The Retreat (Hellfire Aftermath)

[Rivers]

As Rivers walks over to Shy he hears Roxanne and turns to her with a serious look, despite her teasing which he would normally have found amusing. "Just tell me where they need to be moved and I will do it. I can move them with less danger than what it will take to get them on a stretcher." He replies, but hands her a hatchet that seemed to appear out of thin air.

His attention was drawn to the new figure that had followed him through the tunnel, when he sees the new man he closes the tunnels and watches with interest. Mysteria's word pass through his mind. Madness, an rage, fire and a breaking of ties lies within your waking step. However , hope is also there. Hope comes in many forms, sir rivers. In madness, even where there is little to be found. You must stay sharp, and make sharp choices. Not all is what it seems.

The man before him certainly seemed mad, but he wondered if this was what she meant. No, he believed he knew what she was referring to with that and this man wasn't it, but he was probably the one from the bargain. Tell me how you know of the collars, and to listen to a lunatic when hell seems to be at your door. His eyes followed the man and he was going to go talk to him when Claire suddenly approached him.

He saw her anger and held back a bitter remark, though too his surprise she did not berate him. "They already thought you were fated anyways, what we did changed the status quo for fated little in the long run, we were always a source of chaos, brought into this world by a mad god to fulfill Fate knows what purpose." Rivers replies simply his eyes hard.

"In one of the worlds I was in there is saying, more of an aesop really:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

"I know the groups I just mentioned don't exist in this world, but the same holds true. If we sat back and watch as they murdered you for false charges, what would be next? They'd manufacture another crime, point another finger, isolate and kill more Fated." He explains, "This regime isn't evil, but it wants many of the people here gone. Today did not go as planned, I messed up and because of my decision innocents died, but many of them would have gladly hacked me into pieces and laughed as it happened. If others wish to return to a city that callously and joyfully watches the murder of a framed victim so that the throne has an excuse to persecute the innocent, I will not stop them."

[Deleted]

For a moment, as Claire closed her eyes and sighed, Séanait thought she might be able to calm Claire down before Rivers got there. Unfortunately, and despite Roxy stopping him for a moment, Rivers appeared and walked towards them. Séanait could feel her heart begin beating faster as rage returned to Claire's face and she began storming towards Rivers. Walking a step behind, Séanait placed herself so that she could come between the two of them if the confrontation got violent. They couldn't afford any serious injuries or a death at this point in time.

Claire raised her hand to strike Rivers and Séanait tensed to jump between the two of them and either take the blow herself or prevent Claire from striking another or Rivers retaliating. Then Claire hesistated and lowered her hand. Séanait hadn't realised she had been holding her breath, but she let it all out now and tried to slow her heart beat. The most dangerous part was over, unless Rivers said or did something really stupid in reply to Claire's question.

Séanait didn't quite get the reference in River's reply, but the meaning was clear form the context. Rivers had done this because he felt a deep moral obligation to help prevent oppression. Séanait's mouth twitched slightly as she compared it to her motivations. For her, this had mostly been in reply to a declaration of war. That Claire had been rescued was a nice bonus, but Séanait would have done the same if it had been some random Fated instead.

"Rivers is right about them already calling you a Fated," She said as gently as she could and pointed over at the other Fated who had been rescued, "Those others over there were rounded up by a mob because a noblewoman used your supposed crimes to stir up a mob against us. Before that I would merely have put an arrow through your heart to give you a worthy death, and then moved on with my life. Severine declared war on us, though, and Rivers gave me a chance to fight, so I took it."

Séanait looked Claire directly in the eyes.

"Can you tell me you wouldn't have done the same?"

[Claire]

“That is an excuse. That you were brought here and you cannot help but cause destruction.” Claire shook her head, irritation coming back to her expression. She looked back to Shy, taking a step back from Rivers.

“It was not false charges. I would have driven a sword through his chest if I had been given a chance. And I will do it again. But I was not framed. I was justified.” she looked around to the gathered Fated, letting out a sigh before she spoke.

