2017-05-11: Malevolence 101

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===============================<* Port Timney *>================================

Port Timney is the Kingdom of Adlehyde's premier port town. The city hugs the southern coast of the ranchlands and several trains terminate in Ardyne Grand Station at the northern part of the town. Cattle brought from the ranchlands tend to end up in the northern part of town, before their meat and hides are shipped as far as Krosse and Nortune. Timney has the look of an industrial city, without much of the simple style that Adlehyde's other cities are popular for. While it has few factories, it has many workshops and tanneries in the northern parts of town.

Most of the people live in between the northern factories and southern docks, in apartment homes of varying quality. The markets are functional, meant to serve locals rather than sell the imports and exports making their way through the port. The docks, however, are something to behold: numerous large piers, fit for both wooden sailing ships and the newer ironclads, extend out onto the blue waters of the South Ignas Sea.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9KZlk_t4Ww
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey has been busy of late - there are a number of areas around the city that have been tainted by malevolence from the animals being killed during the recent attack, and there are people who are suffering from being contaminated by the oppressive darkness the Hellions brought with them.

It had kept him from venturing out to deal with the otherworldly cave, as people needing his direct help came first. As well as ensuring that the malevolence that had been created in the town was appropriately purified so it wouldn't affect anyone else. Those who have been working in or around Port Timney will have seen Sorey as he wanders about purifying things, and while he's tried to answer a few questions when people approach him, the Shepherd has been busy with his work.

After the fourth or fifth person asked him to explain what was going on, most of these being well meaning but confused town officials, Sorey had asked that an announcement be put up that he would be hosting a gathering in the local inn. The announcement had gone up a few days ago, and now... now it was the time.

The inn has been set up with a small raised platform, with a long table set along one side of the room with a variety of snacks, water, and juices. Anyone who wants anything harder... well, the inn keeper is looking at the crowd and rubbing his hands together in anticipation of the bar tabs people will be ringing up.

Sorey of course is pacing off to the side, talking to himself for the most part. Or rather talking to Mikleo to anyone whose resonance has been booted enough that they can actually see his partner in purification at this point. But after a few minutes pass, Sorey steps up on stage and calls out to everyone. "Hello everyone! Thank you for coming tonight. I know that a lot of you have questions regarding what has exactly has been happening around the town of late. I wanted to try and bring people together so I can answer questions and explain what I can. We've got some food and drink if you want to take some from the table to the side."

The Shepherd gives people a minute to get situated, and then begins. "I'm sure that a lot of you are concerned about the creatures that attacked the town last week. I'll try and explain as best I can, but these creatures came from a distant land that my friends and I have also traveled from. They are called Hellions, and are unnatural alterations of living creatures that have been appearing there for many years."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

It's alright, Sorey. Other Lunar people dealt with the creepy cave. Well, okay, fine, Lunar people and their friends.

"Guy's got a swank setup, huh," Talise murmurs as she steps away from the bar, clutching a tall mug of mead in her right hand. She knocks it back with a long, deep drink, then brusquely wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, letting her breath out in a rush and breaking into a satisfied grin. Then she leans over to one of the tables, swiping a couple slices of melon and some sliced sausage and cheese.

Her eyes sparkle with mirth. "Not that I'm complaining," she admits past a mouthful of melon.

Stacking her fruit atop a plate, the tall woman makes her way towards one of the chairs set up not far away from Sorey's podium. She doesn't sit on it. Rather, she plants one heel on it, props her plate on her thigh just above the knee, and leans deeply forward, shoulders hunched as she looks up towards the elegantly-clad young man who has just stepped up to the podium. "Yeah, I do have questions. I guess this is a Glenwood thing, isn't it?" she asks with a cant of her head. "But you're the expert on this one, so. By all means."

It's an indoor occasion; Talise didn't bother with her usual seafarer's coat. She went with trousers, boots and a loose linen tunic, though she's got her sword with her in case someone in the room turns out to be K.K.

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai has been curious about this... thing, or whatever you call Malevolence, for some time. As it turns out she can detect it, or at least notice it when it walks in front of her nose, but she wasn't entirely sure what she was seeing. It was worst in that cave, when she examined some of the bodies. It was unpleasant. She figured it was some kind of spiritual disturbance that affects the material world - but where did it come from, and what does it do?

Apparently someone has answers. Lynnai wants to hear them.

Lynnai is set up a little to one side, near Talise. She has gotten a notebook and a pen out and is taking notes as soon as Sorey addresses the crowd, though admittedly 'hello' does not need to go in her book and so she doesn't add it. The rest of it, though... Lynnai jots it down, then taps her pen against the page for a moment.

"Mutations?" she asks, though she sounds somewhat distracted, because she is looking at Mikleo. Sort of. Off and on, like she has been for most of the setup period. Lynnai can tell he's there but seems to have a little trouble focusing on him precisely - or maybe that's just the crowd in the way.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

One of the gathered is the strange white-haired man with a half-masked face. That strange guy likes to hang around ruins, solicit his services to any other parties intending to go into said ruins, and then proceed to be dodgy about who he is or why he's even there.

He is but one of a colorful ensemble of people today, and only stands out because he has managed to avoid giving in to the temptation of snacks and drinks... somehow? Drifters generally don't eat that well. Those look very appetizing and welcome to anyone else. Why not him? That's... not important to the primary subject matter at hand.

"My apologies if I am speaking out of turn. You refer to them as 'alterations,' do you not?" Said strange man says, over in one of the back corners. Looking at him head-on is kind of eerie. It's something about his eyes, they're just not... that expressive. His voice does not affect much emotion.

"What is it that alters them?" His question joins Lynnai's, in far more verbose form.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

SPARROWFEATHERS SNACK TABLE

Butter Cookies

Fruit Frappe

Donuts

Strawberry Waffles

Mango Sorbet

Chocolate Gelato

Cheesecake

Alcohol (Various)

Juice (Various)

Sandwiches (Various)

Of course, nothing is free in this world! Rose, donning a mighty apron and chef hat, is manning the snack table alongside Eguille, her trusted second, the much older man pulling off the chef look significantly better than her. Probably because, for one, he's wearing the hat correctly, whereas Rose has it tipped sideways like it's about to fall off. The prices are very reasonable though, there's not much ripping off going on here despite the thought that if people want food this is the closest place to the lecture to do so. One of the closest places, anyway, perhaps others have contributed!

Really the price mostly covers production cost.

Rose does not look very comfortable right now, either. She's glancing left and right pretty much every few seconds, carefully observing... nothing in particular? Even the air over her shoulder gets occasional glares.

She does not have questions for Sorey yet. Maybe it's better if she just focuses on her table and tries very hard to ignore the lecture.

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Matilda... has actually managed to dodge actively having to deal with the malevolence, for the most part. It's not really her area of expertise -- but it's not something she can exactly ignore, either. Any threat to the continent of Ignas is, after all, a threat to the future of Filgaia.

So, naturally, she's gotten herself neatly situated at the inn. She sits daintily, and has food; predictably, it's blueberry muffins, the height of Filgaian cuisine. And before you ask...

... yes, she brought enough for the whole class. Or at least a tray of about twenty. It hardly competes with the Sparrowfeathers Snack Table, but...

"Please, help yourselves," she says brightly, hands in her labcoat pockets. "I'm really just here to observe -- I'm afraid I don't know enough to ask the right questions... but I wanted to do something nice for everyone anyway..."

She gravitates toward the snack table, asking, "... Ah, and -- can I have some of the fruit frappe, and a stack of butter cookies...?" Hey, it's technically a question. She's already fishing out her gella.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell is here too!

Being a Seraph, she may or may not be visible for those who've arrived in search of explanations about Malevolence.

Speaking properly, Ragnell isn't *quite* one of Sorey's party, despite this. But Malevolence is everyone's concern, as far as *she's* concerned, and it's the Shepherd's job to make sure it doesn't get out of check--and, in this case, explain it all to everyone else who doesn't know anything about it. She's thus listening to the Q&A and lecture, chilling out to the side not far from the refreshments table in an empty-seeming seat, arms folded behind her head.

She still hasn't gotten a replacement for her hat, which is the worst thing of all about this, and if anyone tries to sit on the chair on which she's seated, she rattles it. Just as a warning, like a certain type of snake.

This surely hasn't been stressing out Rose, who's in charge of the refreshments table that Ragnell is sitting near, at all.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline was interested, of course. She had come here with her wagon to deliver some additional supplies for the town(and perhaps to bring along other individuals interested in attending), and was currently sitting back with a journal she had taken from her store(hey, it was her own merchandise, she could do that) to take some notes.

It looked like she wasn't the only person doing so, which she was glad to see. Maybe she'd check with them later to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

While the snacks were tempting, she didn't want to get anything that might accidentally spill on or mess up the pages. Later, though. Her eyes have wandered to the table, where she spots Rose in an apron and hat.

Ah, looked like the Sparrowfeathers were getting in on this, too. Jacqueline sends a smile and a wave to her fellow merchant, but her attention is soon turned back towards Sorey.

"I have a question, as well. Why is it that only some people can see them for what they are - or rather, have become?" She asks. Maybe he knew the answer?

<Pose Tracker> Kestrel Apricity has posed.

The babble of voices as people gather is a sweet melody for someone like Kestrel. She takes part in none of the conversations herself, sitting as she is atop a table pushed against a far wall in the standing-room-only area, the line of her back supported by the wall and her knees drawn up to brace an open leather-bound volume, the displayed pages blank. Her perch won't give her enough loft to see everyone clearly, but it's sufficient for line of sight to the speaker and most of the accumulating crowd.

Dust clinging in pale, drab ghosts to her boots and leggings suggests she travelled to be here, the wind-swept tousle of up-pinned red and gold hair says that she may not have had time to arrange for more permanent lodgings, and the silver gleam of a fountain pen in her hand, poised above the pages, makes it plain that she's there to record what transpires in some capacity or other. Coin-bright silver eyes bounce from one asked question to another, the scratchy whispers of pen nib on paper as she puts them down lost in the ambient din.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.

Edna...

...Is not here to attend the lecture. She knows what the hell Malevolence is. She journeys with the goddamn Sheperd for crying out loud.

She's not here to help explain anything either. No, that's Sorey's job.

Why the heck is she here then? Well, for one reason and one reason only...

Rose will see clearly when a slice of cheesecake just up and floats off the table, then aside to the chairs as Edna has herself a seat right next to Ragnell.

Munch munch munch. The cake seems to vanish into nothingness bite by bite.

Sorey will pay for that, naturally.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida saw the announcement, and passed on word to someone who would undoubtedly be interested in the lecture as well. This explains why she arrives in the company of a well-to-do woman with distinctive violet hair. After acquiring a glass of wine from the bar and a delicate puff pastry from the snack tray, she seats herself close to Talise and Lynnai (whom she braved the Hallow with).

"Talise, Lynnai, this is Miss Miang, a local scholar," she says. "Miss Miang, this is Talise Gianfair and Lynnai Albrek. They're colleagues, and they accompanied me into the Hallow. " She scans the crowd for Zed and Claude, but sees neither--Miang's already met Claude, so that's no big, and... is Rosaline here? Ida would scan the crowd again, but the lecture is starting! She pulls out a pen and paper and prepares to take notes. She even brought a little inkwell!

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

Sorey starts talking, greeting people.

That's when the door bangs open again with some force, four large men in expensive black coats and ties (one of whom is a mountain of a bearman) stomping in and giving the room a menacing sweep. Every one of them has a shoddy flamethrower strapped to their backs. They aren't hiding who they are.

o` Bla~ack Ti~ies o`

A few moments later, a man steps past them. He has one of the most expensive outfits in the building, white shirt, charcoal grey vest and pants, with a long ash grey coat, marred by charring on each sleeve. His head is completely bald, and he passes a severely burn-scarred hand over it, wiping sweat, before turning to a table conveniently inhabited by normal people.

Rudely, he flings a small handful of gella at them and gives them a violently dismissive wave. If they were going to argue, they definitely don't when two other people come in behind him - an old man with wild hair and enormous craggy teeth and a German Shepherd beastman whose sleeveless black suit is stuffed to bursting.

Kent Hauch, Samuelh the Molotov, and Ribaldy take their seats. Kent gives the speaking Sorey a revolver-barrel stare, while Samuelh and Ribald are... a touch more relaxed. The other four Black Ties step back out, revealing that about a dozen of them total are milling around outside.

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

A Mysterious Cloaked Figure saunters into the inn, mysteriously looming about...mysteriously...

Well, until Vin pulls his hood down, anyways. What? It gets dusty out there somedays. A good cloak and hood is just common sense.

The Baskar calmly waves at a few folks he's poked around ruins with before he inspects the snack trays, shooting a thumbs up at the space to Sorey's side before claiming a few assorted pastries and settling in at a table to listen. He pulls a jar out from under his cloak, unscrewing the lid and taking a sip of the clear, water-looking substance.

It is -totally- not water. Gotta love Shady Baskar Moonshine.

Huh. Distant lands, eh? Well, yes, the Silver Star probably counts as distant, if his suspicions are correct. Still, more pressing matters! Namely, the Shaman raises a hand to shoot a question Sorey's way. "Question! What's this Flame of Purification I have heard mention of?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

One of the figures amongst the audience certainly, uh... stands out. Maybe it's the way she's dressed, her figure a shock of over-the-top ruffles in crimson and black when compared to the more utilitarian townspeople NPCs around her. Maybe it's the way she's sat so casually, rocking her chair back a little on two legs as she balances a small plate of sweets on one knee. Maybe it's the lazy grin, her face alight with something that isn't quite amusement, so much as abject curiosity. Maybe it's the ever so faint aura of a Medium around her, for those who are spiritually-inclined to notice such things.

"Not necessarily physical alterations, mind you," she chips in far too brightly, a pair of slim fangs showing past her grin. "As far as I've been able to tell, it's more of a spiritual affliction, and it doesn't make a great deal of difference whether you're animal or human. Either way, you're susceptible to it if you spend too long around it. A light excursion into the heart of the place told me that much," she hums as she flicks her hair out, and then raises her eyebrows as something occurs to her. "It is certainly not a natural thing, that much is for sure."

She picks at a ruffly armwarmer for just a moment, looking as if she should be holding court over the nearest saloon lounge, and then continues. "Also-- I suppose, while I'm at it, that I should note the problem is no longer restricted to 'distant lands'. Specifically, there's evidence to show that the inhabitants of Lahan - people and creatures alike - were swept up in it and taken away to that Hollow. We came across them," the Crampire adds, thankfully moderating her voice down towards something more serious, "And I am pleased to report that we were able to give some of them a decidedly decent funeral pyre, compared to the state they were left in."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Student of geology "Elly" is here for the talk, wearing a butternut sun dress, sandals with straps that go up the legs, a wide-brimmed hat and a battered but well loved notebook. Well, she's not WEARING the notebook, but it's big enough to be an accessory.

She went to secure the cold beer before moving to a seat. Two seats, actually, although from the way she is sitting tensely upright while juggling her beverage and the book and a pencil for note-taking, this may not be the happiest sitting-around in world history.

