoulder in greeting.

"Hey, lookit you - what a sight you are, hey? Not like slob me." He gestured to the obviousness of himself, segueing into her question with a bark of a laugh. "Don't let me fool ya, these events are more filled with people that look like you than people that look like me - but what am I if not a thorn in their craw, hey? Can't let 'em get too comfy."

If she'd had any other motive than his outlandishness to ask, he would not have been able to pick up on it, but it bothered him little - both of her folks were among his closest friends, and they hadn't succeeding in giving him a hard enough time, so he welcomed their daughter just as well.

"Doin' all right, then? Need anything? Here, dunno what you're meant to do with 'em, but what's another bright'n'shiny for you?" Unclipping one of the teardrop crystals, he deftly affixed it to her brooch, swiping a black feather of hers for his own, twirling it in his fingers with a grin.

[peerlessscowl]

Raven forced himself not to grimace. They seemed so...guileless, innocent normal people, enjoying a normal date, in what he supposed by any other token might have been a romantic outing.

They seemed happy.

Or, at least, trying to be.

He pinched off the impending headache that threatened to bloom behind his eyes, and rolled his shoulders in contemplation of the question. "A sommelier? No, I can't pretend that I've ever had the means or the need."

He didn't bother to correct that it was a profession adjacent to nobility, or at the very least to the bourgeoisie, but neither did he attempt to mask his disdain at the notion of being so subservient, of catering to a lord, of doing the little dance at his side to proffer him the wine he might like the best.

Ah, he was doing it, wasn't he? Clearing his throat, Raven jerked his head.

"Come, let's...let's find a seat. They're probably offering flights of different ones. You...ah, might be able to take home a bottle of your favorite, if you'd like, I'd imagine." Though he couldn't have imagined that it would matter much to either of them, he led the way to a bench in the shade of a fine oak, almost sighing at the cool sensation after the high, bright sun.

Blinking owlishly after a moment, he started, realizing that the flight had already been delivered and explained, and that the young server was smiling at them expectantly. "Um...thank you," was all he said, reaching for something that looked lighter.

 - !!

It wasn't.

@justicefanged

You're Supposed To Spit Out The Wine?!

[knighteclipsed]

Wanted Plots (October)

*cracks knuckles* Let’s knock this one out, shall we?

Old Tasks

sword +1 — an impending ruin

Valter would definitely be fond of something creepy like that (not to mention that there’s a chance of encountering some kind of fiend within its walls). These monsters are things that he will master.

taken by: n/a

gauntlets +1 — the only way to learn

He has absolutely no interest in the series, but if someone were to approach him with the intention of a duel (it may turn out far more serious than that-)...

taken by: n/a

reason +1 — to be brought back to life...

Given his own mysterious survival, he’s got some interest in natural healing phenomena. He’d most likely go it alone, but if he happens to encounter another along the way...

taken by: n/a

authority +1 — the shackled one

You know, that makes it sound more dire than it really is. In reality, he’d not want to be there at all, but if he has to be, it is his will (and his alone) that will be imposed.

taken by: n/a

heavy armor +1 — in her dry winds

He barely survived his last desert, but old relics... a potential hunt... It is very enticing. He also needs that heavy armor point :crylaugh:

taken by: @childofvalla

riding +1 — a never-seen-before creature

He would like to hunt it. He would like to slay it.

taken by: n/a

flying +1 — to the sky.

Valter doesn’t have any of his steeds from back home. He’s not very good with animals, but he’s a commander — he can only have so much difficulty.

taken by: n/a

New Tasks

any +1 — prepared in every aspect.

One must be prepared to kill in any context. While he obviously isn’t allowed to murder his colleagues or any of the students, injuring isn’t necessarily off the table, and that will satisfy.

taken by: @luminousrider

~

As always, these aren’t the only threads he’ll take up, just the ones I think he’d do best in. Magvels are swag so if you have a Magvel, great! Same for the Knights of Seiros (this new guy is lowkey kinda sus :squints:). Otherwise, if you have a muse who’s aggressive enough to force an interaction with him, then lovely. <3

(I’m also open to threads [mission board or no] that are not up here, so if you have any ideas, totally let me know!)