“I was drugged and brought to that man’s chambers. He would have raped and murdered me if I had not acted. I struck him with a bottle and he…” she closes her eyes, grimacing at the memory. “...he changed. Into a monster. That is not an… an exaggeration. He became a monster.”
She looked over to Shy, her expression serious through the clear exhaustion. “I would have stood and fought with you. But not in this way. A few months ago I would have turned and left, but I know my purpose here now. We are at war. And I will overthrow that bastard myself for what he has done to me. To you all. A thing like that does not deserve to live. This place deserves better.”

Claire reached forward and grasped one of the hilts of the blades on Rivers’s person, withdrawing the sword from the sheathe. Before he could stop her, she grasped her hair and twisted it back, slicing the blade through the mass of thick, dark hair. The long hair that was not entwined around her hand fell to the ground and Claire let the rest drop into the grass. She lifted her head, determination clear in her face as she threw Rivers's sword to the ground at his feet.

“They will be looking for a woman. They will not find one. I am going to stop them, once and for all. And Mother willing, I will not be alone.”

[Rivers]

Rivers watches the exchange between Claire and Seanait, Mysteria's words spinning through his mind. Aria's condition worrying him. All of this was too much too bloody much, and because of all of this he did not realize Claire had taken his sword until it was too late. As she raised it to cut her hair he raised a hand and calls "wait not that sw-" but it was too late.

Rivers clamps his hands over the other blade, but to no avail. The twin sword, connected by chain to the first, force free of his hand and dangled ominously in the air for a moment. Rivers created a tunnel between it and Claire unsure if it would do any good and then watched as it suddenly stabbed into the clump of hair on the ground with great force. A moment passed, Rivers face a rictus of panic, then another moment passed as he stared at the sword on the grass.

"When one sword cuts the other follows without fail." He says, dumbly repeating the enchantment that was placed upon the sword.

Then he lets out a snort, soon the snort turns into a desperately suppressed chuckle, and then that chuckles turns into a full belly laugh, tears rolled down Rivers face as his laugh echoes through the clearing, the sounds was raspy and strained, and seemed Rivers could feel everything he'd experienced for the last two days pouring out of himself. All of the anger, all of the terror, all of the stress, all of the grief, and all of the relief at being alive and at being here to worry about his friends, who were also alive.

Rivers laughed his desperate laugh until his sides hurt, until he had bent double, and until his face was purple from lack of air. Who cares what they think? He himself as his laughter slowly began to subside and the began to take in long deep gulps of air. He looked up at Claire, his eyes swollen, his dirty face tear stained, and his face bearing a the boyish grin those who knew him would recognize.

After he recovered for a moment Rivers got to his feet and turned around to see the doubtless angry, worried and terrified looks he had surely drawn. The by now the healers would have dealt with many of the injured and could come see what was going on if they wished. "Everyone, we've...no I've done something horrible this day, to save a guilty woman I led this operation that even if I did not intend it cost many innocent lives. I am sure everyone is angry, sad, and many of you probably hate me. That's good, because it was my plan that cause this, and it is my failure that has brought us here. Despite that I find that I must ask those gathered here a question. What will you do next?"

He asks the question that was doubtless a bitter one on many minds. "I started this, and I will offer these options, for those who wish to travel to another country I will create a portal to place you on the trail toward the country, I can also supply a map and some rations. For those who wish to return to the city, I will create a portal to the Bloody Mary, the owner is a Fated, though I have no idea if she will help you. Those who wish may stay here, though I do not know if this place will remain safe in the months to come, and of course there is the option to just leave on your own and do as you wish."

He lets these options hang in the air for a moment and then says. "But, if any of you wish to stay and travel with me to a new refuge, I would appreciate any who will bear me as a companion." As he finishes his speech he falls silent. Despite the terror and fear he'd caused it was also true that many of several dozen fated here had been prisoners until the group had shown up to save Claire. He reminded himself that they'd also saved these lives and avenged the others who had been less lucky when the mobs had found them, murdering and savaging them.

[Serenity Caine]

Serenity watched as the angry woman they had saved, rushed towards Rivers. She wanted to stop her, but did not want to get involved, and knew if was best if she did not. Her body tensed as it looked as though Claire would hit Rivers, but lowers her hand instead. Serenity leaned against the house once more, bowing her head and closing her eyes, her thick red hair falling down around her face. She heard all of Claire's words and once more heard the screams of the crowd as the bomb went off in her head. Cringing lightly, she squeezed her eyes shut even more, folding her hands over her stomach and taking a deep breath. She had killed before, there was no reason it should still be haunting her.

