2019-06-07: A Crime in Kilika
- Log: A Crime In Kilika
- Cast: Xantia, Gwen Whitlock, Marivel Armitage, Isolde
- Where: Kilika - Town Center
- Date: June 07, 2019
- Summary: An assortment of heathens brazenly commit a terrible crime against Althena's teachings, right under the Guard's noses.
==========================<* Kilika - Town Center *>========================== Kilika is an island off the southern coast of the Spiran mainland, consisting of a small port and village, a large jungle and a Temple of Yevon. The island is renowned for being the hometown of High Summoner Ohalland, who was a star blitzballer before retiring from the game to complete his Pilgrimage and defeat Sin. As a result of this history, the Beasts are one of the most-loved teams in the entire league, and even rival blitz players will stop to pray at the Kilika Temple before a particularly critical game. The port of Kilika was recently ravaged following an attack by Sin, and the surviving residents are slowly rebuilding. They have received unexpected support in the form of the outlanders who serve the false goddess Althena. A few dozen soldiers and craftsmen are using their strange arts - as well as old-fashioned skill - to help with restoration. The Temple of Yevon has put out the word that this assistance will be tolerated so long as the Guardsmen refrain from proselytizing their false creed; an uneasy sort of feeling hangs over the entire village as a result. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXsmMuXLtuQ
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Following the proclamations from Grand Maester Mika and White Knight Leo, things are starting to get messy in Spira. Distrust of Otherworlders among Spirans is on the rise, and reinforcements of Althena's Guard arrive regularly at the recovering town of Kilika, which is starting to look more and more like a stronghold under martial occupation. Outreach relief efforts are still allowed to continue in Kilika, but it's hard to not notice the tension in the air.
It's obvious enough for even Xantia, champion at failing to notice the big picture, to realize that things are going to get real bad in Spira before long. It's just a matter of where and when at this point. In the face of growing antagonism from the natives, she decided she'd rather avoid any more unpleasantness and retreated to the Fereshte, where she's been staying for the past few days.
Even so, staying cooped up in any one place for very long isn't much to her liking. And so, she's chanced to venture out to town, aiding the Outreach by carrying supplies and building materials for reconstruction. Or, in the current case, carrying off scrap materials left over from structures that were too damaged to repair and thus demolished. By her. She doesn't know much about building, but demolition, that she can do.
As much as she enjoys helping where she can, at the moment she doesn't look her usual upbeat self. It's just really uncomfortable in this place right now, it doesn't feel like she's a welcome presence to either the Guard or the villagers. But at least she's making herself useful. Other than that, all she can do is hope for the best.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
One thing is for sure: insinuations of possibly being a vile heretic (and vile fiend, but that's different) is bad for business!
Also bad for business: a sprained ankle. It's all Ashley's fault. But there was a doctor on the island of Kilika that Gwen had gotten to know, who had made the journey back here all worth it. That, and she came escorting a batch of supplies, though not as much as she could normally carry, were she better fit.
Getting those connections down as soon as she got here has payed off, at least in one small way. Doctor got some supplies for the many who were still recovering, and Gwen took her payment in the doctor's services in making sure her sprain was properly cared for.
There's just one problem: Gwen is now locked to Kilika, at least for a few days, while the sprain properly heals for good.
Leaning on a makeshift crutch, Gwen resorts to the time-honored tradition of people-watching, all while biting into a piece of fruit, wiping the juices from her mouth. So that's the trader she got that nice scarf from, and there's the girl she rescued the kitten for with her mother, and that's the fisherman back from his catch-
Oh, and there's a Xantia.
-wait
"Heeeeey, Xantia!" Gwen raises her hand in the enthusiastic wave of someone incredibly in need of socialization. "Lookin' good there!"
There was also the matter of what happened, months ago. But would Xantia be up to even approaching that subject at all?