[blaiddllodi]

"You know, if I had known you'd still be able to boost the morale of your house from the sidelines, I would have knocked you out cold." Altena is quick to realize that this is absolutely a weird thing to say to someone she barely knows, especially when any hint that she might be joking is missing from her face. "That's a joke," she tries to clear up though her expression is still quite blank.

"I'm Altena, by the way. Of Thracia. I enjoyed the fight."

Dimitri cocks his head at the challenge, firm and direct and long after the fact - he supposed he hadn't been aware that he'd affected the other side so strongly, and hadn't the Deer won that bout anyhow - before she clarifies.

Then he blinks.

Then he smiles, and chuckles.

"Is that so? Hmm, you did pack quite the blow, to be certain, but I'm not so sure." Arms cross over his chest, and Dimitri takes a moment to look over the young woman - clearly a fearsome warrior, but vulnerable in that moment.

Tapping a finger against his chin in faux-thought, Dimitri snaps his fingers, as though coming to some grand conclusion. "I suppose the only way to know for certain is to meet again in combat. Er, in the training hall that is."

A hand, extended. Another smile. "I'm Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Crown Prince of Faerghus, and leader of the Blue Lions. It is a pleasure to meet you, Altena - even with the unfortunate outcome."

[peerlessscowl]

—  CUPCAKE DECORATING  ╱  

Altena frowns as she heaps another glob of icing on top of her cupcake. She had been trying to make it look nice but she might have gone a little overboard with her indecision on what to put on it. Pretzels, candies, sprinkles, a little bit of everything available. And now it's kind of a hot mess.

"It looks terrible." She holds it up for Raven to see with a laugh. "But I guess what matters is that it tastes good, right?" She takes a bite and her face instantly scrunches up in her displeasure. "Nope. Way too sweet."

It was rare to see Altena laugh, Raven realized as she turned to present the fruits of her labor. He hadn't seen her do so in the dollhouse where they'd been kept captive, nor during their training exercise, nor when they exercised the pegasi from the stables after the snow, nor during battle.

It occurred to him that perhaps the only time had been the moments he'd seen her with that idiot Linus.

Somehow the realization brought a prickling sensation to his chest, a strange comfort that he hadn't felt in such a long time that he almost didn't realize what it was.

He hesitated before his gaze softened, and he reached for his own cupcake, pausing with some deliberation before making his own decorative decisions: a smile pipe of meringue, a dash of crystal sprinkles, and a few choice raspberries.

"You might have used too many. Maybe if - "

He took a hesitant bite. The flavor was good, but ultimately...

A sigh. "I suppose the nature of desserts is that they're sweet."

[peerlessscowl]

He actually had not even meant to be in or around the monastery that day – no bulletins put forth for assistance with missions, no bounties needing collected, no posts to guard – but in between clerical work needing done, paperwork somehow not filled out, and mail, somehow he was still getting mail, Raven found himself amongst the bustle of monastery life once again.

The news of the newest litter of wolf pups was a surprise; he hadn't expected that to be the domain of the monastery, to populate the woods with wolves. When he learned that it wasn't to protect the woods, they were meant to be ridden, he had been rather taken aback.

Surely they meant wolfhounds.

But no, as he discovered when his footsteps dragged him closer to the yipping, writhing ball of fur and teeth – they meant wolves.

His head cocked at the sound of the familiar voice, and he nodded a greeting to Altena, brow furrowing at the hello.

"My reputation must be preceding me," he said dryly, lifting a boot as an errant pup began to press insistently against his leg. "I just came to collect a paycheck."