Serenity opened her eyes when she heard Rivers try to protest about something, and saw the woman draw his sword, cutting all of her hair off. She had to admit, that was admirable- she doubted she'd ever be able to chop off her hair, she was far too attached to it. She blinked as the other sword followed, not really sure what had happened, or why Rivers was falling over himself laughing. She awkwardly looked around, noticing that she was not the only one who was confused by his outburst.

By the time he was done, she shifted onto her other leg uncomfortably, remembering that she knew little to no one here. She listened carefully as Rivers offered up options for those who helped him- saying he would help them leave, return to the city, either they wanted. He admitted what he had done wrong, taken the blame- she had a feeling that he would. He didn't seem like the type to pull such a stunt and blame another. At the sound of his last offer, without thinking, Serenity took a small step forward, pushing her hair away from her face, tangled and frizzy- completely unpresentable as it were. It was like her legs were not her own, and apparently neither was her voice-

If it wouldn't be any trouble, Rivers, I would like to join you in your travels. Her face didn't change in complexion, despite such a request, and she looked at him honestly, her mask up, but her intentions clear. Other shall not see her weakness, but he already knew what she was like- what better a person to stay with- if he would allow her. She knew it was a bold question, despite him offering it, but after she spoke, she knew it was what she wanted. She hadn't a clue what would happen after this, but at least there was a chance she wouldn't be alone.

[Roxanne]

Roxanne frowned a bit at River’s response, confused as to what he meant. Then he handed her a hatchet and she just stared at it, dumbfounded, wondering where on earth he had pulled this from. This didn’t last long, however, as there was a sudden disturbance in the house before the crazy guy with the bird burst out of the house, apparently to look for said bird. In any normal situation, he might be mildly attractive. As it were, his behavior made him less so and the half demon didn’t know what to make of it. So she stared in disbelief, not bothering to hide it, at the exchange between the man and his bird, shaking her head as he went back inside to apparently help the healers.

Movement beyond the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to see the rescued woman make her way up to Rivers. The conversation was interesting enough and very informative. So that’s why we needed to rescue the woman. Not because she wasn’t guilty, but because we were sending a message, she thought to herself. That was something she could understand a lot better than why everyone was so upset at all the death and destruction, which didn’t bother her in the least bit.

Roxanne turned to make her way to the forest to collect those sticks for the splits and had just made it past the line of the trees when a sudden loud noise startled her. She rushed back into the clearing, stopping once she reached the house and staring at Rivers. She realized the noise had been his sudden outburst of laughter and she quirked her brow at him, shaking her head. “I will never understand these humans,” she muttered to herself.

When he finally calmed down, he gave a short speech apologizing for the mess his actions had created. He followed it with listing off various options and offering help to those who wished. She found this admirable and couldn’t help but smile a bit. The half demon thought about what Aria had told her, what Rivers had said, and everything that had happened. She was quiet for a while. She listened as Serenity offered to follow Rivers, and though she still didn’t quite like the other woman, she made up her mind as well. “I will also go with you, if you will have me. I am not the easiest person, or most desirable, to have around,” she grinned wickedly for a moment before continuing, “At least until I can find Aria, or she finds me. I have need to speak with her, in person.” she finished, looking at Rivers.

[Louie Kanto]

The lack of response from the wounded and healers was probably to be expected. At any rate, Louie wanted to get the group moving as soon as possible to avoid detection. And, to get paid. Mostly, to get paid. "Geez, tough crowd" he muses to himself, then takes a quick head count of the main room, ticking off a mental list as he goes. Afterwards, he exits the cottage, continuing to count, semi-audibly, and takes notice of Rivers' outburst. The conviction and severity of his voice showed him out as one of those self-sacrificing warriors of justice that frequently lost their heads to powerful regimes, and this amused Louie, especially his rant about the "Trade Unionists" and "Jews"-whatever that meant-who had been taken off, one at a time. As he stood listening to Rivers finish his speech, the golden turtles flying around him began to skew and melt, looking uncannily like dragonflies as they transformed. In fact, he thought to himself, those probably WERE dragonflies, given his mental state. No, those DEFINITELY were dragonflies, he realized, returning steadily to normalcy.