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel Armitage, actual vampire who somehow hasn't been excommunicated from anything yet no matter how hard she tries, has also been lending a hand around Kilika. She has been at it, in fact, for quite some time and she's kept at it even during the occupation though with a certain kind of gravitas that suggests she too is not expecting the situation to end well. At least she was nice enough to help Xantia escape Luca (a child threw a rock at her, a child).
"I imagine Hiro is going to have words," Marivel is telling her blind companion as she makes her way through the town. "Personally I admit I am feeling a bit spiteful to see the alliance I worked very hard to build turning to ash so quickly and so powerfully. I imagine they'll be invading Luca shortly."
She looks up and sees Gwen and Xantia, blinking briefly that the town seems accepting of one of her fellow VILE FIENDS so readily. Then again, they might not know, so she sets that thought aside.
"It honestly stirs up terrible memories and I thought I was getting along so well with some of their number. I take it you know they do not care for gambling?"
She probably doesn't know what happened months ago since she wasn't an apped character then but she is a mysterious vampire so you never really know.
She waves towards the two off them, smiling faintly.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
The woman known as Isolde is following Marivel around for a very good reason - while she seems to be able to navigate on her own, it's definitely easier if you're with someone. She is a pace or so behind Marivel, walking steadily.
"That's life for you, though, isn't it? You work terribly hard on something for so terribly long, and pouf! It all goes up in smoke. Then the single joke you tell becomes your definition, your nature, your name, your coat of arms. It's like an old story I've heard, if you don't mind me picking your ear. A squire has a new clergyman in his neck of the woods and he takes him round to see the sights."
"They cross a bridge, new and glorious, across a turbulent river. "I built this bridge," the squire says, "but they do not call me Bridgebuilder." They stop at an inn to water their horses, and he says: I funded this inn at easy rates, and even paid for the stable so my steeds could pull the plow, but they do not call me Horsetender."
"This keeps going on," Isolde says, "as they get nearer to the manor house, and finally the new clergyman stops and says: You've told me they don't call you Bridgebuilder, they don't call you Horsetender, they don't call you Vineminder, they don't call you Beefriend, they don't call you this and that, but I have to ask, what DO they call you, brother?"
"Aye, I've done all these things, the Squire said, and yet-- oh, yes, I know; why do you think I stayed on Filgaia?"
Isolde then pauses.
"Hello!" she calls, on speculation, towards the people to whom Marivel is waving. ("Can you introduce me?" she asks Marivel.)
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia is just a little bit on edge at the moment. Hearing her name called out of nowhere startles her, to the point where she stumbles. It very much looks like that pile of scrap wood she's carrying is about to go flying. It's touch and go for a little while, but by some miracle, her footwork is fast enough in correcting itself to keep the unsteady tower in her hands from tumbling, and she eventually steadies herself. She lets out a breath before she turns her head towards the voice she heard. Upon spotting the source, there's another sigh of obvious relief, before she smiles.
"Hiii Gwen! Hold on, I'll be right there!"
And then she just casually tosses what she was carrying into the corner of two neighboring houses. It's just junk, there wasn't much reason to care about holding onto it in the first place. It's just a more organized mess now than if she'd have lost her grip on it.
Dusting off her hands, she bounds right over to Gwen, looking very much like she appreciates the chance of socialization herself. "I wasn't expecting you'd be here! Otherwise..." She looks about for a moment, before concluding, "You think they sell cakes anywhere around here?"
Of course Xantia remembers that they were supposed to have cake next time they met. The only unusual thing here is that it looks like she's fine with being the one to bring the cake. That wasn't exactly the deal, but then again... cake is cake.
Instead, she sees Marivel accompanied by someone she hasn't met, and she returns the wave. "Oh, hi Marie! Back again already?" Xantia you know she can teleport, why are you surprised that she travels quickly? She's probably also failed to notice that the other person is blind, since she directs a second wave to Isolde.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Yikes, looks like you got fumblefingers too." Gwen winces as Xantia stumbles, ambling slowly over to her. "Oh, don't mind me-"
She says that, and then the courier sees that familiar desperate gleam in Xantia's eyes. Ah, yes. Xantia is starving for some social time as well. And where is one to get it, here in what is basically enemy territory? Also, where is someone going to get a proper cake?