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

The distinctive violet hair probably helps with highlighting a new face.

Once Ida claims her free drinks and snacks, she reunites with the woman she entered with. The violet-haired woman is content to be led along, and offers both Talise and Lynnai a faint but genuine smile when she is introduced.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintances," she says. "I suppose I am local for the time being. It's difficult to justify traveling in these conditions. I gather that's a common predicament."

Miss Miang is a tall woman of elegant poise. She does seem well-off. She's too pale and without visible blemish to be someone who does regular physical labor, and she dresses the part: a white frock dress trimmed with champagne-gold lace and cinched at the waist with a ribbon of the same color, a matching shawl and gloves for sun coverage, black leggings for the inevitable dust of town life, and glossy square-heeled boots with silvery buckles.

Despite the pseudo-regal bearing, her demeanor is quiet (perhaps modest, depending on the read) and friendly (self-evident).

Miang glances out over the room as more people file in, but her attention returns when (or if) Talise or Lynnai address her. Manners make the woman.

Maya Schrodinger has left.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Oh no. What a crowd. Oh no!

Rosaline has a few friends here-- Talise, Lynnai, Ida, Matilda, Gwen --who get smiles if they cross her gaze, but she's opted to shrink in a corner in the back. She isn't too far from her friends (it's not THAT big a crowd, regardless of what she thinks) but also has a clear escape route, in case she starts to suffocate, maybe.

She's clutching a tall glass of water and a blueberry muffin, which have both gone yet untouched. She misses Ida doing introductions, for the moment at least. Then Sorey speaks up, and the nun does something she's arguably an expert in: remaining silent and listening.

Sorey speaks of a 'faraway land'. Rosaline gives Talise a knowing glance about this one. They should still have a talk about this when they get the chance.

Enter the Black Ties.

Rosaline's mouth hangs open at the sight of them. Other people speak, but she can't focus on them. Her eyes remain fixated on the man at the center-- Kent Hauch, isn't it? She's seen the wanted posters.

The glass of water and muffin lower and tremble in her hands, which are set closer to where Rosaline holsters her ARMs. She breathes very, very deliberately. They don't look like they're going to start anything. They CAN'T start anything. Not here. Not now.

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


"Well," Comes a realxed words on one Guild Fox. "Looks like this little get together brought everyone out of the woods." Morgan seems more amused by that than some. Standing near the esteemable Ida and the Violent Haired Beauty Miang, the Fox seems compleatly at home in the growing crowd that has come to hear an explination of the odd and deadly thing that is this new danger on the world.

This planet just seems to draw them like flies doesn't it.

The banging door though causes his ears to twitch as he looks in that direction, raising his glass of...well...something warm and honey-colored to his lips. "Well well, I'm not sure which one is more suprising. The Black Ties taking an intrest in scholorly matters, or cake dissipearing into thin air." He mutters before he sighs and shakes his head.

"This place," He says wryly before turning back towards Talise as he nods his head towards her in friendly greeting. "But this place or not, its always nice to see a friendly face. Ya been well Talise?" And Lynnai recieves a smile and a nod in greeting from the Guildsman as well. "Morgan Newkirk." He greets.

...though he does have to stop and chuckle. Elly in the corner looking...well just about like he remembers her from the last dig. "...sadly enough it is, Miss Miang. Traveling just isn't the safest of businesses, even before all this mess."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

The courier Gwen Whitlock is there, of course, arriving from parking her cart and horse, Gulliver, in a secure location. Well, a location that would ensure Gulliver isn't just here attempting to gather free pets and food from anyone going in or out of the establishment, really. Striding into the establishment just early enough, she surveyed the food table, then sighed when she realized it wouldn't be free. Aw, shucks. Well, someone's being a good merchant.

She had been meaning to try to catch Sorey for a while, but when he seemed ragged from his work, Gwen felt more content to leave him alone and let him do his business. As Hiro said, he was the only one with the ability to purify, if she understood him correctly. When news of there being a general talk, Gwen made sure she was going to be there.

'Settling' for some strawberry waffles and the least expensive drink she could find, Gwen pokes around, looking for familiar faces.

Naturally, with Ragnell being nearby the food table, Gwen sights her. "Oh hey!" She says, raising her drink in greeting to what is.... apparently two empty seats. "Hey, who's your friend? Mind if I sit here? My feet are killin' me right now, I swear. Have you tried the waffles? They're *amazing*. Oh, is that the cheesecake?" This probably ensures no one sits by Gwen, of course. Well, a courier's life *is* stressful. Oh hey, is that Rosaline back there? Gwen'll have to say hello to her too.

Gwen's social mood quiets when Sorey speaks, the courier one leg bobbing nervously as she listens. To think, a few months ago, this guy seemed nothing more than a cheery, if strange scholar who was devouring books outside Adlehyde's library. ... Was he thinking he'd be able to at least regain his breath in a land with no Malevolence to be seen?

It still makes her sad.

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

Plink.

Plink.

Plink.

As Vin Barrett, vagabond Baskar Shaman and the new face of the infamous Rough Rider one gella novella series, poses his question regarding flames of purification, he'd feel a few small beernuts landing on his hair, punctuating every single syllable he utters. They're light, barely there, but they impact enough to be felt. One would almost expect a twelve year old to be doing this, or some manner of wee thing getting up to some ill-advised mischief, picking on a bigger, broader man this way. It is a very logical conclusion.

But when he turns around to take a look at the culprit, he'd find something less harmless and more...

...well.

Legs propped up on a table and chair leaned back in a perilous angle, he'd find the slender form of a woman with pale gold hair and her hat pulled low over her face, fitful illumination within the bar doing its work to silhouette most of her features save for the point of her chin.

And when she cants her head upwards, he'd find a pair of familiar emerald eyes, and a smile that cuts like a knife, brilliant underneath the shadows.

Lifting a bandaged hand, Cassidy Cain waves the book she has been reading for the last half hour. It has his god damn picture on the cover.

Oh no.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

The Shepherd doesn't really mind that there are some rougher looking people showing up in the crowd. After all, Hellions are a problem for everyone who has to fight them, and there's bound to be a few people of less than reputable bearing who are going to need to fight them as well.

Just as long as no fights break out in the inn.

Sorey takes a deep breath. This was going to be hard, but he's also gotten used to being the center of attention after his travels as the Shepherd so far. While he's tried to avoid the spotlight for his own sake... this is probably the best way to help ensure that as few people and animals get hurt as possible.

And there are a few questions as well. Sorey smiles, and nods as Lynnai and Ethius ask the important question that leads into his next point. "As you've seen, the Hellions are hostile towards almost anything they come across, except for each other. Some of you might have seen that they look strange, and have a sort of dark aura coming off of them."

He looks around the room for a moment, before taking the plunge. This sort of thing is what had people heckling him as a madman a time or two. Maybe they'll be more willing to listen now. "This is due to a force that we call Malevolence back in my land. It is a dark and spiritually corrosive power that can ultimately transform anything affected by it into different, unnatural forms. Anyone who comes in contact with it can be affected, although some people are able to shake off the effects and be none the worse for wear."

Another glance around, and Sorey listens to a few more questions, as well as some comments from the crowd. Vin... he holds up a hand. "I'll talk about that a bit later." Noeline's more verbose commentary gets a nod and a polite smile from Sorey. "I've not seen the Hollow yet myself - I've been busy working to deal with the malevolence that has taken root around Timney - but I'm glad that you were able to help honor the people who were fallen. We don't know what actually causes malevolence to appear, but when it does... it tends to arise from negative emotions and dark deeds. Both the living and the dead can create it, and it gathers in spiritually stagnant locations, pooling there and warping the land and animals within. But by helping to proving the fallen with appropriate rites and comfort, you've probably helped to reduce the amount of malevolence being produced in the Hollow."

Sorey bows slightly towards Noeline, as well as her unnamed companions. "Thank you."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Lynnai's better off than Talise is. Talise can tell something is there, but she's not quite sure what it is - just a vague shadow of something. Her eyes narrow as she squints through Mikleo.

Up strolls Ida. With a blink, Talise breaks into a wide smile, not at all put off by the other woman dragging a stranger over. "Ida! You've made another new friend, huh," she surmises, before canting her head to look Miang over. The smile doesn't pass in the least. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Miang. I hope Ida's been good to you! She's a great travelling buddy."

The first thing one might notice upon meeting Talise is that she's tall - about six foot two, tall even for a man. The second thing one might notice is that the cheekstripes don't seem to be a tattoo, saying nothing of the slightly elfin ears and the slightly longer points of her incisors. She could pass for the world's most buff elf-maiden.

The smile doesn't particularly fade. Her demeanor's not so much regal as it is vivacious, with an energy to her even in this more casual setting. "I think most of us have had a hard time with travel lately. But Adlehyde's not such a bad place. And some of us have stuck together, which helps." As if to drive home the point, she waves over towards Rosaline - and then Morgan, who gets a playful smile from her. A wink, too.

The arriving Black Ties are met with a lowering of her eyelids. She sighs faintly.

Then Sorey starts in on things. Once more planting her heel on her chair, Talise nips down another bite of melon, listening with a slow nod. "How come some of us can see it clearly and some of us can't see it except maybe hints around the edges?" she calls up to him.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Let's just say that the feeling is probably mutal.

Elly's apparent companion for this evening is a particularly stiff-seeming young man wearing clothing that practically screams 'just left lecture hall a few hours ago' in terms of fashion. He's also equipped with a notebook and pencil, apparently also here for the note-taking. He doesn't say a word as he trails after Elly and sits down in the seat next to her.

Loren doesn't so much as say a word to her, just glances sidelong her way, as if verifying something, before pushing his glasses up his nose and cracking the notebook open as Sorey begins to speak.

His handwriting is very neat. It's also in shorthand.

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai's gaze has shifted a couple times from Mikleo to Edna or Ragnell, when she's not looking at Sorey or the page, which is admittedly most of the time. She's a scholar, after all; she needs to learn about this.

She is, fortunately for them, easy enough to prevent from bothering the Seraphs; introductions will do it. "A pleasure, miss Miang." Lynnai isn't actually sure if that's a surname or a given, so she does the polite thing and uses it in the manner it was given to her. "I consider myself a scholar as well. May I ask what your speciality is? It's not this, is it?" She frowns in the general direction of Sorey - not that she's frowning at him, or about the education she's about to recieve, but rather about the topic in general.

Lynnai writes. She writes a lot; apparently that hand-bound book she has is going to contain her sum knowledge of Malevolence (scanty as it is) by the time she's done. Fortunately, she also writes neatly, so she'll be able to make sense of it later. The Albrek Texts are going to have another subject.

"We came across that evidence too - almost like a laboratory - and we dealt with the bodies as best we could," Lynnai agrees with Noeline. "We also found some wildlife from that region, so I'm inclined to agree with you - that there's an outbreak in that direction, that is."

She stops her discussion long enough to look at the new entries. Black Ties. Lynnai frowns, but she is empathetically not being paid to throw them out, and while she doesn't like them, she has to imagine they don't like random monsters showing up either; so for now, she just keeps an eye on things.

"Did you know," she says to Sorey instead, "that Lahan was destroyed? That's all I know about it, but would something like that have caused this kind of - stagnancy?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell grins at Edna when she sits down next to her with a delectable snack. She knows exactly what she's doing, and it amuses her to hell and back. After all, she's doing basically the same thing. SORRY ROSE, YOUR TERROR AMUSES US.

"How's the cheesecake?" she asks, a certain sparkle in her eye. "If it's good, I might get me a piece too."

Gwen approaches, friendly and oblivious. Ragnell gives her a big smile. "Hey there, Gwen." To the request to sit with her and Edna, she says, "I don't mind. This is Edna, by the by. An old" friend? "acquaintance of mine. An' no, I haven't tried the waffles yet, but I might later."

Vin enters the room. Having traversed the Hollow with him, among other people, Ragnell flips him a two-fingered salute of greeting back when he acknowledges her. Cassidy's antics get her a half-smile--hey, she read that book, too! Ragnell also notes Lynnai glancing over in her and Edna's direction every so often, as well as over towards Mikleo at Sorey's side. Then there's Ida and her group, all talking amongst themselves. Noeline's supplemental explanation, particularly the mention about Lahan, gets her a thoughtful look too--and of course there's the infamous Black Ties, and the two Drifters she'd traversed the Berry Cave with, neither of whom can see her.

Beyond them, she watches over the crowd in measuring mostly-silence. She'd expected that a lot of people would want to know about this, but the turnout was bigger than she'd anticipated. How will Sorey handle it, as well as the various questions and stares? She watches *that* closely, too.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

The door opens with more force than strictly necessary. Ida's already straight-backed posture gets a little tense as she sees people in black suits out of the corner of her eye--she glances at Kent, Ribaldy, and Samuelh, and then seemingly pays them no further mind. She sips her wine, and takes a delicate little nibble of her delicate little pastry. Oh, there's Rosaline, looking like she wants to do nothing more than bolt for the door.

Morgan asks about the cake. Ida does not answer, because she figures that Sorey will get to that part. "Indeed," she says, to Miang. "Sister Calice and I gave them funerary rites, once the notes were done." It was not the most pleasant of jobs, but it had to be taken care of. Talise asks the question she was going to, and Ida gives a grateful little nod.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

There's a chair that keeps rattling. Rose is doing her best to ignore it. This is made significantly harder when a piece of cheesecake floats away, settling next to the rattling chair. Rose manages not to scream, mostly because Eguille is there and she can kind of... edge behind him ever so slightly. He arches a brow up but doesn't press the matter. He's a lot more composed than she is. Ghosts don't terrify him, for one.

Luckily none of this interferes with the sale of snacks because Eguille's on the job.

Then another snack goes missing, floating ominously away.

Rose cowers all the more behind Eguille, peeking her head out mostly because she finally had a thing to ask Sorey. From the safety and comfort of "behind Eguille" she shouts: "Sorey! What happens if we kill Hellions? Are they just going to... get back up like zombies? What happens to the Malevolence they had?" This seems important to her given the pile of dead Hellions currently in the Hollow, and the fact Sorey can't be everywhere at the same time, so people are bound to kill them.

... it's also important for something else.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly is writing in shorthand as well, conveniently enough. She glances around and over towards Loren with a hard-to-read expression, before taking a sip of the bottled beer - suppressing a 'hrk!' reaction for some reason - and swallowing.

Then she resumes taking notes. When Malevolence is said with such emphasis, Elly underlines something... twice.

"Did you want something from the bar? I can lend you a little," she says to Loren, not looking up. Her dress has pockets, which already puts it in high regard in her eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The entrance of the criminals doesn't escape Jacqueline's notice. She only really recognizes the man of the front, having been on the business end of that flamethrower before.

It wasn't a pleasant experience to recall. She briefly wondered who invited them or if they'd just shown up on their own, but isn't exactly about to go confront them. She wasn't stupid, but it did make her a little nervous.

