Order of the Broken Arrow

"Be that as it may, good sir knight, but this is neither the time nor the place." Alicia curtsied to Karin. "Still, I apologise. I know full well how important personal honour is to a knight, and I promise that I shall not stand in your way when it comes to such matters again. Futhermore..."

The maid tapped her on the shoulder. "..."

"What? Oh, um..." She curtsied once more. "I apologise, I seem to be babbling. I hope that this doesn't reflect badly on my pa-" Another shoulder tap, this time a little more forceful. "Alright, alright... My apologies, good sir knight." The princess took hold of her dress and daintily made her way back to her seat.

Looked like the knights had overshadowed whatever faux pas Felix had made flying so quickly. Seriously, a fight already? Though looking at the pair, he doubted he'd have much luck against the nameless one. That much plate didn't leave him many options for the stabbing and slashing.

As for the others... Redbeard sounded like someone who's family he should know. Jian Yu must be really foreign. The chain-golem seemed simple, but it must be something more to get into the Order. The other mage, Megan, seemed normal enough. Lastly, this princess? He'd never heard of Quilldrakia. It all sounded made up, but there were laws against impersonating royalty.

The F***ing Knight was probably right about the bottom of the barrel comment. Though, they were one of the larger groups. Felix knew he was hardly imposing, and most of this bunch seemed rather... odd. Though he wondered why some of the more seemingly competent members were here. Maybe they were the real group, and the others just put here for lack of a better option.

Felix got the feeling that most of them hadn't been all that complete in their introductions. Sea-queens knew, he didn't want to share why he was here rather than at home on his family's frigate. So that was that subject of conversation nixed. What to ask?

"So, anyone know anything about Engate's Keep?"

The pressure in his chest was building slowly again, but judging by how long it had taken he'd be okay for another hour or so. Marinaes, I hope it settles soon.

"I thank you for your understanding, milady" said Karin, right before she went down on one knee in front of her "And I am sorry for protesting your intent to preserve the peace in this meeting and between two knights. You have my apologies"

After that, Karin stood on her feet again and then stared at the sitting knight, her gaze full of intensity "Looks like we won't be having our duel for now, sir knight. Though feel at ease knowing that the feeling you harvor for me is mutual. However, lets try for it not to become an issue in our quest"

Jian Yu calmly put the seals away. It was good she didn't have to resort to using them so soon. The journey could be dangerous, and being prepared was a requirement.

"I do not know anything of this keep," she spoke up, "Perhaps we should check a map, to determine its exact location?" Even after years of living here, Jian Yu admitted, she still did not know all that much about the kingdom. However, if learning that information quickly was needed, then she would do it.

edited 22nd Mar '12 4:45:57 PM by TotemicHero

"I haven't heard of it before," Megan said, "but it certainly sounds like it's in the middle of nowhere."

"We could look it up, but didn't the Swordmaster say that ..." she said, glancing again at her notes, "Bahtan would be here to give us the rest of the details or something like that?"

"Oh, then I must be in the right place" said a short woman with black hair and reddish-white skin who appeared to be in her forties *

"Like you might have guessed, I'm Bahtan. Knowing the old man, he probably didn't tell you anything-" She cast a quick glance around to make sure no one else was nearby "-and was probably a bit of a curmudgeon. Anyway, the long and short of it is that we're going up north to the keep, so that I can install new Core Gem, and you can get some experience as part of the garrison."

Her pleasant face narrowed as she added "Look, this isn't going to be the most glamorous assignment, and you won't really get to do anything there. They call it a garrison, but it's really just a few soldiers making sure wandering animals and goblins don't go in and break something. You will get bored, since there's only so much sparring you can do, and while there's a nearby town, it's really just a tavern and some houses. But if you can last the year, you go from "Recruits" to "Junior Knights" and might get to go somewhere fun after that."

Her smile returned as she added, "Well, unless you screw up and they send you back there! So just make the best of it! Any questions?"

edited 22nd Mar '12 8:54:59 PM by nman

Karin's hand rose almost immediately "How much is the Order going to pay such a big group to stand guard in this low priority guard post for a whole year?"

Now what Karin was hearing was almost deal breaking material. A whole year of apprenticeship set in a peaceful middle of nowhere? Sure, she did think that she could train her skills a lot more, but the prospect of staying in just one place without much opportunity for growth was very disturbing...

edited 22nd Mar '12 9:08:09 PM by daltar

It was Yorth's painful experience in treasure hunting that anyone with neither face nor name was treacherous and not to be allowed to stand behind you or trusted with valuable objects. And it seemed that this "knight" was the loutish type that would destroy any chances of peaceful meetings on the road. Yorth resolved to watch him carefully.

<<ooc: presumably Felix's company has done business with the Redbeard company from time to time. The Redbeards aren't one of the most powerful merchant families, but there are a lot of them, and they are reasonably honest.>>

Still smiling, the woman responded, "Well, I'm not an accountant, so I can't say for sure, but you get the standard recruit wages that were discussed when you enlisted, of course. And you can't forget that you get lodging, meals, access to whatever armory and library there is, plenty of hands-on experience, and you even get free treatment from the chirurgeon."

I thought it sounded boring at first, but jeez, Megan thought, the way she's talking, it's almost like she's trying to convince us not to take the assignment. Something interesting sure better happen or I'm going to get stir-crazy in a small town for a whole year.