Gwen itches the side of her freckled cheek. "I dunno if the cakes here'd be any good, right now. Besides, my funds are pretty tight right now, unless y'don't mind me tryin' to make one for you. I *am* a decent baker." Ashley complimented her on her rolling pin skills and everything!
Hearing the familiar greeting, Gwen turns and raises a hand, enthusiastically waving the Crimson Noble and her Gambler Friend over. "Oh hey! Isolde! Marivel! I met someone from your group recently. Guy by the name of Ashley? A real standout guy. Helped me out of a pinch concernin' a package, too."
Her stomach grumbles in remembrance. "Which reminds me, maybe I should have 'im bake a cake, cause it's gonna be better than anything here. Everything's got too much fruit, n' I think rumcakes n' such'll be out of the question right now." ... Which is something Gwen never thought she'd say.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"This is why I like you, you're a storyteller, but do not let my grousing interrupt your tale." She does, however look towards Gwen and Xantia, placing one hand on Isolde's shoulder, vaguely ensuring she is aimed in the right direction. "This is Xantia over there. She is a drifter from Filgaia whom I helped out of a bit of a jam earlier." She then nods towards Gwen and adds, "And the lady who is a decent baker is Gwen Whitlock, one of the Vile Fiends. They take a bit to catch on but are stalwart trustworthy creatures with very uncomfortably large hearts."
She allows Xantia a moment to misunderstand what 'catching on' is before adding, "Friends this is Isolde. Though blind, she sees more keenly than most."
Quieter she adds to Isolde. ("I always wanted to do introductions like this, thank you.")
Louder she admits, "I think I will have to involve myself in this conflict." She tilts her head towards Gwen.
"Ashley?" She asks. "Never heard of him. Perhaps you meant Bradley?"
Then her lips twist into a grin. "No, no, he is a comrade. In fact, I hope to make very, very good use of his skills."
The grin widens. "When the time comes."
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
"I thought you liked me because I didn't see the spinach in your teeth," Isolde tells Marivel with a wry look. Then she nods a little and calls to Xantia, "I'm Isolde," and then to Gwen, "Good evening, good evening... ha ha! Well, that's not entirely true."
"Tell me," she asks Gwen, "did you keep them or sell them?"
Then she calls to Xantia. "If they do not sell a cake anywhere in this area, then you have, my girl, found an opportunity for commerce. Have you ever baked a cake?"
She then trails off when Marivel talks about her ~use~ for Ashley('s skills). She touches her lips with her fingertips and says no more.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
You'd think Xantia would be an expert on the quality of cakes, but it doesn't look that way. She seems confused when Gwen says the cakes around here might not be great right now. "Really? That's weird. I've never had a bad cake before." Oh, that's why. She can't conceive of the concept of a cake that isn't good.
Claiming to be good at baking gets her full attention, that's obviously very impressive and of interest to Xantia. "Oh, really? I sure wouldn't mind that! I wish I could make my own food!"
With Marivel approaching to do the introductions, she feels the need to expand on them a little. "I'm also a hero-in-training! If any bad guys need punching, just point me at them!" She strikes a pose, taking a moment to process what she was just told, and for it to sink in that there's little point in posing for a blind person. Or asking a blind person to point her in the right direction of anything.
"...You're blind?" She says after that fact finally sticks. "I, uh... I'm sorry to hear that." She has no idea what else to say. She can't even imagine what it must be like.
She doesn't speak again until asked if she's ever based a cake. Even then it takes her a moment to think about that, backpedaling a bit on what she said earlier. "I haven't... but, thinking about it, I'd rather spend the time eating food instead. Someone else making it is fine."