And...Miss Carver was here, too. Hm. Jacqueline wasn't sure what to make of this. For now, she just turns her attention back to Sorey in order to continue taking notes.

Negative emotions and dark deeds, huh?

It was a good thing there wouldn't be anyone in this current crowd responsible for that, right?

Talise had repeated her question, which meant she didn't have to - that was a good thing for Jacqueline, as it meant she could sit back and keep an ear on the proceedings going on around her until Sorey started talking again.

If Jacqueline's noticed all the Seraphs around, she doesn't show it - that doesn't mean she hadn't, however. Ever since the events at Timney and her visit to the Hollow, she'd found she had a much easier time noticing everything that had once been hidden from her sight, for better or worse - though it still take some effort.

She does come up with one more question, however -

"Is there...any way to protect yourself from the effects? I have a friend who seems to be rather sensitive to it." She asks.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Edna has posed.

Edna keeps a straight face all through her snacking. "It's pretty good. You chould get some for yourself." She replies easily, a smirk forming, because she knows EXACTLY what she's doing.

Gwen's arrival and greetings are met with a glance, and nothing else. She watches Ragnell speak with the lady for a bit, then she's look off to Sorey to listen. Not like it isn't anything she hasn't heard before, but hey.

She says nothing at large however. There's really nothing for her to add. She just helps purify things. No need to think too hard about it all, right? Right.

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

"Ida has been a wonderful person to know so far," says Miang to Talise. "It's always a pleasure to meet other academics."

"And here as I speak," she says, turning her attention to Lynnai. ""I'm a historian, though I deal in antiquities acquisitions and sales to keep the machine of discovery working smoothly." Some people just have one name, okay?

Miang looks toward Sorey as he exposits, though she continues to answer the question posed to her. "I'm afraid I am involved now. My knowledge may be of some help--besides, who could turn away during a crisis like this?"

She glances to Morgan to give him a rueful smile. "A heart burdened by empathy. Another reason not to travel."

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

There are people in this room that could get in trouble if Kent Hauch fired them the wrong kind of look at this moment. Fortunately, he is circumspect, and completely focused on Sorey. His elbows are up on the table, both badly burned hands knit together. His fingers are no longer shaking, and his movements seem to be steady.

While Kent is grimly focused, Samuelh just kind of starts ordering things. It isn't too long until the Black Tie table has a small variety of foods and drinks - foods for Kent and Ribaldy, drinks for him. Alarmingly, the old man pulls a molotov cocktail from his coat, yanks out the rag, and pours a measure of the contents into a bowl of soup before he starts loudly slurping at it.

Ribaldy gives Noeline a double-take and lifts one big hand to pinch at the base of the muzzle. Aw jeez she's gonna remember the dumb thing he said and make fun of him. Ahhhh come onnnn

Kent doesn't do what you might expect a jackass criminal to do as Sorey starts talking about crazy shit. He doesn't jeer, or laugh, or deride him for a so-called idiot. He just listens, a vein faintly pulsing over one temple.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

The white-haired stranger turns his head as Noeline discusses some of her findings, following her clarification on the concept of Hellions and alterations. Most of the other subtle dramas occuring between others are lost to him, as he hangs upon her explanations and claims.

He does not light up at the presence of familiar people.

The Malevolence, then - the force he started to acknowledge as being a thing towards the end of his own journey within the affected area.

"So it is an 'alteration,' and not a mere 'concealment,' I see.".

Negative emotions and dark deeds... there is such a force that exists? He might credit his own internal discipline for holding against its influence as well as (he thinks he) has.

As others discuss their findings, Ethius stops to think about what he found and experienced at the deeper depths. Everyone appears to be laying their findings out in the open. Those eyes of his sweep about the gathered.

Gwen was with him, then. Would she share what it is they found? He has no way to signal to her to hold mention - there is too much noise, too much distraction.

"I have another question, if I may," he speaks up. "If an individual affected by this Malevolence were to escape the place in which it were first afflicted and find a place to hide without detection... would we see a re-emergence similar to what we witnessed at the Batical Grotto?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline pauses as the Black Ties enter - and gives the beastman amongst them a brilliantly amused grin and a nod of recognition as he sags his head, if only to watch the reactions from those in the room. "To be quite honest," she offers aloud, "I can't say I was thinking that altruistically at the time. It simply seemed the thing to do, and we had the tools to do it." She punctuates the statement with an airy wave of her hand, shrugging one shoulder. "But, I'm glad to hear it might have positive effects."

Lynnai's comment draws a thoughtful nod, and then the girl sighs as she bobs her chair back and forth slightly. "That is our working theory at the moment, at least. I took the liberty of slipping past the Lahan barricade to take a look around the place, and while the results were-- inconclusive, it was definitely a dead enough place that I could believe something like that would happen. In fact, given the geopolitical situation around the area, I would almost suggest that the attack on Lahan was deliberately incited to cause it, and then the inhabitants-- harvested, if you will."

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

Oh hey -- Rosaline's here! That gets a smile out of Matilda... who also sees the Black Ties around the same time Rosaline does. She pauses, and eventually starts to slink back to the rear of the room to form up with her precious cat friend.

She arrives with a muffin.

"I'm glad to see someone I know here," she says, a little awkwardly. Spotting the muffin, she notes, "O -- oh, you already got one! I hadn't noticed, ahahaha..." She scratches at the back of her head, and turns her attention to the lecture in earnest again.

It's not until Noeline speaks that her attention is well and truly Got, though. "Lahan... that would make a lot of sense. The wreckage did seem more thoroughly explored than one might expect... N-not that I was -- raiding -- or anything you understand... Ah -- anyway, I would corroborate her statements!"

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

Vin's eyebrow twitches slightly as he is bombarded by beer nuts. Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't turn arou-

He glances over his shoulder after Sorey mentions he'll be explaining the IMPORTANT part of this later. (Seriously, fire is just the best).

He stares.

He sighs. "Bother."

Standing up, brushing off beer nuts, Vin ponders the best reactions.

FIRE: No, no, the snacks might be harmed.

IGNORE: No, that never works, the Baskar knows that from babysitting his twelve year old cousins before when he was younger.

FLEE: That just means she -wins-, Vin. That just means she -wins-.

Welp. ITEM it is! % The Baskar stands up, calmly shedding bar nuts from his hair as he walks over to Cassidy 'Troublesome' Cain's table...and then calmly reaches into his cloak, pulls out a pen, and then just plucks her book from her fingers. Then, he signs it, hands it back to her without losing her place, and puts a jar of moonshine down before calmly turning and walking right back to his table, utterly unruffled, face not having changed in expression a bit as he settles back down to listen to the nice Space Shaman's lecture, waiting patiently for him to explain about -amazing new forms of fire-. With his hood up, though, which might make Beer Nut Bombardment less effective and just a waste of good beer nuts.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Whatever parts of this lecture have gotten Elly's companion's attention, he's apparently engrossed, busily filling a few pages with notes. His brow furrows, but save for that and -- and the exuberance with which he writes down a few lines -- he shows no outward sign of anything but an almost furious concentration.

"Fine," Loren says, absently, as if he's not really paying attention to what Elly is saying.

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

Ragnell's half-smile earns her a different kind of grin that goes with the unrepentantly disreputable wink from underneath a wide brim and a frame of gilded tresses, before Vin's bigger, broader shadow cuts a path across the brown and gold sheen of her table's surface. There is no resistance from Cassidy when he plucks the book off her hands and scribbles his autograph on it, eyes lit up with amusement that only grows when he places a jar of moonshine on her table.

But as he turns to walk away, he does not escape so easily. A leg slips out from the top to the bottom, to push out a chair to block the Shaman's path before he could reach his own; whether it's an attempt to stop him from his traverse to the other side of the room away from her, or an invitation to join her, one can't say for sure. But since it's this woman, there is equal odds of both.

Always both. Always.

"Sit down and stay a while, luv," she tells him, her languid brogue easy and breezy. "Besides, I've got sommat tae talk tae you about when all of this blows over. You wouldnae leave a lonely lass devoid of company, would you? I mean...the stories I could tell you."

And the trouble she can bring him.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell's grin at Edna widens. "Well, with such a stellar recommendation, how can I not?" She leans back on her seat, then forward to hop to her feet, leaving the chair clattering seemingly sourcelessly. Then she saunters on over to the refreshments table and snags another piece of cheesecake, winks at Rose knowing full well she can't see it, and begins to walk her way back towards her seat. When Vin responds to Cassidy's antics by signing her book, Ragnell laughs aloud--ahh, she *thought* he'd looked familiar when they went through the Otherworldly Hollow! She'd had other things on her mind at the time, but the guy on the cover--they sure bear a strong resemblance, huh?

Amusement reaching its peak, Ragnell resumes her stroll back to her seat, chomping on her cheesecake as she goes. It *is* good. Compliments to the Sparrowfeathers! She also listens to the continued talk of Lahan and how it'd been both destroyed, explored, and harvested. Mmmm... Yeah, that'd make for a hotbed of Malevolence for sure.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Edna's glance and resumed eating causes Gwen to chuckle. "Well, I'll take that as an 'okay'." She holds up her plate in offering to Ragnell. "You can try a piece, if y'like."

One would think she was here for a seminar on cooking, but when the talk begins in earnest, that amiable nature is silent, for now, the courier taking in everything around her. Unfortunately for Ethius, Gwen does stands up after Lynnai mentions a labratory, but the way she looks seems rather grave for someone who was unconscious during the most brutal parts of the party's interactions with one another.

"I saw it too," Gwen says, raising her voice in agreement with Lynnai. "Or somethin' like that, in the Hollow. A giant cavern full of dead bodies, most of them animals, all from the Lahan area." She hesitates, suddenly mindful of all the faces in the room with her, but continues. "They were all twisted and transformin', but had stopped in the middle of it. I ain't a naturalist, but I've been in Lahan enough to recongize a lot of the animals there."

She'll neglect the part about them being burnt to stop their suffering. Or the part where she bawled like a child on Riesenlied all the way back. "Is... is there things we can do? To help them. I mean, if it's negative stuff that I'm assumin' kinda comes from us, isn't there something positive we can do to offset it?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

"Don't mind if I do," Ragnell adds to Gwen, also pinching one of those waffles before she goes off to snatch up a slice of cheesecake.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

"Negative emotions and dark deeds," Rosaline repeats to herself. Then: "Rites and comfort..." Maybe this means she can really help, somehow.

Talise gets a nervous little wave back. Rosaline nods along with Lynnai, when she speaks of a sort of laboratory. She was there. It's a memory she doesn't like to revisit, but they have to.

Matilda approaches and gets a little smile. "Yes, thank you. They're good." She's taken a bite, at least, though she seems to be gripping that pastry a LITTLE BIT TOO TIGHT. It seems like a good idea, right now, for her to focus on a friendly face.

Ida sees her and speaks her name. Rosaline has big ears, and so notices. Another friendly face-- Well, more precisely, a friendly face and a Miang, who is probably a friend she hasn't met yet.

"Yes... I-I mean, hello." She raises a hand, only then realizing that it's still holding half of an almost thoroughly crushed muffin.

"Oh no. Oh no, I'm sorry..." she whispers out, dropping crumbs everywhere and seeing definite proof that she is in fact the worst person in the world.

But SOREY IS SPEAKING and she's trying to pay some attention, and so can't let little things like being the actual worst get her down. She has a question, and hesitates for a moment, but... She gathers her courage, and...!

She raises a hand. "When you speak of rites, you mean the funeral kind? I-I mean, of course you do, I just want to know if there's anything else I could help with, in specific..."

Of course, being The Single Worst Person, she neglected to empty the remains of her glass before she raised the hand containing it, sending it splashing right in the direction of, let's say...

KENT'S FACE.

OH NO.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey nods to Lynnai as she brings up Lahan. He'd heard rumors about it, but hasn't seen the town himself. "Unfortunately, that is just the sort of thing that tends to cause malevolence to spring forth back home. Pain and suffering, loss, anger... anything that generates those sorts of emotions creates malevolence. And those feelings can be bound into the dead, who will then create malevolence that seeps into the surroundings. I've never been to Lahan, but with malevolence appearing in this land, I expect it is probably creating at least a few Hellions."

Talise also brings up a good point, and Sorey looks at her and smiles. She has been nice after all. He also spots Elly, and inclines his head to her as well, remembering that one incident where they had been trying to... 'help' Zed become more spiritually aware. "I've always heard it called Resonance - the ability to align your view with the spirit world and perceive things that do not normally appear to the naked eye. A few of you have heard me talking about my friends, who are Seraphim."

Sorey turns, and gestures to a place next to the stage, then to an unoccupied chair nearby to Rose, and then to where there is mysteriously less cheesecake than there was a few moments before. "Mikleo, Edna, and Ragnell are here with us - some of you may be able to see or hear them a bit better than when you first fought the Hellions. Exposure to spiritual beings like Hellions and Seraphim tends to increase your resonance and allow you to perceive them more easily. If you are seeing strange things, you're not going crazy!"

The Shepherd laughs at that, almost as if in response to a private joke. "You're just noticing the world in a different way than before. I was raised by Seraphim, so I've been able to see them quite easily from when I was very young."

HE listnes to a few questions, and people are bringing up good ones - man it's hard to actually reply to all of these. He looks to Ethius again, and states, "I actually have no idea - malevolence has always existed back in our land, although most people don't have the resonance to recognize it when it appears. It's... always existed, but strong Hellions do tend to spread more malevolence in any area where they make their lairs."

As for protecting one's self... well, this also leads into Rose's question as well, somewhat. "It's possible to purify malevolence, but the ability to do so is quite rare. So unfortunately, many people are going to have to fight back normally to defend themselves. Killing a Hellion removes its physical threat, which is going to be the most dangerous." Sorey sounds sad - he doesn't believe that its right to actually kill creatures and people - especially people - who have been warped against their will into some terrible evil form. "But just killing it doesn't remove its malevolence - it will be weaker, but may well remain even after the Hellion dies. If you feel anger or hate towards the Hellion, that may well allow the malevolence to start working on you as well."

Not the best answer, but... if there were good answers, Glennwood would not have the troubles that it did.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly writes.

Her other hand reaches into one of her dress pockets and pulls out a couple of 5-gella coins. She holds them for Loren to take and after a few long seconds she realizes he isn't taking. As she turns a page, she says to him, vaguely, "Well... Do you want me to get you something? I don't know what you like to drink."

She doesn't see a drink flying towards Kent because she is caught up in petty interpersonal conversations.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The women around her exchange expertise. Talise rubs the back of her neck; her smile takes on a bashful note, and she clears her throat faintly. "Well! I see you're all pretty scholarly in what you do for a living. I, ah. I'm not really much of an academic, myself... but I like to think Ida and Lynnai have decent reasons for keeping me around."

(Goddess damn it, why am I so stupid compared to all my friends?) a tiny voice wails in the confines of her mind.

She didn't even think to bring a notepad. Watching Lynnai scribble notes down, she can't help but smile ruefully, sighing and folding her arms across her midsection with a gentle blush. "I'm a storyteller, though," she explains for Myyah's benefit. "Sorey knows a lot about this topic. I've got a lot of knowledge of the history of other parts of... the place he and I both come from."