Look Who's Bonding Over Their Shared Connection to a Dog Again

[bxldrsdraumar]

Collector's Edition Set

Without warning, the earth begins to violently shake and a fissure cracks open wide beneath your feet, swallowing you up before you have the chance to even think about running. When you awaken, you find yourself behind a wall of glass, alongside a dozen statues, rings, miniature objects, and other oddities. The ground before you ripples as if alive, but when a dark cloud full of thunder and lightning rushes toward you, the earth rises up to meet it. They’re elementals from Morfis, you realize at once, and as the one made of earth opens up the glass case to retrieve two of the statues next to you, you understand that this is some sort of shop. Now might be your only chance to plan an escape, because who knows what will happen if you’re bought by one of them. Use what’s lying around you to devise a way to bust out... but don’t get caught. [Grants Lance +1] 

(starter for @lionscion and @luminousrider)

Sigurd sat, elbows propped on his knees, as he had for some time now. He had awoken from a most terrible dream – a thunderstorm, an earthquake, tumbling, tumbling, the breath being sucked from his lungs, layers of earth swallowing him whole before he was deposited in a box of glass, surrounded on all sides by light and muffled sounds – before he realized that the dream was his reality. 

He could not claim to be a tactician – he had a head for battle, but often his strategy was bolstered by the undeniable fact that his power, or the size of his forces, was simply greater than his foes. With a glance at the glass boxes to his left and right, he could not safely wager whether his forces would be sufficient for such a head-on strike as he was used to: children, students of the academy, and more than that, children he considered to be family. Eldigan's boy, grown to a man now, but that Nordion pride underneath his rough-edged exterior, seethed in the box to his right; and Ethlyn and Quan's daughter, taken by the enemy and raised to be a ferocious warrior in her own right, on his left. 

They'd each had their own startles upon awakening, the realization of where they were hopefully eased when Sigurd tapped on the glass to indicate, at the very least, he was here for them. 

The great thundercloud swooped in before him, its ball lightning eyes shifted at the sight of him not propped on the stand it kept putting him on, and it almost seemed as though it was glowering at him. 

He waved, smiled, before settling back into his relaxed posture, quite at his leisure. 

Its eyes narrowed, a hand of wind and pressure tapped on the glass. 

He tapped his foot in response, cocking his head, grin widening. 

The thundercloud reared to quite a great height, lightning streaking through its body in a fit of rage before it spiraled off – the creature's version of a temper tantrum, he thought, amused. 

"You know, children," he said, raising his voice a bit so that they could hear him – if anyone else heard him, well, he supposed it couldn't be helped. "This reminds me quite of a time when your fathers and I – or was it just Quan and myself? Yes, I think Eldigan was elsewhere at the time, but joined us later. Anyway, we were trapped in a situation not wholly unlike this. Some details notwithstanding," he added, eyeing the great thundercloud. 

"But you see, we had gone on a hunting trip near the northern border of Manster and Grannvale – it might have been hunting, but there was certainly merriment enough for it to have been a hunting trip. I'm sure you understand, my boy," he added with a glance at Ares, "but I suppose the purpose of the trip was less important than the outcome. As it turns out, you see, at some point the lines between Manster and Grannvale and the desert become quite fuzzy, and one must prepare for the desert. 

"We had not, young and stupid as we were – don't worry, your father saves our skin in the end – and in the end our retainers were slain and Quan and I were captured by some Isaachian outlaws who had settled about the border. I'm ashamed to say we were quite drunk, so they took us easily, but when we woke, hungover to high Hodr – pardon the expression – we were chained in some fortress they had built for themselves, and they watched us quite keenly. 

"For a couple of days we struggled against out bonds – young and stupid as we were, we thought our Holy Blood enough would get us out of the situation we found ourselves in – before we actually put our heads together and formed a thought." 

From its place across the room, the thundercloud again reared up in irritation, storming over to Sigurd's cell and tapped on the glass once more, from somewhere beneath its lightning eyes it produced a sound of wind and pressure that sounded quite like a whistle. 