As for Marivel and her making use of Ashley's skills... well, there's only one thing that could possibly mean, isn't there? "Oh, are you going to have Ashley make the cake?" There's a beat, before she clarifies, "I have no idea who that is. But I'm sure his cakes are great!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Well, I should teach ya, Xantia! It's pretty easy, especially when you're not picky like me." Gwen did just comment that the cakes here use too much fruit BUT ANYWAY. Gwen clips her hands together. "Especially when we're in a place like this! There's practically food on the ground if y'don't mind the occasional stomachache." She pauses. "... For the record, just stay away from mushrooms. Especially here."
Gwen quickly moves onto Isolde's question from there without a single flinch. "I kept em'! I'm a sucker for pretty rocks, n' that includes the fancy kind. .... Wait." She squints at Isolde. Or, well, her blindfold. "... were you bettin' on whether or not I would?"
'Ashley? Never heard of him. Perhaps you meant Bradley?'
For a moment, Gwen's face falls. D-did she just give all that information to a young man with a nice personality and great baking skills? He could be working _for the enemy_.
... wait, who'd be the enemy in this scenario? Maybe Ashley was working for _the Demon King_. Taking advantage of a slim similarity to an old childhood friend, and then building on that by taking advantage of her love of calorie-packed pastries! And then getting her to trust him over that *Intense Baking Montage*. It's just like out of a one gella novel! How did Gwen not realize this? And also-
oh
Gwen laughs a little too loudly, rubbing the side of her unadorned neck. That kid she saved the kitten for *still* has her scarf, damn it! "Well, I mean, I would too! I think you're smart for havin' a guy like him around. N' he's not bad in a jam on top of it."
clearly marivel is referring to the fact that ashley bakes things, this would be considered important by people like gwen and xantia
"Xantia, I'll introduce ya to him sometime! He's from the Aquvy Region." Which is, for a rule, the area where all the Weird People Come From.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I can like you for more than one reason." Marivel says in protest.
She raises an eyebrow at how Isolde seems to take it and frowns severely. "Ah, I forgot, you have not met him. He is a child, Isolde, I have no interest in him like that." Pause. "Plus he does have that girlfriend and I do not get the feeling they are the open relationship types." Ashley says they aren't in a relationship. Marivel disregards his commentary on this front.
"I'm afraid, hero in training, that I am not employing Ashley for his baking skills, impressive as they may be! No!!" She points dramatically towards Xantia. "You see, tis funny you should mention that you are a hero in training because that, Xantia, is Ashley's occupation as well!"
She crosses her arms. "Also he is part of ARMS yadda yadda counterterrorism yaddayadda save the world. Perhaps you should try and teach Ashley some of what you've learned since you seem to be a bit more experienced than he is."
All cakes are great Xantia...if you believe.
"Aquvy is where all the weird people come from." Marivel explains for Xantia. She didn't read Gwen's mind it's just kind of a widely accepted truth.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
"Oh, I don't see why," Isolde answers Xantia breezily. She smiles as she does.
Then she speaks with slightly more gravity. "Don't worry about it. Really. I live a joyous life, as best I can. Everyone has troubles. Just keep it in mind if you have to get my attention, hmmm?"
Then she takes in a deep breath and lets it out. A hand goes on her hip. "No," she tells Gwen, "BUT I've missed a chance now, haven't I?" She snaps her fingers. "H*ck!"
ohhhhhh she said a *swear*
"You know," Isolde continues, her hand coming up to rub her chin, "I don't understand this counter-terrorism thing. Terror-ism seems like a Filgaian concept. Can you explain it again? Obviously you want to instill terror with your military since if the other fellow gives up or runs away you don't have to fight and you save on bandages."
("Do you play cards?" Isolde asks Xantia in passing.)
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia lets the matter of learning how to bake cakes herself hanging for the moment. Maybe one day... it's just hard to imagine it'd be as easy as Gwen claims. After all, if anyone could do it and it was really that easy, nobody would be doing anything else than just making cakes and eating them all day. There'd be no point in doing anything else!