Pulling a large pinch of herbs from his pouch, and squeezing a couple drops of brownish liquid into his eyes from a vial, Louie lets out a sudden "HOT…DAMN!!" and starts to attention. He takes off his mask, and shoulders off his heavy cloak, revealing a fair face with stern features and red dreadlocks pulled back into a bundle. He approaches Rivers just as he finishes "giving out options" to the survivors. "Bravo! Bravo!" He exclaims, clapping his hands. "A TOAST!! To the spearhead of this wonderful effort--EVERYBODY!!!" At this, he whirls around, pointing his finger in a sweeping motion. He turns back to Rivers. "I hate to pull a martyr down off his cross, especially after that WONDERFUL example of self-deprecation, but I'm going to point out a couple items of interest related to this debacle." He begins, raising a finger to each point. "FIRST of all, whoever dropped that explosive on the furry things in the murderhole obviously doesn't know anything about manna corruption. Those red crystals responsible for half of the injuries were pure, concentrated DEATH-otherwise known as manna-and are more dangerous than the guards that kicked your ass. Secondly, trigger-happy here" -pointing at Kail- " decided to waste his time AND his ammunition on one of the prisoners, which couldn't make less sense, given that this was RESCUE mission. THIRD! Since we apparently jumped from Nova out into the Northern side of bumfuck faster than I can take a piss, what was that whole skirmish about? A little blinding powder, some jacked-up lemurs, and a fur coat would have easily distracted those drones long enough to teleport everyone back. And lastly, a little point I like to call "DON'T SPLIT THE PARTY," involving sending this motley group of charming citizens in various directions-all of which, Noku's Guard will be targeting-with naught but rations and a map ad a vague idea of what to do once they're recaptured, tortured, and executed. So, even though I know you want to take credit for this one, it was really the fault of most of you. NOW!!" At this, Finnris reappeared over the treeline, and Louie produced a map from his satchel. "What we have here" -pointing exaggeratedly at the markings on the paper- "is a neatly laid-out set of directions created SPECIFICALLY to get you all outside the King's gaze, which, by the way, is the only safe place in the entire kingdom." Finnris descends, and drops a cluster of branches and vines with several kinds of berries on them. "Good job, Finny! Woah, you even found the vines, too? Hell yeah!" "Yeah, you know it!" The bird cracked at him, then perched on a nearby brach and started preening.

Louie resumed addressing the group standing around the cottage, pulling several vials of shimmering powder from his satchel. "SO!! WHADDYA SAY? IIII goooottt Luuuunnnnaar Pooooowwwdeeeerrr!!" Shaking his hand with the vials. "And with this sumptuous bounty of agricultural apothecary before me, it will make enough Lunar Paste to bring all of you back from the grave, should the need arise." He turns, gauging the position of the sun, and muses for a few moments, before resuming. "BRETHREN!! The night is upon us!" he says, leaning forward in a lunge position, pointing towards Heaven's Pass. "But take heart!! For I, Louie Kanto, have been requisitioned by 'The Tits' at a handsome sum to deliver you all to safety!"

[Trésor de Lys]

As Tres finished up with another injured civilian, she pulled her attention and focus back to the real world, she noticed Lilith speaking to the man she informed Tres of; her partner Sima. Tres didn't know what to make of Sima, he seemed sullen. However she ignored them for the time being and continued with her work- easing back into her sturdy focus.

Tres, after healing another patient, walked them outside to join the others. She stopped to watch an outburst from a woman who cut off her hair, Rivers who was nothing short of emotional, and many others who gathered interest in this incessant debacle. Tres sat the person she healed down, then moved back to go back into the cottage. But she was stopped by the large man in a mask who was fooling around with the healing herbs and the like.

Tres took a step aside, standing next to a red-haired woman who had been communicating with Rivers outside of the tunnels. She possessed a stare so firm, that even an earth tremor couldn't break her. Tres taking a step away from her so not to crowd her, hovered near the wall of the cottage, trying not to lean on her wings. She felt the stern energy radiating off of the woman next to her. Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw her take a step forward and say that she wished to join Rivers in their excursion. Tres furrowed her brow, wondering what she had missed whilst she was healing. She gave her a glance, and came to the realization that perhaps she got involved in the wrong situation. She then noticed another red-head step forward and request the same. What is with Rivers and red-haired women? she thought to herself. She really had no information on the events at hand.