The smile Sorey sends her way is answered neatly, the woman flashing just a hint of pointed teeth. "I've heard you talking to your friends. I think I'm getting better at seeing and hearing them, even." Then her eyebrows come up as Sorey reveals what his childhood was like.

"Yeeeeeup. That'd do it," she agrees.

Knitting her brows, she asks, "Can Malevolence go away on its own? That is... I noticed some of the ones at Port Timney were humans. I really don't want to be in a position where I have to kill someone because of something a Hellion gave to them."

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


The foxes smile ticks up a notch at the wink he recieves, eyes dancing in amusement. Though his focus remains mostly on the speaker. That doesn't mean that he can't respond to a few words though. "Well I see travel as a challenge, its work getting someplace new. But its worth it I figure." He adds towards Miang before he nods slightly. "Empathy can be a burden or a gift. Depending on who happens to be around at the time. I mostly see it as something that keeps most of us sane, or at least on a better path."

Look. He can be thoughtful if he wants to be!

He would say more but a specifc accent cuts though the myriad of voices at the inn and causes one ear to slooowly perk up and rotate slightly in search of it. Like a radar system homing in on one perticular ball of trouble.

Of course that makes him easy to spot. Thats the breaks when you go to active sensor scans though.

The smile only grows as his vulpine eyes shift towards a specific corner of the room to find two people there. "Now there is a bundle of the best kind of trouble waiting to happen." He drawls as he spies Vin and Cassidy.

And then someone it throwing drinks at the Black Ties.

"...and the chance that this all ends in a fire just went up." He drawls as he hurriedly downs the rest of his drink. "...I think I'm gonna hit up the snacks before that happens. Any of y'all want anything?"


<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

...meh, trying to escape just never works, anyways. She'll just track him down later, and, if she's -anything- like some of his female relatives, decide to make him pay for the inconvenience in some way, whether through pain, gella, or just causing him trouble for her own amusement.

Shrugging, the Baskar drops into the new chair, kicking his boots up and relaxing as he waits for the -discussion about fire and fire accessories-. "Stories, huh? Any of 'em true, or are they about as accurate as that -lovely- piece of literature you're reading? But yeah, I'll stay a while. Why not?"

...He also wonders if he should mention that the Seraphim are the ones eating those pastries to the nice merchant lady and not not spooky ghosts this time.

He recognizes her posture as her 'I AM HIDING FROM SPOOKY GHOSTS behind someone larger' maneuver, you see, due to his trip through the Hollow with Rose and Ragnell.

...Nah, probably best not to meddle in that while that nice earnest Sorey chap is talking about Evil Spiritual Hoodoo. It might slow down the discussion about FIRE!

...also, someone just splashed the pyromaniac Badlands gang leader in the face with a drink. Vin, having grown up in that same rough-and-tumble region, calmly shifts a bit to make diving under a table a bit easier. "...Glad I got my pastries already." The Shaman calmly resumes nibbling on the rare, Space Guardian/Seraphim made snacks. "Need to get the recpie for these. Gran would love 'em."

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

He may not have noticed.

Or perhaps it's deliberate.

Whatever the reason, Loren is engaged in nothing but assiduous note-taking.

Lahan. Interesting.

"Anything is fine," he says, while reviewing the page he's written. It's an absent comment he might yet regret making.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Visibly, the Crimson Noble hesitates when Sorey starts to talk about the extra special members of the audience; a frown flickers across her face for just a moment, and her head slowly turns to take in the entire crowd. It's obviously a little irritating for her - her gaze hesitates in the direction of each of the Seraphs, vaguely aware of a presence but not enjoying a mismatch between her vision and the rest of her senses. In the end, she lets it go with a soft and slightly aggrieved huff of air.

Watching her realign herself is like watching a cat - whatever was making her annoyed is carefully packaged up and discarded to move past it - and her next sigh is a rather more amused one. "I imagine that the hope that it will just dissipate over time is a rather forlorn one. Feelings like that tend to fester and grow if you don't let them out, do they not?" she wonders with a hum. "I imagine that once a Hollow gets going, it's very good at simply sustaining itself on and on, as long as it likes."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly lets out a small sigh. 'Anything is fine' is always the worst. Elly can remember her roommate using that one repeatedly and nonetheless clearly having parameters of judgment and approval. She rises up - just in time to get sight of Sorey's nod, which she returns with a brief smile and a hand coming up to the brim of her hat - before scooting out to head over to that refreshments table.

The temptation of mischief rises in her even if conflict and horror may be brewing faster than a cheap gallon of prison wine.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Oh, hush," Ida says, to Talise. "A successful expedition needs all sorts." She follows it up with a genuine little smile. Sorey keeps talking. Raised by Seraphim? Ida writes that down and underlines it. It explains... well, quite a bit about Sorey, really. How did a human infant end up being taken care of by strange spirit-beings? It sounds so outlandish!

Rosaline speaks up. Ida watches the glass fly, and perversely enough, time seems to slow down for her as it leaves Rosaline's head and starts on its graceful, delicate arc towards Kent Hauch's head. Her eyes open, ever-so-slightly, and she stares at it, as if she could make it stop in mid-air through force of will alone. "Nothing, thank you," she says to Morgan. She takes a sip of wine, and then another.

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

"Ah!" Lynnai is pleased by Miang's answer. "I'll have to talk to you about that later. I've been involved in that before, but it's not my main focus - still, it's amazing what we can learn from the past, isn't it?"

The fact that she can hold a conversation while taking notes on an unrelated topic is honestly kind of impressive.

Lynnai is frowning by the time Sorey continues. It sounds worse and worse, inasmuch as she's had explained to her, both by him and - in bits and pieces, much less complete - from other people. She switches pages to scribble down some things to think about later, or possibly ask Sorey when it's a little less crowded. Or Talise, she knows enough stories that she might be able to tell her some of this, even if it's not her specialty...

Such as the Seraphim. Lynnai gives a satisfied nod at the concept of resonance. Makes sense to her, though it's not the word she might have used - but then again, she didn't name it, and she's not even from the place that did. She gives Mikleo another, more direct look - apparently she's managed it.

"By what you said, it spreads from anger," Lynnai says, raising her voice again. "'If you feel anger or hate toward the Hellion', and such. Does being calm help with resisting it?"

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius finds his place in the gathering increasingly compromised. Tall as he might be, he feels crowded. He moves to some other part of the room, a bit closer to the front as he escapes the commotion about a spilled glass. As he moves, he unwittingly passes by exact evidence of the existence of these Seraphim unfolding right behind him, to his right, as at least one is enjoying slices of cake.

This, in favor of almost imperceptibly narrowing his eyes to where Sorey gestures next to him. He stares at Mikleo, dead-on, unaware that they are even there.

Should he say he doesn't see them? He doesn't hear them. He is in the company of those who claim otherwise... but the addressing of his second query demands his attention.

"Strong Hellions, then... hm." He brings a hand to his face again. "Yes, then... that's possible," he murmurs.

What is? He retreats into his thoughts as some express their regrets about the possibility that most will have only the means to kill an afflicted victim.

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

"Hello," Miang says to Rosaline. Rosaline then proceeds to have several food crises. This includes throwing a drink onto a noted local ganglord's face. Miang watches with her most polite expression, which is beatific and does not bear any judgment.

A lack of judgment may imply judgment. Sometimes life cannot be won.

Miang doesn't seem to notice Talise's discomfort. She instead favors the woman with a warm look. "I've always thought that historian is just a fancy word for storyteller. I'd appreciate hearing some of your stories sometime. Tales from far away are often my favorites.

Miang gives Morgan a sidelong look, narrowing her eyes as her smile becomes sly. "Perhaps the better path for you is getting a lady a drink. Pilgrim's choice."

She looks back to Sorey as the talk continues, but she addresses Lynnai: "That's what attracted me to the discipline in the first place, and I suppose what keeps me searching. Drop by the adventurers guild sometime and ask for me, I'd enjoy a chat."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

So...there was no way of outwardly protecting yourself from the effects of malevolence, and actually purifying it was a rare ability. Jacqueline looks a bit disheartened by this, and sort of sinks into her chair with a sigh. There went that possibility. Still, the rest of this information was turning out to be useful, and she makes sure to take down anything that might be helpful - even some of the things the others were saying that weren't directly related to talk of Malevolence and Hellions.

And then, with another glance around the room, she sees...

Liquid leaving Rosaline's cup and headed straight towards the worst possible person in the room.

Welp.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

It's not that Rose isn't listening, it's more like Sorey confirmed there are THREE Seraphim sitting right there. And they keep taking food. You'd think she'd get used to it by now but no. On the bright side she now has a better understanding of why Sorey seems so... well, "pure" for a lack of better words. He wasn't even raised by humans! No wonder he had no money on him.

... wait does that technically make him half-ghost or something?

At least the answer to her question was satisfactory. So you CAN kill Hellions and it'll greatly reduce their threat. That's good. That helps reconcile certain things.

Wait did a drink just go flying?

"Hey! No foodfights in here!" Rose pipes up, having not seen who threw a drink at who but having just enough attention to spare to yell. It takes her mind off ghosts, so that's not a bad thing. Lahan also seems to keep coming up and she's getting the unfortunate vibe Sorey is going to want to go there now. Maybe handing Alisha all those books to give to Sorey was a terrible idea after all.

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

Samuelh sees the glass of water raising an instant before The Incident. With his keen mathematical mind, he calculates the fluid dynamics and likely moment whereupon friction will slightly adjust the glass as the water leaves it. He acts quickly, and decisively, the world slowing to a crawl as he thrusts one hand out, hooking a finger on the wooden plate containing several slices of ham in an overly flavored sauce, shifting it out of the way of the falling water in the nick of time.

Kent, of course, is far too intent on Sorey's words. His mouth opens, which is convenient, because some of the water that splashes onto him goes refreshingly directly into his mouth. He recoils slightly, coughing, dripping right onto his expensive clothes, looking down and up and boring a hole into the side of Rosaline's head.

Ribaldy, who didn't want to come here in the first place, drops his head to the table and covers his eyes, ears slumping down.

Kent swallows the water in his mouth and pulls a grey handkerchief from the pocket of his vest with a sharp motion, blotting his face, wiping the back of his neck, and swabbing it over his head. He stretches out his neck with a loud thundercrack pop. While people are talking about anger, he props the knuckles of his freshly-burned hands on his table, rising. He reaches out, wrapping his hand around the lifted cup and the fingers holding it.

Eerily gently, he eases the cup from her hand. "You spilled your drink, luv." His strange accent grates out like a growling furnace passing through gravel. "Let me take care ovvit for ya."

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

Are any of them true?

"If they make you laugh, cry, bleed from the eyes, nose and mouth or otherwise keep you in some way entertained, does veracity really matter?" Cassidy wonders, brows perking upwards over her lingering smile. "I'm willing tae bet all the gella in my person that several bits of this world's 'known history' are just as fictitious as my now autographed and thus infinitely more valuable copy of..." She squints at the title, and bursts out laughing. "Jack Dove and the Rod of Power. Really?! Ach, fook me running. Did you actually pose for this, luv? Did someone actually have tae ask you to hold up a-- "

Chaos erupts on the other side of the room as something hits Kent Hauch's face, drowning out the rest of the word before it's audible again.

"...over your head tae capture this lovingly greased up depiction of you. Though I have tae say, luv, no amount of ink in the world could ever do you justice. But ay, this story I'm about tae tell you is verra real, but we'll have tae wait until this congregation disperses."

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

"Unfortunately, I've seen malevolence that was created centuries before by dark acts that persisted for quite some time," Sorey states, although he's sure it's probably not what Talise wants to hear. He remembers the catacombs under Ladylake, where previous generations of nobility had killed rebels and dissidents away from the prying eyes of the public. The malevolence there had been strong, despite the passage of years. "No, I don't think that it will get better over time, unless you can find some way to keep malevolence from being created."

He thinks for a moment, and adds, "People's ability to resist malevolence tends to related to their personality - some people have been in terrible places, but I've not seen a trace of malevolence clinging to them. Others can be exposed to a small amount and it ultimately grows from that small seed until it consumes them. Unfortunately I don't know what causes one reaction and not the other."

It was one of those things that would just have to be figured out - Lailah and Edna had both implied that it was one of those things he'd need to figure out for myself. Or at least come to his own conclusions on.

"From what this gentleman..." Who now appears to be more concerned with the lady behind him - hey, are you here to listen or flirt with girls, Vin? Sorey chuckles, and shakes his head as he watches that ongoing discussion for a moment (and the one between the rather dour looking Kent and the people around him as well, but that one seems to be... mostly under control at least? He hopes!) before continuing.

"Malevolence can be purified, but that gift is extremely rare. I'm not sure of anyone in this land who can do so, and I only received the ability by entering into a pact with the Lady of the Lake back home. I've heard people talking about the Guardians here, so it might be worth seeing if they are able to provide some sort of blessing that would allow malevolence to be purified and Hellions to be returned to their normal forms."

It would be nice if he could get some help, after all! But the Guardian worship seems less involved than his own pact, and... well, who knows?

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline bears judgment, implied, imagined and otherwise. She is well-used to this exercise, but some days it's particularly crushing.

Luckily for her, she has far worse to worry about!

The catwoman takes what feels to her like a century to turn around. The sight she catches confirms her absolute worst fears. It feels like the entire room holds it breath for this short, fateful moment. The nun shrinks tinily, her ears pressed down.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm--" She whispers frantically, never pausing to breathe, her expression horribly resigned. Then the gang leader reacts with...

Calm?

"T-T-Thank you." She lets him dispose to the glass, not moving a single muscle as he does. Time seems to resume.

She slowly turns back to face the front, her look now significantly more thousand-yard. Tears are beading at the corners of her eyes but never quite managing to escape their orbits.

Rosaline's inner list of mistakes and shortcomings is long indeed, and here is the very newest item: Failure to prepare an emergency teleport spell.

She heroically manages to focus on Sorey again. The Guardians. Hm. Well, she can't do that, obviously...

LIST UPDATE: Failure to pray sufficiently. At least she's doing it right now!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Cheeks colouring slightly, Talise answers Miang's smile with a warm one of her own - again, it's one of those smiles that reveals those teeth, as if she can't quite help it. "Yeah... yeah, that's not a bad way to think about it, isn't it? I usually stay at the Saloon here in town. C'mon by and I'll sing you a few good ones. Or I'll come to you and do the singing there, whichever's easier for you. Some of the Althena ones are probably a good place to start."

She smiles at Ida, shaking her head. "Hey, someone's gotta move the big rocks for you. I think that must be why the Goddess put me here."

Reaching for her plate, she picks up a piece of melon and bites into it - only to pause in mid-crunch as she catches sight of Rosaline spilling something on a maniac. Her shoulders bunch slightly as she reaches for her belt, opening the pouch there and beginning to slide her hand into one of her gauntlets.