What she does comment on is the mushrooms. "Oh, the mushrooms are fine, you just have to eat the right ones!" Does that mean that she can tell which ones are edible? Another undocumented superpower...?
Her concern about Isolde's blindness is waved off, with a joke that Xantia fails to pick up on, but what follows reassures her plenty to put her mind at ease. Just another one of these things that she doesn't understand but she doesn't really need to understand, there's a lot of those. "Okay... if you say so. I'll just make sure you can hear me, then!" That shouldn't be hard, she seems to default to a volume that's on the loud side to begin with.
As for counter-terrorism, Xantia knows all about that. "Terrorists are bad guys, and counter-terrorists are the people who fight them!" See, this isn't complicated. It's less complicated than being asked about if she plays cards. "...I don't know, maybe?" Amnesia makes it hard to be completely sure of these things. For the current moment in time, all she can say for sure is, "I've seen people play cards. I don't really get it."
Meanwhile, Ashley is sounding more and more like someone she should meet, considering all the qualities that are being mentioned. "Oh! Sure, it'd be nice to meet someone else who's training to be a hero! And who can make cakes as well as jam!" That's not what Gwen said, but try not to be too surprised at Xantia misinterpreting figurative speech.
Aquvy, the land of Weird People, apparently. Xantia oddly doesn't latch onto that as a possible lead in the search for her past. Instead, she muses, "Aquvy... That's where we were planning on going. Before we went here instead."
Dang Vinsfeld, just ruining everybody's travel plans. Xantia must have been looking forward to that too, judging from her rueful expression. It doesn't really fit with her following claim, "I guess it's probably safer for me to be here, though..."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oho, so what do you like me for, then?" Casting a wide grin at Marivel, Gwen lets the question sink in for *just a moment* before moving on. "It's always so weird t'hear you refer to people as 'children', but I guess it's technically true. How old are you, again?" Oh wait, that sounds a little blunt. Gwen coughs into her fist. "Er, uh, I should say 'how many years have you seen?' I should know better than to ask a noble woman's age so frankly."
It may sound like she's joking, but that look in Gwen's eyes suggest a few choice memories are coming to mind at that moment.
"Ah, he's taken? Lucky girl~. He definitely seems like quite th'catch!" He's also... a hero-in-training? .... Okay, Gwen can kind of see it.
"Really? I seem t'have bad luck whenever I try mushroom huntin'. I'm okay with some on Ignas, but here I'm startin' from scratch." Gwen sighs. "I miss makin' mushroom stew! I should teach you that one, Xantia, you'd love it!"
"... Wait, you're from Lunar?" Gwen seems genuinely surprised by Isolde's comment, taking a moment to rub the side of her neck once more. "I guess I kinda assumed you were from Ignas, with your taste for gamblin' but it's not like there ain't gamblers on Lunar." She straightens, crossing her arms. "So, how t'describe terrorism... I guess it's distinguished because it's by a group of people, instead of, like, countries goin' to war. When a country goes t'war, technically they ain't supposed to engage with civilians, leave medics alone, all that stuff. Terrorism is when it's a batch of people, n' they don't play by those same rules. Though I doubt they'd call themselves that, especially this Vinsmeadow guy or whatever his name is. They'd probably call themselves idealists. So a counterterrorist is the person who goes in all 'nope, that ain't happenin', so-" She pauses. "What, so that's what ARMs is? N' Brad and Ashley are helpin' with that?" She frowns. "Brad I could definitely see, but Ashley seems like a guy who just wants to help folk out."
'Aquvy is where all the weird people come from.' Gwen bites her tongue to keep herself from saying 'I know, right?!', since she really doesn't have any right to paint an entire region as 'weird'.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Your earnestness," Marivel says to Gwen. "And do you mean in objective years or subjective years?"