Her attention is then averted to the large man once again as he removes his mask. He begins to elaborate on the mistakes of this event, clearing up some vague lines for Tres. However she still is left in the dark as she doesn't know all details. But she now is knowledgeable on who made which mistake. Obviously she was surrounded by bad mistakes and intertwined webs. She sneaked past the large man with a bird, and went back into the cabin, waiting for Lilith or Otsoa to look at her. If either of them averted their attention to her for a moment, Tres would jump in immediately and speak to them thusly "Do either of you know what's going on outside? They're planning on leaving. What does that mean for us... I mean we are now affiliated with what just happened." she began to panic unintentionally. Her natural curiosity was besting her, as she didn't understand what would happen to her. She had been living with Aria for but a month, and now she was offered to leave her current place of residence. Although, fairly enough this was only meant to house her until she was well on her feet.

Tres felt conflicted. She came to the realization on her own that whatever Otsoa and Lilith decided to do had nothing to do with Tres. She was on her own on this one. From the offer set by Aria to the offer set by Rivers and the strange bird-man, she had no idea what would be best for her. Tres kept quiet aside from speaking to the other healers, waiting for a moment where someone would potentially ask the healers to join. This was now a game, of ifs, whens and whys.

[Deleted]

Séanait wanted to give Claire a hug as she recounted her experience with Noku. She'd been in similar circumstances before - minus the monster - and it wasn't pleasant to think back on what happened. Still, she knew that would be a bad move. Claire wasn't asking for comfort or pity, she was making a statement.

When Claire grabbed River's sword, Séanait drew her own as fast as she could, cutting her belt in the process. She prepared to intercept any blow that Claire made, but Claire wasn't interested in attacking Rivers. She cut her own hair short as she made such a forceful declaration of war that Séanait was left speechless. She did nothing as River's other sword leaped out of its scabbard and seemingly went for Claire.

Séanait could be extremely pragmatic and practical on the battlefield, but off it she was emotional as only the young could be. Perhaps her recent battle high and a desire for a leader she could happily die for affected her, or maybe she had lost more blood than she had thought, but just looking at Claire standing there, all defiant, with her newly cut hair and the sword at River's feet made Séanait act without thinking.

Falling to one knee, Séanait laid her sword across her palms and offered it up to Claire.

"Claire, I..."

Rivers snorted with laughter and Séanait shot him an angry glance. Once she saw him, though, she understood as the bard began to laugh uncontrollably. He was obviously suffering from battle stress, not laughing at her actions. She stood, looking a little awkward and watched Rivers as he continued to laugh, occasionally making eye contact with someone else and smiling awkwardly. There really wasn't anything else to do until he got his fit under control.

When Rivers finally did get himself under control, he outlined a few different options that they could all choose to take. Séanait looked at Claire wondering which one the woman would choose. She fully intended on swearing her sword to Claire's service, even though she was no longer in the heat of the moment. She had believed that Claire could do what she had said, and looking at the exhausted woman who was in terrible shape, Séanait still believed that. There was something about Claire that made her want to serve the woman.

Serenity and Roxy both said that wanted to go with Rivers, and then the madman spoke up, rubbishing the whole idea. The crazy bastard, apparently named Louie, did have a good point about splitting the group being a bad idea, although she disagreed with his assessment of the rescue. It was easy to judge with the benefit of hindsight, but they'd had to go into the whole thing virtually blind and with limited resources. They'd completed the objective, and that was what mattered.

The offer presented by Louie sounded really good to Séanait, but she was suspicious about it. Obviously someone had set this up ahead of time, which meant that someone here had told them about the rescue. The question was, what were the motives of their wannabe patron? That, coupled with Louie's surprising burst of lucidity and intelligence made her suspicious of the whole thing.

"Who, exactly, is our patron, and where does she want you to take us?"

[Deleted]

All of this was a mess. Taking the entire discussion in, Lia is managed to piece together most of the events. The king was a frightening person from what she remembered at the ball. This only added to her fear of him. It was definitely time to rethink the fantasy of living in the palace. Yet, what would overthrowing him mean for her? Probably watching her home fall into chaos. “That’s really easy for someone to say who doesn’t call this place home,” she says, glaring at Claire, “So what do you plan? Kill the king and watch the whole city fall apart. More than it already has anyways. You say this place is already on the verge of war, so do you intend to go take more civilian lives then? Unless you have someone set up to take his place, you’ll risk something far worse.”