Then Kent lets Rosaline off the hook for now. Frowning, Talise watches him for a moment longer from her spot elsewhere in the room, as if to ensure he's not going to flip out and kill her friend.

Sorey's more important right now, though. The young man gives her an answer she was hoping he wouldn't give. Breathing out heavily, she shakes her head, folding her arms loosely again. "Damn," she mutters. "So we'll have to deal with it once it's there. There's got to be some way to fix it without having to kill people... if there's a way, maybe others can learn it."

Then Sorey makes a suggestion. Scratching the back of her neck, she asks, "You think that's possible? Guardian power being able to help, I mean."

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

Vin snickers despite himself at Cassidy's explanation for the veracity, or lack thereof, of her stories. The Baskar sounds mock-wounded. "But Cassidy, it's not polite to tell the folks from the big churches that, you know!" He glances at the cover, then rolls his eyes. "Oh, lord, that one..."

The Baskar pauses, then shrugs slightly. "Funny story, actually. See, there I was, minding my own business and hiding from that courier who keeps handling my dear Aunt's Firmly-Worded-Letters-Imploring-Me-To-Come-Home-And-Settle-Down in the Starfall salloon when some yahoo comes running up with a box and hands it to that fox-eared guy over there with the scholars. Then some guys bust in after the box, some other guys try to kidnap me because they're fans or something, and a rabid barmaid fan latched onto someone's skull with her teeth hard enough to dig into the bone after some -jackass- threw firecrackers into a -Drifter Saloon-."

Vin sips some moonshine and shrugs. "So the box the Foxguy had breaks and he ends up holding the...Snrk...the Rod of Power and I guess that cover artist was around and decided to improvise or something. Hell, he probably got like, three covers out of that one bit of madness."

Vin's attention then snaps back at the mention of Purifying, quirking an eyebrow as he listens to Sorey instead of telling outrageous truthes to his tablemate. "...Huh. Lady of the Lake, eh? Neat, haven't heard of that Guardian before. Neat." The Baskar snaps his fingers. "Also, almost forgot. Our group hauled a pile of books and notes outta that blighted Malevolent Hydra Nest. Had a bunch of notes, looks like one guy's handwriting on it, lots of notes on conflict areas, patrols around Lahan, where Adelhyde's troops are, that sort of thing. So, y'know, probaly not a great sign, given you mentioned corruption and whatnot."

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

"I'll be sure to," Lynnai promises Miang. Though right now, she has other things to think about.

She frowns. This time she does not say anything after she takes her notes; she does have more questions but she needs to think about some of them, as the easier ones tend to be asked by other people as well. The whole situation is awful. She needs a drink.

"I need a drink," she says, though softly. More loudly: "I'm a Symbologist, so this is somewhat outside my personal field - I don't have any symbols related to purifying anything but the air - I understand that the Sisters of Granas also know how to purify some things; though I imagine that they would not be trained for this, they may be able to learn. And the Etone - travelling priests, of a sort." Lynnai assumes Sorey doesn't know much about either because Talise didn't. She might be wrong.

Thankfully, Lynnai is not cruel enough to draw attention to Rosaline at that. Yeah, she's an Etone (in training), but that's on her to advertise. Or not.

Instead, she just looks at Vin. Really looks. "I," she says, "would like to see them. Please. If that's possible."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

"... But what if we incapacitate Hellions when we can? If the threat is still there where we kill em' or not, it'd make sense to knock em' out, like in the case of people, or, well, horses. Cattle. Beloved animals, rare animals. I'm sure a lot of us are pretty knowledgeable in possible ways to do that. Then, we try to purify them. There's got to be some ways we can think of doin' that here without havin' to yank you all over purifyin' everything." Gwen's voice grows more optimistic in tone. "Maybe, if we knock our heads together, we can all think of somethin'!"

There might be something else. Sorey's words cause Gwen's face to light up. "Oh, so, what we may need to do is to not respond to like with like. Endin' a life ain't no joke, so if we forget that and get caught up in our own emotions, it'd be just as bad as not doin' anything. The moment we let hate cloud our actions is the moment the door for Malevolence to creep in, if it's... nearby. We need to support each other."

Thus, there Gwen stands, excitement and hope growing in her voice, possibly as at least one fight is about to break out. "With your guys' strength joined with ours, we'll nip this in the bud! ... Or, well, if other buds are there, we'll nip those! It may have caught us by surprise, but we can fight back now, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"... if nothing else, it seems relatively clear that the Guardians have no love of Malevolence. Not that that isn't a blindingly obvious statement," she shrugs one shoulder as she flicks out her hair again, the motion apparently practiced. "But it is worth stating as a data point. I'm not exactly the type to have much contact with them myself," she adds, the lie coming out perfectly smooth, "But I've heard from other more shamanistic sorts that they've had good results with rites and other aspects of their own faith.

As food starts to fly, she almost casually adjusts her chair, lifting it to swivel out of the way of the first salvo. "Trouble, dear, would you mind--..." she trails off; from underneath her seat where they've apparently been waiting all this time, two spherical little ARMs bob up at her command, waiting patiently in the air. Majestic and ominous - and totally not adorable, the way they bob gently in the air with a soft beep - their intended use is probably not to intercept errant splashes and bar snacks from landing on the Crimson Noble's shoulders.

That said, Noeline's not about to be stopped by anything like 'intended use'.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The Guardians, huh? That was interesting, but she was afraid her relationship with them was as good as she'd like. Maybe she'd go around to some of the folks she knew who were more in tune to them...which at this point was just Catenna. Then again, Mister Cyre said he was a shaman before, so...?

She gets up from her chair at this point and moves a bit closer to Rosaline. She looked rather shaken from what had happened...but really, Jacqueline couldn't blame her! She would be too.

"Hey. You alright?" She asks. She keeps her voice down so as to not draw too much attention, but there's still concern clear in her tone. Right now, keeping close to her might be dangerous, but it might also deter anything actually starting...so, fair trade?

She then glances up at Gwen as she makes her proclamation, and smiles a bit.

"Hear, hear." She says.

It...would've been more effective if she had a drink in her hand, but then again...she didn't want anyone else getting potentially splashed.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius finds a new place to stand around and be all strange and mysterious and brooding and horrifically cliche closer towards the front of the gathering, now a ways off to the left. "So, it would seem urgent that one deals with a concentration as it is discovered, rather than believe it will disperse on its own..."

He has internally cast doubt upon the existence of the Seraphim based on his own accounts - why isn't he quick to simply decide this is all a waste of time? Why would he cling onto any other words that are being said?

His head lifts up again as the shaman talks about troop movements of Adlehyde's soldiers.

"I believe they have patrols stationed at Lahan, yes," he would know from his few visits there, "but I am curious why interest would extend to the movements of the entire army."

Beat. A hand goes to his head again. Somehow, he manages to remain calm even as food flies.

"Given what has been stated about what causes the spread of this corruption, does this imply that there is as of yet a connection to be explored within the armed forces of Adlehyde...? I must confess, however, I haven't encountered a soldier I would describe to be... overly violent."

They've yelled at him a few times in the past, though. Loitering, trespassing, that sort of thing.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Rosaline is still alive, and nothing is on fire. The situation is significantly better than Ida's worst-case scenario, so she diverts her attention away from the Beastwoman. The sight of her close to tears just kind of lodges in Ida's mind like a splinter under a nail, though, and she takes a swig of wine to try and dull it. It seems to have loosened her tongue a bit, too, since she speaks up to Sorey, and to the room as a whole. "The Blessings of Granas, yes," she says to Lynnai. "Granas slew a great evil, and scattered its body to the winds. In fact, when I first heard of this Malevolence, it seemed much like what was described in the Scriptures."

"At any rate, Sorey, I must commend you for your efforts--you've certainly gone to heroic lengths--but you must need a little help, yes?"

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


"Well I can't say no to that request can I?" Morgan's return to Miang comes with a grin thats just a touch wicked as he starts to slip off in the crowd. "Espicially since it looks like the inn will continue to stand for at least five more minuites."

He's not that hard to track. He's already tall and when one adds the ears to that its like a fin to mark his steady progress towards the home of snacks and drinks.

Because he has several requests. He heard Lynnai.

Of course as he's passing Vin and Cassidy he just smirks. "Noah," He supplies to the pair of them. "Noah threw the firecrackers. Worked damn well too." He adds with a short laugh. "...and the name is Morgan. Not Foxguy." A smirk again, this time angled at Cassidy. "I'm going up for drinks, you two want any? Before whatever you're planning burns everything down. Or manages to sink the entire inn into the sand?"

Eyes continue to tick up to the speaker as he goes on, the fox is paying attention. Just not always seeming like it. Which is about usual for him.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Elly departs. It's very slight, but Loren's decidedly tense posture eases. Just a little. He glances up from his note-taking for a moment, penciltip tapping against the next (blank) open page.

Resistance is based on personality... Huh.

He glances around the room for a moment, as if taking in some of the crowd.

And promptly ducks his head, as if burying himself in writing a few more lines of shorthand notes.

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

Kent Hauch cuts across the room, rudely hoving in front of people's view, making his way toward the refreshments table. Ribaldy peeks at him out of one eye. Samuelh consumes with enhanced vigor, concerned they might be on a timer. "So whaddaya do," he asks, lowering the ladle into the water barrel, "when this Malevolence of yours stops possessin' animals and folks an' starts pulling together bones, and whatnot?" He pours the chilled water into Rosaline's glass, hanging the ladle again with exaggerated care. "When it stops bein' somethin' you can fookin' burn?"

Kent doesn't look up at Sorey, instead raking his eyes across the table. He takes what can best be decided as a handful of tomato-and-lettuce sandwich with one hand, ripping a few chunks off adjacent sandwich, generally mauling a spot on the plate.

He shoves some into his mouth, still dripping a little, chewing loudly as he cuts back through the group. He stops by Rosaline again, pushing the glass into her hand. He leans down into one cat ear. "Best be keepin' a careful grip on things around here, luv. Sometimes you might catch a gentleman at th' wrong time."

He returns to his seat. Ribaldy looks around at himself and pats at his chest although he isn't sure he's still within reality.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

"Hey! I want to know about that too!" Rose pipes up, after Kent asks a VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION. "Like... hypothetically... if some sort of... Malevolence ghost thing just... made a whirlwind of angry bones and tried to fight you, how do you even fight that? Do Hellions have weak points?"

Knowing how to stab a ghost in the metaphorical face would be a great way not to repeat the episode of "Rose hides behind a large rock while her party fights the angry ghost". It was probably pretty funny but not so much when the ghost started maiming people.

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

As the tale unfolds, brows climb up higher and higher, Cassidy's expression flattening even more so and once Vin gets to the part about the firecrackers, she gets the very distinct impression that she knows who is responsible for this.

The name supplied by Morgan only confirms it, and the neutral expression once more shifts into something a little more humored, the barest lifting of those pliant corners. Finding her pack of cigarettes, she snags the end of one of them with her teeth, fishing out her silver lighter and its ouroboros engraving, the serpent's eyes inlaid with tiny sapphires. Striking up a light, red-gold embers cast a pall over her shadowed features.

"Oh, ay," she murmurs. "I know Noah."

Statement woefully undescriptive of much else, the offer of a drink has her grinning broadly at Morgan. "A fox after my own heart," she tells him gamely. "Whiskey straight, ay? Don't be stingy. Besides, I need tae talk tae you, too."

<Pose Tracker> Matilda Whitehead has posed.

From the instant Rosaline spills her drink forward, Matilda actually hides -- just flat-out shifts back from her cat-eared friend and starts to duck into the background. By the time that he's whispering in Rosaline's ear, Matilda has booked it -- first to the corner, then back to her platter of blueberry muffins.

Her body language has shifted from the calm, easy manner she usually affects. One arm is crossed, her hands gently gripping her elbow.

Rose's question snaps her out of her silence. "That's something I'd like to know too," she says, quietly. "Is there a set of, ah... best practices, for approaching such an enemy...?"

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

Vin shrugs at Lynnai. "I don't have all of 'em, but you're welcome to what I've got. I was just one of the hauler, we divvied 'em up later. Might wanna check with Josephine Lovelace and Penelope for more of 'em. Or the young lady manning the snack bar."

The Baskar pulls a small, battered knapsack out from under his cloak, dropping it on the table with a clunk. "Figured someone would want these notes, anyhoo. Help yourself, I've not made heads or tails of 'em beyond what I said. Lots of notes by one person, seems to be focused on this area, y'know?"

He snickers at Morgan, giving him a thumbs up. "Eh, sure, some of the fruit juices would be nice."

Figuring it's a good time, he temporarilty abandons table and wanders over to Lynnai's table, dropping the small knapsack full of random books, newspaper clippings, maps, pieces of paper, and the like in front of her. "Here you go."

That done, he returns to the table, pulling a bag of Baskar Jerky out and nibbling on it, safely enscoced in his cloak and hood. Which helps avoid anyone noticing his amusement at Kent's statement about 'what to do when the monster doesn't respond to fire'.

Silly Black Tie. Anything can burn if you try hard enough. So Teacheth Moor Gault!

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey is at least glad to hear that people are coming up with ideas. It was strange - they seemed more willing to engage the problem here, while back home many people tended to ignore it or left it to the Shepherd to deal with. Perhaps it was just ennui and an inability to recognize the problem after having dealt with it for so long?

But the idea that someone is experimenting with malevolence - that's not a good thing. Sorey thinks about Vin's statement for a moment, and says, "I'd like to see them as well if you have a chance. I don't like the idea of someone experimenting with malevolence here, although some people are willing to try and use anything as an advantage..." He can see some reckless noble trying to use malevolence for their own ends, tapping into its power to gain an advantage. (It's happened a few times back home on Lunar. It rarely ends well.)

But he does nod in response to both Talise and Gwen's comments. "If you can keep from killing anything - or anyone - tainted by malevolence, then that would be for the best. If you can contain them, then I can purify them. Or perhaps someone else can come up with a way to purify them that is native to this land." That would also be great, and take a huge load off of Sorey's shoulders. Right now he's concerned at seeing another land being consumed by malevolence.

But Kent asks his question, and Sorey considers it. And then he chuckles as Rose jumps in as well. "I've seen some things animated by malevolence - generally once the corruption is purified, they stop moving around and trying to hurt people. But if it's not something alive, then probably trying to reduce it to a state where it can't actually fight anymore. If it's not actually corporeal..." He spreads his hands. "How do you deal with ghosts around here? I expect magic is probably the best bet." He honestly doesn't know.

"It's my hope that if we can remove the cause of malevolence from your land, then it will slowly bleed away since it hasn't been here anywhere near as long as it has back home. There is a figure in my land who is associated with this power known as the Lord of Calamity, and their appearance is associated with times when incredible amounts of malevolence have threatened to overrun the land."