"Nevermind," She adds a moment later. "I shall assume objective time. Approximately five thousand and one hundred and seventeen years old."
She tilts her head. "That is the answer to your first question. Unfortunately I have not tallied up the time I have closed my eyes so the second will have to remain a mystery to both of us."
She winks a bit there.
She tilts her head as Gwen further asks if ARMS are counterterrorists. "Among other things." She tells her. She frowns a bit later and adds, "Mm, Ashley actually is the sole survivor of the original ARMS organization, you see. He seems like someone who just wishes to help out because that is what he wishes he were. In training, you see, but ARMS is not an organization of heroes though its purpose is to save the world and all that fun stuff you drifters stumble upon twice a year."
She shakes her head. "Regardless, he and I are..old friends." She smirks a little there but doesn't clarify.
She laughs a bit at Xantia's remark. "Well, it could be said the differencee between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is whether one wins or not. But they are not going to win, ergo I am comfortable calling them terrorists."
She does not have a lick of doubt here. "But we do have more cakes than them so, you know, that is proof yes?"
It really isn't proof of anything but she does turn to Isolde and says, "Speaking of terrorism..."
She smiles. "Would you like to have a match, the four of us, Isolde?"
CRIME.
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
Mushrooms come up. Isolde seems to have nothing to offer on the subject of mushrooms. Much like a child she has kept to a policy of only eating mushrooms given to her by someone who she loves, or who does not seem able to dodge a sword thrust real good.
"I did have that much down," Isolde answers Xantia. "I'll teach you a game, later. The reason I said it wasn't entirely true is - if I peep a little, on this side, I can mostly make out cards... enough to play alright, at least. But it hurts in the daylight, so--"
She spreads out her hands. Then they lower down. Aquvy comes up. I wonder if I'll get to go there, Isolde thinks, before her attention turns to Gwen. "Well, well," she says with a laugh, "the prohibitions are rather recent, you know. I was well and truly hooked before they came about. And it isn't as though a thing prohibited is a thing... stopped. After all, this terror-ism you speak of."
Isolde's eyebrows faintly lift. "I imagine that's prohibited as well, isn't it? And yet."
She then considers what Gwen says. She nods along. "I see... I'd call that little war, or if you want to use the classical term, guerilla work. Or is it more like a rebellion? I didn't really inquire into these things, you see."
Then Marivel speaks. It's graver than she thought. Isolde's lips purse for a moment, expressively. Her head tilts down, perhaps in sorrow.
Then Marivel speaks up and sometime around the final phoneme of her name Isolde says "Yes", the dialogue overlapping Marivel briefly. "What's the game?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia has to do quite the double-take at what would seem to be Marivel's stated age. "F-five thousand...?" That is an unfathomably high number. All she's got is about two and a half years that she can remember, and it already feels like she's got so many memories now. She can't begin to imagine how it's even possible to have over 2000 times as many.
Better to not dwell on that one. She's much more comfortable talking about things that are easier to understand. Like food. She's quick to chime in when Gwen gives her that opportunity. "Sure! I could bring you some good mushrooms to make stew out of!" No mention in there about learning anything. Did that part even register? Chances are she just wants somebody to make her mushroom stew...
Gwen's explanation on terrorism is a whole lot more elaborate, Marivel turns it into a conditional term, and Isolde offers alternatives, but Xantia insists, "So yeah, it's a bunch of bad guys and the people who fight them!" Not to get on anyone's case about it or anything, she just feels that everyone was pretty much affirming that she'd understood things correctly, that's nice to hear. Even though a whole lot more words were used than she thought was necessary. As a result, now Xantia finds herself wondering aloud, "...So an idealist is a bad guy trying to convince you they aren't a bad guy?"