Rivers’ suddenly vulnerability takes her a bit off guard. It was difficult to be angry with someone that looked defeated. It’d be better if he acted like Claire, then she could be pissed off at everyone. Instead, she looks away and rubs the bridge of her nose. Her options weren’t really all that great. “Well, I’m already associated with you, so I’m not sure if I can go back. And with the city probably more chaotic than it was, I’m sure if I want to. I’ll follow you then.”

As the obviously intoxicated man speaks, Lia can’t help but wonder why he is here. Did everyone know this guy? He wasn’t part of the original rescue crew. He reminded her of taverns on rowdy nights, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any real place for her to run off to. As he says he wants them to follow him, Lia gives Rivers a questioning look. There weren’t really going to follow a man who fried his brain on lunar flowers, were they?

[Deleted]

Kail silently watched the goings on as he was mulling things over in his own head. As the blond was infuriated as he heard what really happened between her and the king. This affirmed that the charges were trumped up and she was used for bait to bring them out. But this gave him more questions then answers as something was not sitting well with him on the entire matter. There was a bigger plot at hand, he does hear a few others speak on what they do and over hears the red haired male and his bird. "Something here does not sit well with me in general. Of all people, why was Claire used as bait. The irony though we are all somehow connected myself, Shy, and Ilta know her. Then by extension of that Serenity is linked to this and then I met Rivers. Who then links up with Aria, who some of us know. Then outside of this I know Lilith" he said explain something that was off the top of his head. It would not be simple to understand at the moment but would after time.

"This begs the question, again. How did Severine know that Claire was the perfect bait to bring us out? This also makes another question, are we being used as a way to slay the king and remove him from the throne in a revolution? Or is another higher power at work here? As I seriously doubt that old krone is some kind of seer, and the only way for her to get any kind of insight is with the help of a god" he said and got closer to the group. "I agree with the man over there on sticking together, the majority of us are in no shape to do anything. Some of us are drained from faituge either from being in battle or running from the Chaos. Even then sooner or later they will send headhunters after us. So right now I will go with you Rivers" he said and then looks over everyone. As he knew that he might get sour looks from maybe Serenity and Rivers on the matter.

"But something needs to be done with the King as he needs to be held accountable for his actions as well as the people that work under him. As they influence on what he does for the most part, such as Severine. Once I figure the best plan of action. That's when I will leave" he said and hoped that Shy could convince Claire to at least come with them for awhile to recover. If anyone was going to get close to his corse of action would have been Claire.

[Claire]

Claire did not flinch as the sword sprung from its sheath and plunged into the ground. All she could do was watch as the young man at her feet doubled over in hysterics- clearly his mind had failed to comprehend what had just happened and was now releasing all of his emotions at once. If the man was not crying now, he would be in a few hours. Her eyes turned to Shy, a small smile on her face at last from how she knelt. While the woman did not get a chance to finish her words, she knew the implication behind them. She nodded, murmuring “Thank you.”

Claire looked over to Lia, that slender, beautiful girl. One that would clearly snap under any sign of hardship. “If you saw what I did, you would not hesitate. If you thought this was bad, you have not seen war.” her expression clouds. “I don’t know why they chose me to drug and place in the King’s bed, but they chose poorly. I intend to give them a taste of the fear that they have put into this city. And they will pay for their ignorance. If you wish to hide from it, I will not stop you. Or you can fight it. Your choice.”

Claire turned her head to Louie, this strange and loud man, who in his sudden moment of clarity announced that he would lead them to safety. She narrowed her cloudy eyes at him, the frown on her face deepening. There was no way she could trust that this man was telling the truth.

“I will not be joining you.” she took a step back, looking over to the cabin. She would not be able to remain upright much longer, but at the very least the dirty shift hid her shaking legs. “I need a horse. Or for you to open a passage to my cabin. I will recover there.”

[Rivers]

Rivers frowns at Claire's expression, "come on you've got to admit the sword thing was kind funny."