Sorey crosses his arms. "Given that no one had seen a Hellion or heard of malevolence before the Lord of Calamity appeared on Ignas, it's my hope that if they can be chased back to my land, or if I can purify them, that we'll stop seeing Hellions appear here. " He notably does not put 'kill' down as an option.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

To herself, Elly wonders suddenly - how many of the people in the room have actually SEEN... 'that'. She knows Morgan claimed to, even if she didn't give it credibility. She also finishes off her first drink as she waits briefly to be provided with -

Ah, there we are. As she presents the gella, she considers requesting a juice.

No, she thinks. A crueler idea crosses her mind. Then she shakes her head. No. "I'd like two Bloody Sophias. Can you make one of them without the spirits, please?"

SOON ENOUGH

Elly returns to the seats and hands Loren his drink. Even leaving aside the fifty-fifty shot that he's gotten the one with the shot of potato liquor in it, it's tomato juice with pepper and spices. It also looks like blood.

Elly sips hers without comment and gets back to taking notes.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Lynnai brings up Etones. Rosaline's mind isn't quite there right now, but she has a good point. She's not a Sister of Granas, and so these aren't quite the rites she's familiar with, but who knows... Malevolence is alien but maybe it can be done.

Or maybe it can't. Rosaline knows she needs to have faith. Of course she does. Just not in herself.

Gwen speaks up. She's hopeful, too. Rosaline nods along, slowly. Jacqueline sits closer, and gets a nod too. "Y-Yes, I'm okay..." She nods more vehemently, then, when Ida speaks of the Scriptures. Her friends' words help pull her out of a very, very unpleasant place.

And then Kent returns, with a fresh refill and a few words.

Her skin goes white as a sheet. Her smile is terrified. There's something manic in her eyes, that doesn't quite fit the rest of the picture. "Thank you."

Sorey continues. The rest barely registers. "The Lord of Calamity," she repeats, slowly.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"There's mead up at the bar," Talise murmurs to Lynnai, tapping a finger against the edge of the mug she's still holding. As if to drive home the point, she takes a swig of the beverage, again wiping her mouth with her forearm. "Mmn."

She curls her lips for a moment, eyes distant with thought. "...There's some indication that the histories of this place and the place Sorey and I come from are basically the same thing. Althena took both of our ancestors away thousands of years ago. if Malevolence has always been around, it's entirely possible that the churches here recognize some form of it," she muses. "Or even if it is a local problem that we've brought here, purifying magic from around here might be able to do something."

Talk turns to the Lord of Calamity, and Talise lowers her eyelids ever so slightly, just waiting for the inevitable polemic against Lucia and Hiro.

It doesn't come right away. "When we figure out who that actually is, we'll deal with it," she assures, lifting her mug towards the Shepherd in idle salute. "I'd say it's worth noting that it's not just one person, though. I've run into a couple of legendary monsters from our neck of the woods since I got here - the Trial Knight was even at Port Timney keeping an eye on us."

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lynnai immediately starts going through the new pile of notes. This might take a while.

"I did say it reminded me of a laboratory," she reminds Sorey, absently, while she's doing it. "It does seem like this is intentional on someone's part. I wouldn't want to venture a guess on who; I don't know enough about your realm to make that kind of guess. Talise believes it is someone called the Trial Knight." WHich she just brought up; Lynnai lets her.

Hmm, she thinks. The Lord of Calamity? She's met Lucia but she doesn't think it's good politics to mention that right now. Instead: "What if it is someone other than the Lord of Calamity?" she asks. "They could use them as ... cover, I suppose. An obvious target that isn't correct to distract everybody. And if they acted more in secret for a while, we might not recognize it until it's too late. I don't think you should depend only on finding the Lord of Calamity and defeating them."

Lucia struck her as bizarre, possibly inhuman - but she didn't have the feel of Malevolence. Lynnai could be wrong, of course. It could be hidden. But what's the harm in looking for other people, too?

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida rubs the bridge of her nose. Drink's getting to her, she thinks. Rosaline is still alive, which is good, and nothing is on fire. Everything is all right.

Then Sorey mentions the Lord of Calamity, this person whom everyone except Ida seems to have strong feelings about. "Is this Trial Knight normally associated with Malevolence?" Ida says, to Talise. This may be an invitation to story-tell.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius appears to have nothing to add about the religious answers that might yet be available to those here. He appears in favor of mulling over the ramifications of what another claims to have found. Every so often, he tilts a glance towards Noeline and her two drones. Does he have something to ask of the Crimson Noble? If so... maybe he loses his nerve? Maybe that's why he hides the lower half of his face, so no one can tell when he's too nervous to talk to a highly refined lady.

As Gwen makes a call for togetherness to team up on it all, Ethius is... still silent. As the subject moves towards the Lord of Calamity - something just about everyone's heard being yelled about from strange people of archaic means and dress - a hand goes to his head again.

"Is there a connection, then," he wonders aloud.

When he's done (for the moment) with being cryptic, he sizes up the total crowd again, as if weighing where their attentions might be fixated upon or located, casting another glance up towards the podium as discussion commences about the presence of the so-called 'Trial Knight,' or some other guilty party.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Oh, that's a fun name," snorts the Crimson Nampire as she rocks in her seat, humming to herself merrily. "Ve~ery auspicious. I suppose I could see what I can dig up in the weeks ahead, though I imagine with a name like that you tend to recognize them a mile off. Still, I can imagine a couple of contenders, if I put my mind to it... not that I've really got any preconceptions about them either way," she adds with a light snicker.

A wave of a hand sends both of her floating ARM-spheres over in the direction of the snack bar; somehow, against all possible physics and common sense, they manage between them to somehow assemble a buffet refill and simultaneously carry it back towards the reclining demon, all without dropping any of it along the way.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline keeps close to Rosaline just in case, though the mention of a skeletal hellion puts a bit of fear on her own face.

She'd encountered something like that. Nearly got killed by it, too. It was the main reason why she'd refused to go back into that...place.

There seemed to be plenty of confusion about who or what the 'Lord of Calamity' actually was, though. Talise claimed it was something called a 'Trial Knight'? Not really having any information on this subject, Jacqueline decides to speak up.

"How do you know when you've found this 'Lord of Calamity'? Are there any...signifying features?" She asks, journal ready to take notes.

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


"Sure sure darlin," This is said towards Cassidy as the fox laughs. "I know how you take your drinks by now." He adds with some amusement before he slips off, eyes dancing. The drinks are procoured swiftly, mostly because the man is thirsty. Golden mead for him. Whiskey. Juice. Miang's promised drink and a glass of wine for the other thirsty scholar.

He swings back round Cassidy's table to drop them off with a smirk. "I'll be round after this, catch ya then?" He asks of her and Vin as he goes.

Its then that Kent's words get his attention and he raises his eyebrow. Someone else who saw the thing at the bottom of the Hollow. Now isn't that intresting. Not quite what he was expecting of the infamous gangster. Who did he go and take with him he wonders...

A shake of his head as he comes back to the present, ears perked and curious to what Sorey has to say about the creatures. Though as talk turns to religion he just shakes his head slightly as he motors on to return to his own table. "Try not to blow anything up till after he finishes." A beatpause. "...and now I'm imagining the chaos you and Noah could cause in the same room. I might need a bigger drink." This towards Cass as he dips his head towards Vin and moves on.

Mostly to return Miang and Lynnai their drinks as he listens. He's a good listener.

Big ears and all.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Given the historical role of the Lord of Calamity, it's a reasonable, even logical, assumption that the girl branded as the Lord of Calamity is the cause of the incursion of Malevolence and Hellions in Filgaia. Ragnell doesn't react overmuch to that, as Sorey explains it. However, her gaze flick towards Talise and Lynnai as they bring up the Trial Knight. Talise mentions that she saw them at Port Timney during the Hellion attack; Lynnai even goes so far as to suggest that Talise believes that entity is responsible for the current situation, though Ragnell wonders how much of that is true and how much is Lynnai trying to claim support for her own opinions.

Either way, the suggestion that maybe the Lord of Calamity *isn't* responsible gains a raised eyebrow. Ragnell glances at Edna with that eyebrow still raised, as if silently asking 'Are you hearing this too?' However, for once, she doesn't make a smartass remark. She just returns her attention to the conference, watching and listening to see how this discussion unfolds.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

That tension's back, subtly enough, once Elly returns. Without so much as a thank you, Loren takes the glass from her, still writing something else out as he, with all the capable divided attention span of a scholar, lifts the glass.

His nose wrinkles. In short order he stares down at the glass. This is followed up by a look Elly's way, as if to silently ask 'what in the world is this?'

It smells...

Like something he doesn't want to drink, to be honest.

He's frozen like that, watching as she takes a sip from her own glass without any notable reaction.

Well...

Loren takes a sip.

MISTAKES WERE MADE

Coughing in the aftermath, he hunches over, dropping his notebook in the process.

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

Miang is listening attentively to the confluence of voices when Morgan returns with drinks. She takes hers with another subtle smile. As Morgan turns his attention to the talks, Miang inspects her drink.

"Golden mead," she says. Her gaze moves meaningfully to Morgan's own matching drink. "Do you suppose we have similar tastes?"

She drinks. She does not take notes. She must have supreme confidence in her ability to remember everything.

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Technically, Lynnai only questioned that the Lord of Calamity was the only source. She has no personal opinion on the Trial Knight, really. She only knows what Talise told her - and she told her that he might have had something to do with the hollow, at least, and possibly the 'laboratory'.

She just has met Lucia. She didn't strike her as the right kind of person to cause this kind of spiritual plague. And she certainly didn't strike Lynnai as the kind of mind that would plan and plot like these notes seem to be suggesting someone did. She was too unworldy. Lynnai would not believe Lucia paid any attention to things like troop deployments.

"Thank you," Lynnai says with slight surprise, on seeing that she actually has a drink now. Did she - she must have ordered that. She reaches into her coat pocket to find some gella to leave for it. Then she goes back to reading through the notes she got delivered to her table, scribbling some additions to what she's already written in her book. She actually leafs backwards to find a different page to mark up, too - the one with her personal notes on the Hollow.

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

"After, ay." Cassidy draws the whiskey to her and winks at Morgan. "Much obliged, luv. I promise at the very least that you'll be double-fisting your poison of choice before this night is over."

And with that, the blonde leans back, a look exchanged with her Baskar companion before she lets her eyes fall to the front of the room and maybe actually pay attention to the words exchanged. Might be that she has been doing this the entire time, an able multi-tasker whenever she wants to be, but for now all conversation ceases in an effort to accumulate just enough knowledge to keep her head above water. Because at the rate things are going, she's going to need it.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

"The Lord of Calamity has a massive amount of malevolence swirling around them. I saw it, and it was a storm beyond anything that I've ever seen attached to a single being before." Really, Sorey had felt Lucia's malevolence from quite a distance away - it had almost dropped him to his knees at first.

"It is possible that someone else might be behind this particular incident - that doesn't change the need to deal with the Lord of Calamity, but it's good to keep our eyes out for other options. The root cause has to be dealt with, but if someone is actually trying to use Hellions for their own purposes, they need to be stopped," Sorey responds, although he sounds troubled by the whole thing. His own view of Lucia was... complicated, but he didn't agree with the desire of the Guard to kill her outright.

He's also not mentioned that Lucia had said she wanted to consume his power. Or... him in general. That was weird and she wasn't too clear about it.

"That is about the long and short of it. Malevolence isn't good, but if you can avoid hurting any creatures of people who have been corrupted by it, I'll do what I can to help them." That... sums up most of what he wanted to say. People were at least aware of what the threat was, although he hoped that they could neutralize is quickly enough. Sorey sincerely hoped that driving Lucia away or purifying her would allow Ignis to return to normal - being the Shepherd was bad enough with just one world to look after.

But the Shepherd steps down from the small platform, and sighs. "Well?" he asks.

"I think it went okay." Mikleo smiles, and holds out one hand. Sorey bumps knuckles with his friend, then does an up down followed by a back tap in a long repeated pattern that he and his oldest friend have done countless times.

It looks really weird with Sorey doing it to thin air. But he wanders down into the crowd, going to grab a snack from the table as he smiles at Rose. "Sorry that we've got so many 'ghosts' roaming around, I know it bothers you. Are you sure you don't... y'know?" He had offered to let her see them in the past, hoping that would help allay her fear of the unseen.

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

Vin, for his part, nods at Cassidy, the hooded Baskar calmly leaning back as well, sipping his drink.

Hmmm. Lot to think about...Lot to think about, indeed.

Truly, Strange Guardians From Outer Space, Lords of Calamity, Malevolence, Things That Might Not Get Set On Fire Properly...Truly an odd thing to think about, what with those unsettling thoughts and the monsters roaming about.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly is not fundamentally a wicked person. Even so, she smiles, just a tiny brief bit, when Loren doubles over to cough, but soon enough she's putting a hand on his back and leaning forwards.

"Thomas? Are you OK?" Elly asks. "Just try to breathe - did you have it go the wrong way?" This of course interrupts her own note-keeping, but it's the sum-up anyway, Elly thinks. They'll be able to keep it all in order between the two of them.

"Do you need some air?"

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

As Sorey finishes up sharing his fill of what's known about this mysterious force that is Malevolence to the gathered - to the great enlightenment of all gathered, virtually all of whom have had to have experienced it at this point - Ethius turns his head one last time to the crowd as Sorey moves towards the lunch gathering.

Enough people are distracted, even as Sorey addresses the steadfast snack distributor that is Rose.

Tall as he is, Ethius moves with a seeming contrary mix of both decisiveness and subtlety behind the Shepherd. It is possible that he comes close to outright brushing Mikleo right out of the way with just how sudden he approaches him.

"A tall man... whom drags out his vowels... and wears a most peculiarly decorated black hat." That's... how Filgaians say 'hello, thank you for taking the time to enlighten us?' Saying weird things like this very quietly in the ears of complete strangers? "They left the site of the corruption with a dangerous item."

"My apologies." He speaks again in a more conversational tone. "I simply wished to express gratitude for your time. I did not mean to interrupt your conversation."

...

Just like that, Ethius walks away. He never even bought a snack or a drink...

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

"Really?" Lynnai doesn't look up from her papers. She hadn't felt the malevolence Sorey is talking about from Lucia...

...but then again that was before she'd ever seen anything corrupted by malevolence, well before the Hollow. Maybe it wouldn't have occured to her to check. Or maybe she wasn't able to, then. Lynnai frowns, more to herself than Sorey.

Well, it doesn't matter, she decides. They'll deal with the symptoms, then find the cause, and then deal with that. Whatever and whoever it ends up being.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

More talk about the Lord of Calamity! Sorey really had his sights set on this "Lucia" didn't he? Rose still isn't that open to the idea one person could possibly be the source of all the evil in the world, though, or anything close to that. That's a lot of power to have, and she's never seen anything like that before-- ergo, she doesn't believe it.

There's a lot to take in. A lot of names and details that go over her head completely. Some that pique her curiosity. Now she really wants to look into Lucia, with people suggesting maybe she's not what the Shepherd paints her to be.

At least the foodfighting seems to have stopped?

And yes, Bloody Sophias are dispensed. Eguille picked up on local recipes pretty fast. Rose not so much. At least not drinks-wise. Where would she be without him?