And then she's entirely distracted by the question 'would you like to have a match'. It's pretty obvious what that's going to make Xantia think. "Oh, are we going to fight?" She looks almost disturbingly happy about the possibility.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Bein' earnest? I'll take it. And, ah, objective, I'm guessi- right." The number takes a moment to properly sink in. Gwen's mouth slowly opens in open, earnest awe. "... Five thousand n'- Guardians, that's... heck, I don't know much that's that old!"
"Yeah, I 'spose that makes more sense. Terrorism ain't exactly a nice term t'apply to anyone." Gwen considers. "I 'spose it is like Marivel says. N'- wait. Whoah." Gwen turns from Isolde to Marivel. "... I never got that sense from 'im. He just seemed like a normal, well-meaning guy. Which I 'spose is the sort of guy who ends up becoming a hero, in the end." Brad's words come to mind, and Gwen grimaces inwardly.
"If you can find the mushrooms, I'd be all for it, Xantia!" Gwen seems all too happy to cook, as long as she gets to eat as well. Is this fate?! "W-well, an idealist is someone who thinks they got the right ideas." The redhead shrugs. "I mean, in some contexts, you n' I'd be considered idealists. You've always seemed to me to be the type t'find joy in the language of combat, food, n' friends, n' that's three flavors both worlds'll have plenty of. I'd say I'm th'same, but my love of my job means I gotta keep a semi-low profile as a certified punchin' ace."
"Nah, nah, not fightin'. I wouldn't give you a proper effort with this ankle. But definitely sometime, Xantia! I need t'fight someone who can take my punches." Now, if Gwen can take Xantia's punches will be an entirely different question. "I 'spose a card game'd be like a type of fight though. Just with chance, n' your mind. Instead of your fists, you got cards, so y'gotta known when to hold back, n' when to strike. I ain't that good, but I ain't terrible either, dependin' on the game, at least, n- w-wait, here?" Gwen coughs, itching a finger against the side of her cheek. "The only reason I'm able t'walk around these parts right now is that no one really knows enough to actually care about me. I think playin' a card game'd muck that up all quick-like."
Something tugs at her. A random thought. If Marivel is this old...
The earnest, happy-go-lucky expression dims a moment, a veil of worry cast over her expression as she leans in towards Marivel as the game is prepared, her tone suddenly dead serious. "Marivel, I apologize if this sounds like a question out of the blue, but do you know anything about a demon king? A man named Ga-" She stops herself with a grimace. "Sorry, I really shouldn't go askin' questions I ain't sure I want to know the answers about, even if y'did know somethin'."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"You changed calendars a few times so if I am off by a bit do not blame me." She reminds herself again to try and avoid putting thoughts in Xantia's head because the translation from her lips to Xantia's head is terribly untrustworthy. This is why they need a Wild Arms 2 Alter Code F.
"It sure is," Marivel further quips to Isolde before adding. "Nothing too involved. How about Blackjack?" She snaps a deck of cards into her hands. The backs do, of course, have cute bat patterns on the back. "Tis not too involved and we can pack up quickly should a guardsman get curious." She focuses on the gambling lest she befuddle poor Xantia further. Or worse, make her more certain.
As she shuffles the deck, Marivel speaks. "Not every battle can be won with your fists and the weight of the world is a weight that is to be shared. So to be a hero it behooves you to learn plenty of talents. Gambling is one such talent. Will the fate of the universe be settled on a gamble?"
Marivel grins fangly. "If so, let us hope our poker faces are sufficient, yes?"
She doles out cards, taking the role of the dealer, pausing to turn to Gwen when she asks her question. As one might expect from what she had been saying her poker face is well practiced and fine tuned. She carries a calm expression grizzled with faint curiousity garnished with thoughtfulness.
"Heroes are just people, Gwen." Marivel tells her, first. "After all, you are one so you should know this."
She edges back, then, smiling. She has a three and a four faceup. "Be bold, Gwen." She suggests before adding, "My father was called demon king once, king of darkness, those sorts of things but he is not the man you are inquiring about. The one who is after pointed ears. My father will never be reborn."