Smile widening, Sigurd whistled in return, a low and sharp sound that echoed from within his glass cell. Then, when the cloud streaked through with angry lightning and stormed off, finally out of the room in its irritation, snuffling the lights from the candles as it left. 

"Ah, and there we are," he said, standing, dusting off the seat of his trousers though there was certainly no speck of dust within his cell. "You see, children, the thought we'd had was fairly simple – if we had been ambushed so easily, at night with our guards down, it would have been a simple matter to do the same to our captors. They cannot keep all eyes on us at all times," he continued, moving over to the small stand where he had been posed upon his waking, wrenching the arms from the stand and heaving it from where it slotted into his cell, swinging it about as a test for moment before deciding it would do, "and – oh, what's the phrase? When the cats are away, the mouse do play." 

[peerlessscowl]

There is a thick tension between the two of them. She doesn't quite understand what it is exactly--her mother maybe?--but it's quite noticeable and seems to grow. Altena isn't exactly good at this either but they're teammates here so she will try.

Wordlessly, she approaches him and gives a silent nod. He tried to protect her again. Would he have done the same for one of their other companions? She doesn't ask but she does wonder.

"I was reckless," is all she says.

When Raven opens his eyes, their opponents are gone. They all seem to be coming to in different states of disarray, but all bearing the bitter burn of their loss.

He rises to seated, but does not stand, simply props his elbows on his knees, taking the brief moment of respite and reflection for what it is.

Just as before, Altena approaches him. She is...desperate to make a connection with him, he's noticed, and he cannot place if there is some distinct bond between them, or if it is his connection to Linus, or the strange energy between he and her mother, a little voice in his mind adds.

She was reckless, she says, and instantly he is remembering the initial charge at their glimmering foes - too strong for them by half, though they'd no way of knowing that - and how his body had simply moved on its own, on his behalf as though scolding him for not taking action. And how he did it again, and again, and if he were honest with himself would continue to do it again and again, for as long as he could take the shots for someone else.

For as long as he could prevent one more grieving family, he would do so.

Frowning, he understands that this is perhaps the first time he's admitted it to himself, acknowledged that part of himself that yearns, above all else, to prevent the ache in his chest for anyone else.

Look, they need a win, that family, okay?

Standing, he looks at her, silent for a moment, considering, before finally saying, "Yes. You were."

[peerlessscowl]

The beast shivered again, and this time the world shivered with it, the secondary creatures sinking into the moss, swirling up the beast's body in delicate tendrils before a shearing stink of decay washed over the field.

Living Death Activates - Golden Lich consumes Autolysis, Putrefaction, Decay and Feast of Maggots Raven 7/10 [Roll: 4+3=7]

Raven had almost gotten used to the sensation of his heartbeat slowing, of his body responding with less and less accuracy to his commands, the sheathe of cold that his skin had seemed to turn into, but he didn't think he could have prepared himself for the abrupt and whitehot pain as the breath returned to his body and his heart resumed beating.

He grunted briefly, and it seemed as though each injury he had accumulated over the gauntlet, from all of their opponents, laid themselves across his body in a neat stack. His weapons had dropped to the ground when last he used them, and with tingling in his fingertips he brought a hand up to grip the opposite arm.

With a shivering breath, he slumped forward against the neck of his mount, and the black at the edge of his vision met the searing white in the center.

Raven is defeated

@maligknightsthorns

pick your poison / team eight silver round

[peerlessscowl]

"Are you alright?" Physically, perhaps he is doing better than most of them but, even if she doesn't know him really at all, she still can imagine that being unable to even attempt to attack their foe must be driving him mad.

She pulls awkwardly at the pink skirt she's been forced into. Mother really wears this riding a horse? Insane.

"Can't imagine what they're going to throw at us next round but I'll still have your back."

Raven came to nestled in the dense roots of a mangrove, his mount nuzzling his side, and a flash of pink haloed by the low light of the bog.

