"Who knows what foolishness goes through your head at times, Tyra. As for your scars, they are the price of your past follies as are my own. If you and Acacea wish a discussion, I would be open to such. For now, Champion Daniella possesses this grimoire and will remain its keeper until an ordered civilized discussion to the contrary is decided. That is how I see my duty, mock all you wish."
"In case you haven't noticed, beyond my initial offer to assist in the acquisition of said grimoire, the only mention I gave of the book was regarding my thoughts as to the nature and danger of its contents, sensible or otherwise. That said, I am all for a discussion about what to do with it, though I am also fairly certain its fate unfortunately lies in the hands of Milara. Now, my thoughts on what should become of it have been clear from the moment we were sent to find it, but I also swore to do whatever Plenarius decided to do with it." She then folds her arms. "So shall we begin the discussion or has the Toranite jumped in rank and is making the decision for us? Her talk of taking it someplace safe seems to imply she will not be bringing it to Milara."
Mildly... It's not like I have a lot of faith in her ability to not be silly in some way or another, but from where I was standing she tried to participate in a conversation that so far has been dictated by absolutes and half-drawn swords, to the point of being accused of something ridiculous, as if only the bearer could be trusted. Maybe in tin-can world that's considered civilized. She grins...
"A fair point, Tyra." He regards Daniella thoughtfully before speaking, "Is this something you will clarify here, Commander, or do you feel the danger too great? As I spoke in the chamber, so I will say here - Trust in Toran. Milara's greatest evil is to sow discord among us." He looks pointedly at all them.
That is not his greatest evil. Not by half.
"It is to myself." in a quieter voice.
After ignoring the insults and side comments, she simply says ,"The Bird Lord knows where I am taking it for the time being, and he has agreed. He and I both said we would retrieve the book. We never told Milara what we would do with it afterward."
Earnestly... I'm so glad Your Worship has deigned to share her crumbs of information with the peasants. Shall I polish thine armor, Lady, that it might better highlight your shining presence, or shall we merely trudge after whilst you lead us hapless fools onward into the darkest night, lance blazing with your golden righteousness?
She gently places a hand on Daniel's pauldron so as not to startle him. "Daniel, you once placed faith in me, a faith that I took for granted and probably will never deserve again, but I promise you I do not wish for distrust among us. I simply am here to assist in whatever is going on, which to be frank I am still confounded by all this. I've seen people glowing, heard about this fastrot melting people, got thrown ten or more yards across a cave by a glowing rock I admittedly should not have tried to touch, and bore witness to probably one of the most tongue and cheek diplomatic meetings the world has ever seen (or at least that I have." She then takes a breath and looks at Daniella. "I am not here, however, to be unduely insulted. I'm more than aware of the reputation I bare with me from my youth, but I am now a faithful, loyal, and trustworthy servant of King Bydell and Taur'en. So if we're taking it anywhere, it won't be to Taur'en. If Milara wants to start a war in order to attain or after attaining it, it won't be starting there. And furthermore, while I'm glad the Bird Lord and Her Ladyship," gesturing at the Commander, "are aware of this items destination, Milara is still going to expect it, and even intercept it when you and Plenarius think you've 'succeeded' with your scheme. Our agreeing to fetch the book from the Athenaeum carried with it the implication that we will give it to him afterwards. Whether or not you overtly agreed to those terms, those were the terms upon which he gave us the location and the map. So claim whatever righteous hill to build your ivory tower upon, Milara wants that book. Be prepared from him to come for it, should it please him to do so." She then glances at Dani, Daniel, and Acacea, and a strange confounded look comes over her face. "Hells, this is the most the four of us have talked in years! Why aren't we sharing goings on and having a nice drink? Why does it always boil down to arguing before the tea kettle even whistles?" She then wanders off to grab a bottle of ale from Kurn.
"Kurn, you ale-sodden, blood thristy, good for nothing! Where's the ale!"
//Minor edit within after the initial post, for those who posted while I was edditing it *cough*cbnicholas*cough*
Daniel simply nods, accepting this answer as enough. "Does that satisfy the both you?" He asks of Acacea and Tyra. He continues to provide a very visible presence near to Daniella.