She focuses on Gwen. "You are concerned about the man who desires those with pointed ears. And what I am about to tell you, you should not forget for it shall speak of the scope of which you are entangled with."
Her eyes seem to glow a bright red as she shares this mysterious dark truth.
"I had never heard of him, Gwen. Not in my entire life. My father, my mother, if they knew never mentioned him."
She smiles kindly. "Perhaps there is some long lost record, if not my father perhaps his. There are depths of the Crimson Castle even I have not plumbed but whether the truth you seek is there or not, know this. He is either ancient beyond ancient or immaterial and I suspect you know which it is, and know this as well. He has deemed me an enemy of his, a holder of a title that belongs to him. So I will be your ally, Gwen, in this endeavour if you will have me."
<Pose Tracker> Isolde has posed.
Isolde's lips purse a little at Xantia's summary about the nature of an idealist. "I hope not," she tells Xantia, but then her arms fold loosely as Gwen speaks more firmly. "It's difficult, I think, to judge people by their feelings," Isolde says. "I've always preferred to look at their actions --"
A card game is like a fight with your mind!
Isolde considers the topic. It is obscurely horrifying somehow. And then she brightens. "Blackjack!" Isolde says.
She reaches over to adjust one side of her eye bindings. This thankfully doesn't reveal anything particularly horrifying, at least on that side. When she is given a card she holds it very close to her face for a moment, then nods once. She got a seven. "Hit me," she proffers.
oh no
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
One reason why Xantia talks about food so much, other than the obvious reason that there exists no moment in which she doesn't feel like eating, is because it's easy to understand. If only everything could be simple. At least 'idealist' seems to be a simpler term than she thought. Even if it doesn't make a great deal of sense to her. "That'd be a whole lot of people, then. I don't think many people would think their own ideas are wrong."
Even so, that description of hers, that gets her looking and sounding genuinely impressed. "Wow. You know me pretty well, Gwen!" She doesn't even realize how obvious she makes what she values in the way she talks and acts. Where it comes to earnestness she and Gwen are pretty similar.
That being the case, her disappointment is easy to read when it becomes clear there isn't going to be any fighting, but it's also true that she would want everyone to be able to give it their all. Fighting when injured wouldn't be the best idea. And so she nods reluctantly.
Before she even really realizes what's happening, she's holding a card. There's a bit of wonder in her eyes, but she doesn't look completely lost. Still, would she have any idea how this game works? Not enough to not openly stare at Isolde when she asks to be hit, at least. "Wait, are we fighting after all?"
Come on, even Xantia wouldn't just slug somebody if they directly asked her to hit them without her understanding what's happening. ...Not current-day Xantia, anyway. If this happened a year ago, then yes, Xantia may have gleefully punched a blind person at the slightest provocation.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"... Yeah. They are. Just ordinary folk, doin' what they can." If that's all it ever was, most of the people she knows are heroes as well.
'You are concerned about the man who desires those with pointed ears.' Gwen blinks. This is... news to her, certainly. If the man came down and was courteous and apologetic for his actions, Gwen would likely have to rethink how to even think about the man. Judge people by their actions, not their feelings.
Wouldn't going after him be the sort of thing Liath had warned her about?
"I still don't know how things'll play out, but I will call on you if I need you, Marivel. I'm just involved in all this by chance. The best I'm hopin' for is that the man doesn't know or care 'bout me." So that she could strike when his guard is down, and properly end this disaster before it gets even worse. "I mean, last I checked, my ears ain't pointed, so he wouldn't know me from Adam, and wouldn't have a reason to really do so."
She clears her throat. "Sorry, got myself on a random train of thought. Blackjack it is! Pokerfaces all around, n' mushroom stew!" ... now she's thinking about food again, she and Xantia really are similar in some ways
She looks down at her cards.
Wait, how does she play Blackjack again...?
"... Maybe Xantia had the right idea of havin' a different kinda match after all."