Sadly, Sorey basically says "yeah I dunno how to kill real ghosts unless you're me" and that makes Rose quite agitated. It gets worse when he turns towards her and offers the same deal as before. Rose is about to say no when she feels two hands on her back.

Eguille shoves her towards Sorey. "Missy, it'll do you some good. Come on now, let the Shepherd do his thing."

"EGUILLE!"

A bystanding Seraph in the window looks amused as hell.

Rose steps forward, stuttering. "N-Now hang on, if you do ANYTHING WEIRD, Sorey, I swear...!" She swears what? It's not clear. It's threatening for sure.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"I'm not sure. We don't have as many run-ins with Malevolence in Meribus," Talise admits to Ida, rubbing at the side of her neck with one hand. "But the Trial Knight - or the White Knight, actually. It's an old story. One that was told to me when I was younger." Turning her gaze to Sorey, she questions with her eyes, measuring how he'd respond if she started telling the story - though she's reaching for her lute.

The Shepherd steps down. Talise settles into a seat and rests her lute in her lap, smiling up at Sorey easily. "That explained a lot," she says quietly. "Thank you."

Then she clears her throat - and gives her lute a slow strum. A lingering note hangs in the air.

"They say there's someone wearing mail of white," she says, voice low and taking on a flowing storyteller's cadence. She gives the lutestrings another stroke with her thumb. "Now nobody knows much about this knight. Is it a lady or is it a man? Nobody knows. Nobody can. Even its name, no one can say, save two initials: K and K."

Fingers dancing over the strings for a moment, she bows her head, then cuts off the tune entirely, tone a little more intent. "Wherefrom it comes, what's on its mind, nobody knows. Not me, not you. Only those it chooses."

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

"Soft," says Kent Hauch, chair scraping as he stands up, Sorey stepping down. Samuelh takes the hint and produces a large jug from... somewhere, with three X's stamped on a big wax blotch on one side. He starts pouring the remains of drinks on the table into it. He also gets the remainder of Kent's sandwiches, getting the bread and tomatoes in there, as well as half an apple, with some doing.

"Bloody cocky, anyway. Wantin' everyone to treat these hacked-up things with care'n r'spect so you can toddle on down an' wave your bits at 'em?" He waves a dismissive hand. "Slag that for a scrapheap. Don't have the bloody patience f'r it. World's too bloody big for that idealism."

He wipes down his head again. Ribaldy stands and gets Kent's burned coat off his chair for him, doing his part, holding it open so the leader can shrug back into it. Samuelh slips with shocking agility across the room, curious, sniffing at what just rendered Loren into a wreck. Laughing at him, he takes advantage to tip the remainder of his drink into his jug as well.

Kent rolls his neck. "Not a lot of bloody help. Could'a just written into the fookin' paper." He starts approaching the door with his Suits, unhurried, the brass on his boots clicking against the crowded inn's floor.

Then, he freezes. The air around him grows tense and rises a few degrees, a red blush suffusing Kent's skin. The vein on his right temple throbs - and then one on his left pulses, angry vascularity spreading across Kent's scalp.

He locks his eyes onto Talise, burned hands frozen from adjusting the collar of his coat. His expression is... complicated.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline has every reason to be shaken, but she still listens. This is all important. People might be counting on her and her friends. She can't lose it here and now. (She'll lose it later.)

She turns to Talise to hear her singing. The Black Ties' apparent departure is helping her somewhat, and so is the music... even if it's about a sinister subject indeed.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Alas, that's the natural result of people only knowing part of the story; Ragnell not knowing that Lynnai has a) met Lucia b) only knows of the Trial Knight through Talise, she can only wonder what she wonders. And she *does* wonder, about that and various other things.

But then, these different perspectives are what make life that much more interesting.

Either way, Sorey acknowledges the possibility of other sources, reiterates what he wants to say, and excuses himself from the limelight. A corner of Ragnell's mouth quirks up slightly, and she chuckles to watch Sorey and Mikleo exchange their Secret Handshake. Ah, to be young again--but those days are long gone. She stretches, gets up to her feet, stretches again, and saunters on over to the refreshments table as Sorey makes his offer to Rose again. She makes no remark, but her expression makes it clear that she came over to see the show up close and personal.

The start of Talise's song does get her attention, though. Lovely music and a lovely voice, she watches and listens as she tells of the so-called White Knight. Huhh... Interesting. She doesn't think she's heard this song before...

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Gwen looks to Lynnai. "Could what I saw be, maybe, the dumping grounds for experiments that didn't work? That'd mean this's been goin' on for a while, and someone's bein' intentional. Usin' scientific trial and error processes. Which could mean..."

If only it could be as easy as escorting or somehow purifying the Lord of Calamity. But her conversation with Hiro leads her to think otherwise. "Okay. So. Bear with me. What if we look at Malevolence not as a supernatural thing, but like the flu? I can't remember what my auntie told me about it, but it spreads in similar ways. Though... bad smells? Or something, it confused me," the courier says with an uneasy laugh. "My point is, if someone's spreadin' the flu, and you can trace it back to one person, it don't mean that if you lock that person up in a room, that'll make it disappear, or that someone who got the flu later on or really, really wants people to have the flu for some reason is goin' around spreadin' it."

Sorey felt the Malevolence. Gwen wonders, if she had actually met Lucia, if she'd feel it too. "Maybe the Lord of Calamity is a flashy bird we're supposed to chase around while someone else does what they want. That's why that flashy bird is somethin' that ain't easy to take care of. But, that means we all gotta work together." Sorey probably is at his limit. Whatever else she has, she holds back on, sitting down to give Sorey a chance to speak.

As her eyes catch sight of Vin lurking next to Cassidy, Gwen decides It's time to deal with other matters.

--A FEW MINUTES LATER--

Having departed a few minutes ago with a polite word to Edna and Ragnell, Gwen now strolls back in as discreetly as she can manage, holding, well, a large bag. She's aiming straight towards Vin, but finds her way blocked... by Kent. "Nn-?" Not expecting the man to stand absolutely still, Gwen bumps into him, a few precious letters scattering onto the ground She looks at the man and shrinks back, sliding around him as best as she is able without drawing his attention. "cuse me. Lemme just grab these and I'll be on by way."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Well, that was ominous.

"...'Chooses'? Chooses for what?" Jacqueline asks, looking over to Talise with a bit of concern. Judging from the more serious tone her song had taken on, she had to assume it was nothing good.

It seemed the song got that criminal's attention, too...

What was going on here? Jacqueline glances to Rosaline nearby, who at least seemed to be calming down now...if only a bit.

Somehow, though, the atmosphere still felt tense.

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


There is a bright twinkle in the foxes eyes as he raises his glass towards Miang. "Call is wishful thinking if you like," Replies Morgan as he returns his attention from the pair of Diggers at the table that he'll chat with later to the more pressing and present company, and the lecture. Though the ghosts, floating objects, its an odd thing to see.

"To be honest I simply like mead and am doing my best to get it to catch on in various places, for the purely selfish reason of being able to order it more." Again the mirth dances in his gaze as he nods towards Miang. "I hope you enjoy it. If you did I at least guessed right." Though his voice does soften as the singing starts. He isn't one to intrupt.

Thats not to say he doesn't see the reaction said song seems to be getting from other parts of the room. Just slightly he shifts, ever so subtle movement designed to put himself between Miang, Ida and the Black Ties as the leader of said band starts attempting to do an impression of some kind of volcano.

Otherwise, he's just enjoying his drink. Yup. Thats it.


<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Elly's not particularly cruel, no. But there's such a thing as 'deserved that and now the universe takes these matters into its own fell hands'. Karma, maybe.

Loren barely notices when his drink gets swiped out of his hand. He's a little preoccupied at the moment with the coughing (and the gagging) and also importantly --

Elly's hand is on his back. He's gone tense.

"--Fine," he manages, a bit hoarsely. "--fine--" He gestures, attempting to indicate that she should really move her hand.

It's making him nervous.

"Don't... it's fine," he gasps at last. He's gone a little red.

Ugh. He can still taste it.

Ducking forward, he reaches for the floor, grabbing for the notebook he's faintly aware of having dropped.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida glances back as Kent speaks, her expression all but unreadable. She does squint a little as the wild-looking man starts stuffing the leftovers into... is that a liquor jug? Goodness. Much like Rosaline, she relaxes visibly once they're all gone. Sorey's idealism bounced off like a lawn dart off a Gear, but those men are hardened, dangerous criminals. It's to be expected.

And nothing is on fire, still, so that's a victory.

"Those it chooses to put through its trials," Ida says. She remembers Talise telling her that much. "I wish we had access to your libraries. Without solid records, we can't know for certain if there's a correlation, or if this is just opportunism. Or a complete coincidence." That came off a bit harsh, so she amends: "This Knight certainly sounds menacing, though, and if they've taken an interest in you, they'll have the rest of us to deal with."

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

...Huh.

Courier Plus Large Sack.

Vin just looks at Cassidy, then at Gwen, then at her mail as she bumps into a bandit gang boss. "...Welp."

Vin then calmly chugs the rest of his moonshine while listening to the nice, if a smidge ominous, song about a Mysterious Knight sort. Huh.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey looks at Ethius, glancing away from Rose as the strange man speaks. And the young Shepherd smiles, and shakes his head. "I just want to be able to help people as much as possible - this is a terrible curse that has come from my land, and the least I can do is try and make people aware of it. I'm glad to be of help, and I hope you find my information useful."

He knows it might not make everyone happy to hear all of this, but he's done what he can. Not everyone may be happy with it... but he isn't exactly happy either, given everything that has happened so far. He looks at Kent for a moment, and inclines his head politely. "I'm sorry if you didn't hear what you wanted to. But that idealism is what has kept me going, and while I can't tell you how to deal with this problem... I hope you'll at least keep my words in mind if you come to a point where you have a choice between sparing someone who's been corrupted."

He listens to Talise', nodding in reply to her thanks and taking in the song for a moment... but he did make an offer to Rose, so he wants to deal with that first.

But as the red haired young merchant sputters at him, Sorey smiles and extends a hand. "I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but I think if you could just hear and see the Seraphim for a bit, you wouldn't be quite so bothered by them."

He hopes anyways. He knows Rose can be... difficult.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

This one's not easy to sing because it's basically a short story about how evil a jerk is.

Giving her lute another twang, Talise leaves the note hanging in the air as she turns to hold Jacqueline's eyes. The pause hangs in the air before she says gravely, "For the challenge."

Again she drags her thumb over the lutestrings. She's repaired the instrument since her run-in with Amelia; the notes of it bubble forth slowly, ominously. "Pray you aren't worthy. Pray it seeks another. Pray it chooses no one...." Her eyes close for a moment. Ida fills in the details.

When she opens her eyes, she explains, "...Those it chooses only suffer. The White Knight brings the trials. Suffering and terror. Pain and misfortune. A crucible of misery and a trial of torment. Nobody knows the reason. It will not tell you why. I only know that those it chooses surely would prefer to die."

Resting the neck of the lute on her shoulder, she explains in a more regular tone, "The White Knight was there at Timney that day. Standing on top of a wall, watching us. I don't know what it wanted. But if the White Knight was involved, it can only be a problem."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida glances back as Kent speaks, her expression all but unreadable. She does squint a little as the wild-looking man starts stuffing the leftovers into... is that a liquor jug? Goodness.

Seconds tick by. The Black Ties are still there, and she can see the veins pulsing in Kent's forehead from here. Oh dear, she thinks. She sees Morgan moving to stand in front of her, which is noble of him, but now presents Ida with the issue of not shooting him if violence erupts, and if she can bring herself to join it. Talise's story is kind of a welcome distraction.

"Those it chooses to put through its trials," Ida says. She remembers Talise telling her that much. "I wish we had access to your libraries. Without solid records, we can't know for certain if there's a correlation, or if this is just opportunism. Or a complete coincidence." That came off a bit harsh, so she amends: "This Knight certainly sounds menacing, though, and if they've taken an interest in you, they'll have the rest of us to deal with."

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

Miang raises her eyebrows to suggest surprise at Morgan's explanation, but she settles on an amused expression as she raises her glass.

"I can appreciate a game of deep intrigue. That kind of significance would make any drink taste sweet."

She takes another drink as Morgan maneuvers himself. Over his shoulder, Kent. Myyah briefly locks gazes with him, and then her attention drifts away.

<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.

The leader of the Black Ties isn't normally characterized as jumpy, but when Gwen bumps him, he takes a step back, right hand snapping up to where the gun of Red River would normally be clipped to its tank. His hand closes on nothing, his brain registers, and he changes the motion into adjusting his coat again, frowning down at her. "Wotcher." Ribaldy, at least, stoops down, helping Gwen recover her papers. He catches her eye and shakes his head, ears still half-drooped. It's been rough on everyone lately.

Talise completes her song. Sorey continues to preach to his nonexistent good nature. Kent snorts. "Whatever." He sees Myyah's eyes on him as he turns away. Like he needed the warning. He came in here unarmed for a reason. Kent Hauch is the worst kind of crazy - the kind with a tendency to act rationally.

He has no more words for anyone, the first out the door, snapping his fingers in the air as he goes. The Black Ties swarm behind him like obedient wolves down away from the inn, Samuelh following behind and shaking up his jug to mix in the new ingredients.

Ribaldy pauses at the door. He turns to the room, ducks his head slightly, and lifts the small cap improbably perched behind his ears before leaving and shutting it carefully behind him.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

"I'm not scared!" Rose insists, which is as thick as lies can possibly come. It probably says something that that's her immediatly response to the idea she doesn't want to do this. In a burst of folly she grabs Sorey's hands with both of hers.

"See! Not scared! Not scared at al--" A pause. White Knight Timney. Watching us. Her eyes turn towards Talise for a moment and the information burns itself into her brain. So that mysterious figure HAD a name, then, and he's a known quantity... well now! That changes the game entirely. This sudden reveal puts Rose in a much better mood as she returns her eyes to Sorey.

"Sorry, sorry! Okay, so, we're... holding hands. Now what? Do I have to like... say something? Are they all just standing around me right now?" Oh god, please, no.

On the bright side, Rose's Resonance levels will make Sorey's ability to transfer sight and hearing painless and instantaneous. On the not so bright side he has guessed correctly that Rose is difficult.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell nods farewell to Gwen before heading on over towards Sorey and Rose. She's taking the news of her being a Seraph awfully calmly; did she miss that somehow, or is she just that calm? She *did* have quite a bit of waffles to eat there. Ah well; she'll find out sooner or later, she's sure. For now: waiting to see if Rose takes Sorey's offer, and listening to Talise's song.

Her eyes narrow at the latter, once she finally finishes. 'Pray you aren't worthy,' huh... Then her gaze ticks over to Ida, and she listens to her ruminations on the matter. Then Kent and the Black Ties leave, and Ragnell watches them go, with Ribaldy bowing to the room at the end before shutting the door. Ragnell clucks her tongue, then finally returns her attention to what she came over to this spot for.