His body...didn't hurt, but every nerve tingled in a way that it shouldn't, moved too sluggishly, dragged through the air like ink on wet parchment. He groaned and found his tongue thick in his throat, his mouth dry; he managed a single, "Wha-?" as he squinted up into the light.

The sun filtered bright in his eyes, and the sway of pink before him felt somehow familiar, but out of place - despite himself, he reached, half-rising before the tips of his fingers brushed against skin, clasped around a wrist -

And as he dragged himself upright, he realized it was merely Altena. Altena who had done everything she could to save him, despite all of his efforts to get her out. He didn't know how much damage she had taken - but it was too much, she looked a far sight worse than he, though dryer to boot - and he retracted his hand as though burned.

Raven shook his head, patting the insistent snout of his pegasus without looking at her.

"If it's anything as bad as this, you need to watch your own back."

[peerlessscowl]

There is some reprieve after finishing off their opponent and Altena takes advantage of the moment to approach Raven. "You didn't need to do that," she states simply.

But he's always done things like that, hasn't he? The doll's house, the ball. He continues to step in to try and protect her.

He didn't need to, but he did. Her face softens and she gives him a nod. "But...thanks."

He didn't need to do that, but his ears are still ringing and his blood is still singing after the creature had gone down, his heart hammering in his chest at the sight of the foe underfoot, and he doesn't know how to explain that he knows, but his body just moved, because that was the way of it, wasn't it? His body simply moved, the deep-seated urge to protect rooted firmly within him, an instinct that he could never quite bring to heel, much less for someone that -

Someone that what? Someone that he might have grown close to, in spite of himself? Someone who had wasted his time protecting, when he could have been working, could have been moving, but instead his stupid body -

He thumps the axe once on the ground, not looking at her as the flames extinguish and he clips the axe back to his belt.

"You were in the way. Needed you out of it."

That's all it was.

She didn't need his protection, she was fine, it was simple movement economy and that's...that's all it was.

[servarreginam]

Winter has settled in at Garreg Mach, and the long hours of darkness are working their way into the bodies and minds of its staff and students. Shelter from the bitter winds and snows that blow outside soon turn just as suffocating, as the stillness permits too many unwanted thoughts to worm their way into the crevices of your thoughts. A fresh distraction is desperately due, but in short supply during this season. A minor Faerghus noble knows these troubles all too well, and so she offers to Garreg Mach a small donation. A small, vacant building in town has now been renovated into a simple retreat for anyone to visit. Rustic and cozy, it features a host of simple food and drink, a warm fire...and a challenge not for the faint of heart! Participants need to eat a whole bucket of the spiciest pieces of chicken you can imagine or fall over trying. Will you come to cheer or boo the competitors on? Enter it yourself? Or stow yourself away in a more quiet corner to have a drink and reflect? starter for @luminousrider

It was a little swankier than the digs he was used to, but damn if it wouldn't do. Some to-do from the northern country buying an old building, abandoned for the most part, it seemed, and transforming it into a veritable mountain chalet, without the obnoxious tourists. All around a clean and lovely joint, but the well was cheap and the pours were deep, so he wasn't going to hold it against them.

Not that he'd been hurting for money - not for years and years, farther back than he cared to recall - but having the steady paycheck of the monastery made it real easy to justify spending evenings out on the town. Enough so that, just like the tavern in Novis, this spot became a bit like a second-home, even in the short time he'd been here. In his line of work, having a place that knew your name, your face, and your poison was a real boon, so even though he wasn't taking on side jobs, he still let himself slide into old habits.

And if his eye happened to rove while he was at it? Well, mind yer business, ya lout. He was a gentleman - broadly speaking - and he couldn't deny enjoying taking care of a lady if they asked. And ask they did - be they ladies of the church looking to be a little unholy for the night, ladies of the town, or elsewise. He could not even, necessarily, be accused of having purely impure motives, for as like as not he found himself listening to a girl spin a yarn, and eventually plucking a drink from unstable fingers and sliding a coin across the bar to walk a lass back to her abode safely.