Rivers' expression shows his surprise as several members of the group decide to follow him. Some of the freed Fated also follow, though seemingly more out of confusion and a lack of other ideas than out of trust in the Bard. Though as they walked over one by one his smile turns widers and he sweeps a bow to the group. As Louie comes up and starts speaking non-sense he tilts his head at the man and walks over.

"I assume the patron you mentioned, is Mysteria," Rivers replies and walks over to the man looking at the piece of paper in his hand. "Where is the map leading up so, she apparently just left the Moon Temple heading somewhere."

When the group seemed to be unsure of if they should trust the crazy man Rivers shrugs. "I will go take a look, and if it seems clear the rest of you can follow." He explains then turns to Claire and Shy, "the guard know about Seanait's house so I would recommend not returning there," He says then thinks for a moment. "I suppose I can take you to yours though, where is it?" he asks then nods towards the pair of swords. "Well since I've never actually gotten any use out of them why don't you take those, when one strikes the other always follows."

But before he returns to business he says one more thing her. "I am not going to stop you since I also think the king is wrong, but killing Noku will not improve the situation in this city it WILL make it worse. That being said, Noku is no friend of mine and if at some point you need my assistance let me know. Well we can talk about this a bit later, since if you want to last long enough to actually achieve anything you'll need some food, water and rest."

[Louie Kanto]

Whilst delivering the tidings of benevolence to the unfortunate band of resisters, a handful of dissenters stepped forward and made an excellent rebuttal to Louie's otherwise immaculate offer of salvation. "Woah, woah, one at a time, guys, geez. OK, the one who hired me- I admit, I WAS a little bit toasted during the exchange, and I DID think of her as mysterious, but I can confirm she had AWESOME tits. As for Mocha Choca, I guess you haven't had enough of the city yet, then. Good girl. Maybe we'll meat in another part of this story. Hopefullyyy….over lunch? Dinner? Coffee? Donuts? Think about it. WINK!" At this, Louie exaggeratedly winked at Claire, then regained his composure. "And ya know, to be honest, I hadn't stopped to consider how connected all the enemies of the king might be. Almost as if you each had something in common, you know. And that, my friend, is an EXCELLENT point. It's the common ties that bind us together as people, and those of us who find that common bond should cultivate and reinforce it. Mostly, by avoiding the wrath of the noble who has a vested interest in quelling any resistance before it can take hold. "

Louie reaches down and picks up the bundle dropped by his familiar. "We leave in an hour. I'll be making use of these herbs to aid the efforts of those inside, if anyone wants me. Oh! And one more thing. That portal trick would be SUPER nice for getting to the safe point outlined by this parchment, ya know>" Louie raps his hand against the map he still holds, nodding at it as well. Handing it off to Rivers, he walks to the cottage, and enters the main room, addressing the healers. "SOUP'S UP!! Gimme two minutes, and it'll be HOT!!" He quickly pops into the kitchen and starts smashing, chopping, and grinding the vines and berries brought by Finnris. As he mixes the sticky clump in a large basin, he begins adding measures of Lunar Powder, mixing, fluffing, and then tasting, and doling out a few small measures of the strange concoction onto paper sheets produced from his pack. After segregating 10 such doses, he pulls two vials of powder from his shirt pocket and dumps them into the batch, whips it vigorously, and enters the main room. "Coooommee annndd GEEETTT IITTTT..""" He announces, still mixing as he enters the room, and hands the bowl to the most idle-looking healer in the group. "Word of advice: add a little, then add a little. Then, you've used too much." He pats the mage on the shoulder, then ventures onto the porch, sits down, and lights a cigar, alternating drags between himself and his feathered familiar.

[Deleted]

Lilith remained focused, not paying attention to what went on outside. I'm afraid I don't know Trés. All I know is that I am returning home after I am finished here. As is Sima. She gestured towards him and returned to her job, finishing up with a young woman and directing her to head outside. Not long after that, the strange man walked back in and handed her a bowl, telling her basically not to use to much. She blinks in response, still having no idea who this odd man was, but nodded and turned to another innocent, smiling at him. Looking down at the bowl, she wondered if she should just use her magic. After a moment she decided to give herself a break, and applied a small amount of the contents to the mans injury and sending him outside. The group of people had greatly diminished and was at about seven people at this point.