"She's scared shitless," she remarks to Sorey, mild as you please, when Rose insists she's not scared. The sudden change in Rose's mannerism when she focuses in on Talise's song is notable, though. Huh. She seems *happy* about it, even. How about that.

Are they standing all around her now? Ragnell only grins toothily, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet. Looks like Rose isn't the only one cheered up now.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Its 'trials'. Well, that couldn't be good, and Talise only serves drive the point in. Jacqueline leans back in her seat once the second song finishes, arms folded in front of her with a pensive frown. And then the journal comes out again. She takes all of this down, not missing a word.

The worst part was that no one knew why. It only served to make the situation more frightening. If it was something you could understand, then you could take steps to do something about it...

"And it was...watching us." She repeats, massaging her forehead with the hand not holding her writing utensil.

Well, this was wonderful.

"It'd be too much to ask that there's a song about how to deal with it, I bet." She says, shaking her head slightly. She doesn't sound the least bit hopeful that was even a possibility, though. Well, she'd learn some things here.

Terrifying things.

<Pose Tracker> Kestrel Apricity has posed.

By this time Kestrel's writing hand is a slender-fingered cramp from spending the whole of the lecture trying to record everything within earshot that it made sense to her to put down to the page. Her lower lip is flush from worrying it with her front teeth, her backside going slowly numb from her motionless seated position on the table, but three pages of remarkably small, neat calligraphy later and she's finally able to slide her heels away from her and over the table's edge and sit upright, satisfied with what she's captured. Heeled boots dangle, her shoulders roll back and her spine lengthens, bends concave behind her in a long, indulgent stretch chased in the end by yawn hastily covered by ink-spattered digits. Two lash-heavy blinks follow, eyes glassing with the sudden need to sleep off a long, hot, dirty day of travel.

She caps her pen, spends a moment carefully winding leather ties about the bound volume she was writing in, then tucks both into the satchel worn low at her hip, sliding off of the table and onto her feet. Into the milling, lingering attendees, through the gaps between them, and toward the foyer, petite enough that the only indication of her exit is the sudden wedge of light that spills through the door as it opens and then closes again.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

The song ends. People begin to get up. The Black Ties finally leave. Rosaline takes a deep breath. It's over.

She smiles sadly at those of her friends still around her. "Thank you, Talise." A pause. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening closely for all of this, so I might have questions later. I could have handled things better. Haha. Hahaha."

She sighs.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"There, there," Noeline huffs as she swings up to her feet in one smooth motion, plucking the plate from her knee into her hand and over to a nearby table before turning on the remaining group with a pleasant - if amused - smile. "Frankly, I'm astounded we got through all of that without a brawl, or a party, breaking out. Either one was on the cards, if you asked me," smirks the Crimson Noble, a slow wave of her hand summoning her ARMs back to her shoulders.

"Well, then. I suppose I should get back over to Adlehyde, if nothing else, and see what I can dig up. I'm sure there's more than a few rumours floating around a place like that."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Glancing at Rose with a slight cant of her head, Talise raises her eyebrows curiously. "Y'alright?" she asks.

Then she leans back in her seat and sighs, shaking her head at Jacqueline's question. "Not that I know of, anyway. The Knight's from a part of the world I've never been. It's one of the most mysterious beings in story. The Pyre Witch is bad enough; the White Knight is every bit as bad. Maybe even worse."

As Rosaline speaks up, Talise reaches up and gives the woman's arm a pat, smiling gently. "Sure. Grab me whenever you need me. I'm always around. And hey... I'm glad you got through this okay." She'd spotted the Black Knights but had been hoping against hope that they'd leave without causing a fuss.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

"Well I think you would be as well if you were dealing with something that you couldn't quite understand," Sorey replies to Ragnell, and there is a disapproving tone in his voice. "The unknown is always difficult to face, and that's why people are so scared of it. Please don't try and make it more difficult for her, if you don't mind."

But as Rose grabs his hands, Sorey smiles and nods once to her. "This may be a little weird at first, and you might see some unusual things. But there's nothing here that I've seen that will harm you. Or at least that you couldn't see before." And with the Black Ties heading out, it seems like things have calmed down some.

But Sorey closes his eyes, and focuses. He's grown enough that he doesn't need to actually block his senses any longer, so there was no need to repeat the performance he'd gone through with Elly and Talise back in the Starfall Saloon. But he focuses, concentrating, and then (attempts) to pass his Resonance to Rose for a moment.

"Just be calm, close your eyes for a moment, and then open them," Sorey states. "If you fight it, it probably won't work, so... focus. Calm and focus."

"I dunno Sorey. She's so tense around us that she might just lose it the moment she sees us." Mikleo's confidence is thus noted.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly rubs Loren's back. She doesn't even think about doing it. He's suffering; he's tense. She has completely forgotten that he thinks she's a murderer. This is in part because it's a crowded situation.

She leans forwards too. Her hand goes down to pick up the pencil he dropped, but for a moment Elly holds it like a shiv -- but then she passes it back to him, almost like they're back in school again.

"I think it's over... Do you want to ask Sorey any questions? I'd met him once; I could introduce you, if you want," she offers to Loren, even as she straightens up - and reaches over to pick up her drink and finish it. Who taught her how to drink, anyway?

(probably mother)

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


Think of it as faith in your ability not to shoot him, Ida. Morgan's seen her shoot, he trusts her enough not to hit him. Or at least if she does to put it through something not that vital. So thats something at least.

"Intrigue? I'm just a simple Drifter, Miss Miang. I wouldn't even know the defination of the word." He says with soft chuckle escaping him. "In fact most of what I heard tonight is a bit beyond my ken. I'm not really a great one with magic of any type." He adds wryly. "More of a one trick pony, which is why I try to make sure its a very good trick."

A pause again. "Though it seems to be breaking up. Did you two learn everything you hoped?" A beatpause. "Or did it just end up with more questions?"

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Gwen's own movements follow a subconscious line of movements as she sights Kent reaching for... something. And, just like Kent, her own brain registers the situation. "... ah. Sorry." Ribaldy's efforts earn the beastman a sympathetic grin and a silent bob of her head. She mouths a 'thank you' as he hands her the last of the spilled letters, then scoots away, allowing the tall Kent the full ability to pass through, along with his crew.

They can't all be bad, can they?

Continuing her trek to Vin, Gwen just gives him and Cassidy a quiet nod and, attempting to be sensitive of the situation around her, just begins expertly thumbing through letter after letter. Vin's been a hard man to find, after all. "... Y'think you can... do something with the Guardians? If you need any help, uh." She clears her throat. "I realize this ain't the best time to offer my help while I'm unloading all these letters on ya, but. Yeah. I still technically owe you, don't I? For... uh." For the cloak, and the fermented cactus juice. "For that one night."

Which is possibly the worst sort of words to be saying around Cassidy, but Gwen is a bit distracted.

"Just hand me a message, okay?" She waves a hand and walks off, then looks over to Rose, who is holding hands with Sorey. Her eyes look to Ragnell, who looks... rather excited, then to Mikleo, who is commenting about confidence. Oh, right. They're not... peoplepeople, but Seraphs. A Seraph was in her hotel room. Ragnell is a Seraph.

"I don't remember holding Ragnell's hands like that." She squints, itching her head.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

"A-Are they talking about me?! They're talking about me aren't they?!" Rose protests, as Sorey talks to himself about her. Now she's even more determined than before to do this! ... that's all nice and good on paper, it's too bad it won't actually survive contact with the enemy.

She still follows Sorey's instructions. Closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. Tries, and fails, to calm down, but luckily that wellspring of Resonance in her makes this a very easy process for Sorey.

Rose doesn't dare open her eyes.

"O-Okay, I think I'm focused. Now what?"

It's actually a feat she can focus with everyone talking around them, but then again she's a merchant, it's part of the job description. You try selling wares at a festival if you can't handle loud noises and a dozen conversations around you. What's this about people holding Ragnell's hands now? No, focus, Rose!

Now the question is, what do Ragnell and Mikleo want their first words to Rose be?

<Pose Tracker> Myyah Hawwa has posed.

"One trick applied well defeats a thousand tricks applied poorly," says Miang. She finishes her drink and sets it aside on the long table.

"I did," she answers further. "I think we have some hopeful leads to pursue. Maybe if we examine those books found in the grotto, investigate Lahan, and learn more about this knight..."

Miang smiles with a shrug, which implies some amount of helplessness. "We'll see what develops in the coming days. Until then, I must retire. Would you walk me to the inn? It's late."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Yeah, that's what she was afraid of. Jacqueline jots a few more notes down.

"Well, thanks for the heads-up, anyway...better to know there might be some armored creep hanging around watching us than not." She said.

Feeling that enough had happened she starts to put away her journal, but pauses when she looks over to the side to see Rose and Sorey about to do...something.

Seeing Rose does cause something to occur to her, however. She sighs, once more massaging her forehead.

"Ah...I totally forgot I was going to pass out some fliers while I was here..." She mutters. This would've a great opportunity for it.

She reaches into her bags and stands up. Well, she could leave a bunch of them lying around, maybe there'd be someone around interested in picking one up?

She draws a few said fliers from her bags and heads off to find a decent place to put the stack.

<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.

Elly's attempting to be comforting.

It's not particularly helping, to judge by the fact that Loren's back probably feels more akin to a length of plank rather than 'flesh and blood'. Of course, this could all easily be written away as 'just had a coughing fit' or 'just had a potentially embarrassing moment in front of a crowd of people'.

That's the problem, really.

...Is it possible to be killed with a pencil? He hesitates, noticably, before taking the pencil from her. Well, if it is, she'd probably manage it.

To an external viewer's eye, it probably looks like a briefly tender moment between friends. They do look about the same age, after all.

"...The person who was speaking? I don't have any questions." He pauses, though, watching the crowd as people start to disperse. He fixes his glasses, realizing they're crooked. "Introductions would still be worthwhile, of course." Here, he meets Elly's gaze, if briefly.

This Sorey seems like a singular person, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell half-smiles, sighs, and shrugs at Sorey's chiding. No fun at all! But she doesn't argue with him, which is... probably a good sign? Though Mikleo's assessment earns him a snort of agreement. Well, that's fun in and of itself too, so if Rose freaks out all on her own, that's not *her* fault, right? Riiiight?

She also glances over her shoulder at Gwen, hearing her name. Ah, so she *did* catch that. She grins at her, winks, and looks back at Rose. Looks like the Resonance transferrence was a success...

What does Ragnell want her first words to her to be? Well, thanks to Sorey, she can't exactly SAY them, now can she. Instead, she goes for--

A wink, finger-guns, and, "So is the cheesecake always that delicious or is it just you, Rosie?"

RAMPANT FLIRTING.

<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.

I still owe you for that one night.

There is a very long, very considering pause from Cassidy as emerald eyes with gold flecks bounce from Vin Barrett to the woman who had just arrived at their table, with her close-cropped hair and those cute freckles. Fingers lightly tap on the book on the table underneath her hand.

"Must've made an impression, luv," she tells Vin as an aside, mischief in her expression. "Did you use the wheelbarrow on page seventy-five or the butterchurn on page ninety-three?"

<Pose Tracker> Vin Barrett has posed.

Vin relaxes quite obviously as the Black Ties decamp, pulling his hood down...and then, he sees -just how many letters- he has gotten. "...Hooo boy."

The Baskar just rubs his temples and chuckles ruefully. "Was wondering what that feelin' o' doom was. Thought it was the crazy spiritual hoodoo that's wandered into the area. What a relief, it's just my aunt's letters!"

The shaman watches thick envelope after thick envelope stack up in front of him, before groaning mentally at Gwen's phrasing. "...Yeah, alright. Pretty sure they ain't going to take kindly to the Malevolence anyhoo." Vin glances at his tablemate...and, feeling a sense of foreboding as she just starts to -smile-, calmly opens up the first letter and starts to read it, not dignifying Cassidy's grin with a response.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Gwen balks at Ragnell. "I don't recall you doin' that, either."

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey just... sighs as Ragnell just goes full throttle on the... we'll call it charm, although Sorey might debate that. "As you can see, the Seraphim are not always the most dignified and noble of creatures. Some of them are cranky, some of them are weird, and some of them..."

"Are ghoooooooosts~" Mikleo states from behind Rose. Edna had wandered off early, so he is taking it as his solemn duty to pick up her mantle and try to scare the heck out of Rose.

It's more polite than the greetings that Edna has delivered to a few people.

"Mikleo!" Sorey protests, but the spooky greeting of the water Seraph has already been delivered. It remains to be seen how Rose reacts.

<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.


"More questions then," Morgan agrees with a laugh as he finishes off his own drink in short order. Now that the threat of violence is done he moves out of the way easily enough, after all he was never really in the way was he. Nope. Just casually standing there not even considering shooting anyone.

What kind of person would do that.

"Of course," Morgan replies as he sets his drink down. "Its not that far away, but the streets arn't always safe. Espicially with this mess." The foxes ears twitch slightly before he turns to catch Cassidy's eye across the bar.

'Be back soon.' Says that look. 'Order me a drink.'

But that done, he'll offer Miang his arm in a suprisingly gentlemanly way for someone of the Drifter persuasion.


<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Over her shoulder to Gwen, Ragnell calls, "Hey, if I put the moves on everyone, it loses all meanin'!" Besides, it's just creepy to hit on someone after you've mysteriously appeared in their room out of nowhere. Even Ragnell knows where to draw the line.

It's definitely not with rampant Rose trolling, though, because when Mikleo takes up Edna's solemn duty, Ragnell /roars/ with laughter. It only gets louder if/when Rose freaks.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

Eyes closed, it's a lot easier to treat voices like voices and ignore where they come from. The merchant adamantly refuses to open her eyes, though seems to recoil a bit at the sound of Ragnell's voice. "Y-You're the one who was eating it! You did that on purpose!" For a moment, anger trumps fear.

The next moment it does not.

Sorey's explanation goes several feet over Rose's head as Mikleo says The Line, and Rose starts flailing wildly, taking Sorey's arm along for the ride up and down and up and down and...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! LETGOLETGOLETGOLETGO!"

No attempt to calm Rose down will get to her. Sorey can say all the sweet things he wants or be as supporting as he can be, Rose has lost it. In part due to the sudden flashbacks to the massive phantasm in the Hollow. That was terrifying and it's sticking with her.

The flailing finally culminates into the only logical solution: Rose rears her free hand back and tries to sock Sorey in the face in self-defense. Pro: he's the Shepherd, he can take it. Con: still a punch.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Rose has a mean right straight. That's about all there is to be said about it.

He does start trying to calm down poor Rose, but she really isn't having any of it. Because as Rose just lays into him with a rather nasty push, the Shepherd's eyes just sort of roll up a bit and he falls over backwards.

Unfortunately he also hasn't let go of Rose's hand either, so this may well result in them being in a rather silly looking position for a few moments before Rose gets her hand free. But Sorey just looks up at the ceiling for a moment, a little dazed, and promises one thing.

There will be revenge for this, Meebo!