It seemed a relatively calm and slow night, for what it was worth - the fire crackling high in the stone hearth, the bards in the corner playing a soft tune but mostly chatting with the waitstaff, the bartender, Saber himself and… oh who's this?

Her build marked her as distinct from a townie or a church mouse - tall and broad of shoulder, musculature clear even under the thick winter layers. No, this woman was a warrior if he'd ever seen one, and in this town that meant knight or student.

Sliding from his stool, Saber gestured to the bartender for another drink, and plucked his and the extra from the bar, making his way over to where the lady sat.

"Now you look like a lady as out of place in a fancy joint like this as I am," he said, sliding the drink across the table to her as he sat down, propping an ankle on the opposite knee. Cocking his head, he continued, a smirk curling his lip, "You got all the markers of a professional, but I don't think that's exactly true, is it? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you got a wicked arm, but there ain't too many o' my kind hereabouts."

Taking Your Girl to Flavortown

[fangedjustice]

Lloyd can't help the smile that edges onto his face at her reaction; it was endearing, young puppy love and all that. It was...nice to see that someone cared about his brother in such a way, even if it didn't go further than this. "He does. I think he's been enjoying your company and, uh...the challenges you offer? I haven't seen him this happy in a while, so I should be thanking you."

He chuckles at her scrutinizing. "Brother, though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise. I know we don't look too close in terms of physical similarities; he shares more with our father than I do."

Really, he doesn't know if his words are correct, but he'd like to hope they are. She's here and willing to help a land she knows nothing about; there had been several foreigners to volunteer, so their desire to help could only be taken as genuine. Why bother getting on a ship if it was just lip service?

"Ah, is that so...? I'll have to ask when there's a moment. Thank you," he grins a little sheepishly, not realizing that he'd been broadcasting that distress so much. He shouldn't put so much stock into it, but...sentimentality was strange like that, he supposed.

Lloyd blinks at that, mouth slightly open like he was about to refute but he really couldn't. "...Truly, a bad habit of ours, it would seem. My apologies. Lloyd Reed, at your service, Altena princess of Thracia."

Oh yes, he liked her already.

[ END ]

"You're from here, aren't you? I should be on Jugdral now helping my own home but, as long as I'm here, you can count on me to do whatever is necessary to help yours." It's what she'd have wanted for Thracia. She had been so touched by the foreigners who had signed up to travel with her to investigate. She's worried about the rumors and would much rather be there but there's no point in staying idle and losing herself in her fears when she can put herself to use.

"Altena, princess of Thracia. I look forward to working with you."

Lloyd looks up from the wet mess that is the map he'd brought with him -- because as soon as you thought you didn't need a map, you would need a Saints damned map -- at the new voice addressing him. Surprisingly, it was in fairly decent condition after being in the ocean. Something he couldn't say for his poor jacket. It had been patched up too many times now, and a shipwreck had done it no favors.

"Yes, broadly speaking," he replied, pointer finger poised over the rough area of where they might have wrecked on the map so that he wouldn't lose his train of thought. Hazel eyes take the young woman in for a moment, before he makes a soft ah in recognition, his expression shifting to something more open. "Altena. A pleasure to finally meet you face to face. Apologies it's under these circumstances...Linus has told me quite a bit about you, in...ah...vivid but flattering detail, I assure you."

His expression falls back into something more serious.

"I'm sorry that you've been blown off course from your own goal, but I'll be glad to have a competent and trustworthy warrior to aid us here. It seems that many are in the same situation as you, so...if you've any questions, I'll do my best to answer them."

He pauses for a moment, considering, before offering her a reassuring smile. "Take heart, Altena of Thracia. Just as you've offered your help to my people, rest assured that those who made it to your homeland are likely doing the same. We'll see things sorted out."