"Is there any particular reason there's so many of us going to this apparently low-priority keep?" Megan said. Or is it just whatever they had left over? she thought.

The news seemed to calm Karin somewhat. She nodded her head in approval and then stayed shut for the moment. The discussed pay was reasonable for what she could consider a sabbatical year in which to continue her studies and polish her skills.

Bahtan did say that they would probably grow bored... which meant plenty of time for her to experiment on her own.

Brilliant. It hasn't been a day and we're already getting into fights. If it's as boring as Bahtan claims, blood will be spilt by the end of the week. It was no wonder Engate's Keep sounded so unfamiliar; tiny backwater towns sprouted up like the grass of the field and were known to wither away just as quickly.

The mage and the foreigner had spoken more sense in one breath than the pointless blustering of the trio who'd nearly started a fight - in the Order's auditorium, no less - and Roland was hardly inclined to bandy words with someone out to seek trouble. Breath, he'd realised long ago, was better spent on things of relevance.

"Miss Keotha has a point: one does not typically waste Core Gems or manpower on places of no importance. Unless..." He left the rest of the question unasked, but it was clear that he had his reservations.

edited 23rd Mar '12 4:20:14 AM by Pyrite

"Low-priority? Well, since you're in the Order now, I can tell you that it's siting right on top of a dimensional tear, sealed up so long ago that no one outside of us remembers it. The systems in place keep it more-or-less contained, it just needs some routine maintenance every few decades. They can't leave it alone, though, there has to be a mage or two there in case anything fails, and at least one or two dozen soldiers to maintain the keep. By sending you up there, they can transfer a few knights back down here and to other outposts."

"I see. Decades of boredom, with the infitesimal but real possiblity of a few moments of screaming terror." Not exactly Yorth's first choice of assignment either, but at least the long journey north would allow him to show off his mundane expertise.

Well, it's gotta be pretty old if not even I remember it, Roland thought, and kept that to himself. However, he couldn't resist a quick jab at the expense of the feuding nobles. "Well, if the rift does decide to open, I'm sure we could plug it up with the egos of those three alone."

edited 23rd Mar '12 8:21:12 AM by Pyrite

"I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly refrain from insulting me, Roland. I don't have any ego."

"You correct. You do not have ego. You are ego.", Mak´karath replied.

"I would appreciate if you two didn't resort to snide comments on those who are about to be your companion in arms for the next year" Karin said, frowning in displeasure to those last two comments.

"I don't see how I've done a single thing that insinuates that I think highly of myself."

Jian Yu stood and walked up to Bahtan. "Perhaps we should depart as soon as possible, to avoid any violence here." She shot a meaningful glance over at the more argumentative members of the group. "I highly doubt the heads of the Order would appreciate such behavior in this place."

Bahtan nodded in agreement "Yeah... they do seem a bit feisty. But unfortunately, we aren't scheduled to leave until tomorrow at dawn, so you're stuck here for a little while longer. I guess you could go to our library or something. If you've never been to Tynium before, you could go into the city's temple district and look at the fountains, people seem to like them." *

edited 23rd Mar '12 3:41:03 PM by nman

"And what am I, chopped liver?" huffed a rather irritated reptilian. "Do I have to jump to get people to look down?"

"My apologies," Jian Yu spoke, looking over at the newcomer, "I am used to kobolds not being anything other than servants, so I paid you no heed. I hope you are not offended. What is your name?"

Roland found their responses rather amusing - especially Mak'karath's. Who would've expected a chain golem to evolve a sense of humour? As the old saying went: Comedy is like fine wine - it improves with age. Either that, or it turns sour and puts everyone off.

"You know something's wrong when the golem cracks jokes at your expense, my lord and ladies. What will you do when somebody insults you with true ill intent? Pride and Wrath are both equally good ways of getting into trouble, and more so when paired." Roland stood and turned towards Bahtan and Jian Yu. "I apologise for the disruption. It is said that the Order seeks out those who possess great strength of will, and with it tends to come a certain... temperament, as you might've realised. Anyway, thanks for the briefing."

Roland got up from his seat. "Anyone who wants to do some last-minute research is welcome to join me in the library. As for those who are looking for a fight..." He looked pointedly at Sir F***ing Knight - I think I'll be calling him that from now on. - and Karin, who were both giving him the stink-eye. "Sorry, I mean 'a drink', the tavern's down the road, although perhaps such people should've gone there instead of signing up if that's what they sought in the first place. No guarantees that you won't find yourself at 'the bottom of the barrel' when you're done, though."

As he walked to the door, he nearly tripped over the subject that Jian Yu was currently addressing - a kobold, resplendent in a war-mage's finery and currently ranting about being ignored. Roland recognised the symbols of power on the cloak - draconic sigils were ancient and possessed great power, and a Kobold who bore them so blatantly probably took great pride in his heritage and ability.

Gods help us, it's another one of these types. "Didn't see you around when the briefing started, that's for sure. Perhaps you'd like to introduce yourself, as the lady suggested..."

edited 24th Mar '12 11:10:35 AM by Pyrite

"I am Rime, kobold warmage. I am a practitioner of an arcane art that was ancient when humans were merely food for their dragon overlor-... Is that a- I mean, are you a... golem? A self aware, cognitive construct?"