"To be clear, no, it does not satify me. Her and Plen having 'a plan' that no one else is aware of (or that I was not privvy or paying attention, whichever applies) does not amount to a discussion. It amounts to the 'Commanding Officers' giving orders and the 'soldiers,'" she gestures to those assembled, "doing as their told whether they agree or not. And since last time I checked the Commander did not hold a rank within the Taur'en military, I do not feel compelled to accept her 'plan' at its face without at least being informed of it. I said I would do whatever Plenarius thinks best. That does not mean I will not argue my point or wish to know what exactly it is that he 'thinks' is best. Cause I sure can't do something if I'm not told what it is."
Daniella stops walking and turns to face Acacea fully, her expression calm, yet serious. "You have already said this thing is 'loud'. Would you prefer that I yell to the treetops where I plan on taking it? Perhaps I should draw a map also so that everyone can follow? Would you like to follow the example of others on this venture and give the enemies every piece of our intended actions to make their job all the more effortless for them to find it and get what they want? I am sorry that you feel slighted, Lady Acacea. I am sorry that you feel that I have overstepped my perceived bounds, but no I will not discuss this in the open with a group of people that have not agreed on much of anything since the outset. If you would like to discuss anything with me in a calm, less insulting manner in a more private setting, I would be happy to indulge you. But as you still have yet to tell me or anyone else that I know of what manner of Divine power was so suddenly flared up around you or why you have acted even stranger than usual on this entire trip, I don't feel so inclined to indulge your insults and whims any further in this setting by telling you what I plan on doing." She then turns and continues walking in the same direction as she was before.
"Shall I begin this weeks group therapy session? Let's start with trust falls. Catch me, Daniel!" She then goes limp, throwing herself in Daniel's direction, bracing for impact with the ground.
No. It doesn't. But my opinion does not seem to matter, here, nor anyone else's besides Feathers and the Arse in Shining Armor.
She looks amused when Daniella turns to speak at her. Stranger than usual? You do not know so much as a single page in my story, whatever your uncurious mind assumes from the illumination on the cover. I thank the holy lord for his compassion in the face of old friends paraded before surprised halflings, though, as well as fear for the souls of those chained by enemies against their will, or for those having an uncertain footing in matters divine. At least, I assume that all the eye rolling, jaw clenching, and random accusations are your form of compassion...
Plenarius does not speak for me, but that doesn't matter, here... she turns her head at this, seeming saddened, and falls back to keep further thoughts to herself. She rummages around in her sleeve to find parchment and scribbles at it as if trying to work out a problem; this has an adverse effect on her ability to navigate obstacles, and she occasionally trips over stones or exposed roots, or walks into trees.
Plenarius keeps quiet but listens intently to the words and emotions coming from each of them. Instead of being so focussed on what Daniella's carrying, however, he seems to be more intent to travel closer to Brisbane with heightened awareness, quietly whispering with her out of ear shot.
He speaks at one point, "The plans are out of my hands and I shall not interfere now. Daniella retrieved the artifact and I've no regard to wrest them through any means into my own possession. I trust they will keep safe." He pauses. "If Milara feels I made him a deal to get them back then I will answer to that."
She flinches as though dealt a physical blow, raising a hand to for some reason touch her throat with her fingertips, but says nothing more.
Bris walks on mostly silently, listening to the conversations around her and shaking her head with a little chuckle here and there.
"Tree walk? No, time is not of the essence at this point and with the strain it put on me BEFORE we acquired the book I can be nearly certain that I would not come out the otherside in much good shape."
She watches Dani and Acacea arguing and then looks over to Tyra and Daniel and then back and forth between the groups simply taking it in. Finally she comes back to something Acacea had said earlier.
"Riddle?"
Picking herself off the ground and dusting herself off, she walks over by Acacea and kneels down beside her, whispering something softly, a compassionate smile faint on her face. She gently moves to put a hand on Acacea's shoulder.
//PM to be sent.
"Bother." As Tyra bounces off the ground and Acacea makes her speech. Seeing no immediate threat to the Commander, he does make an effort to keep Acacea from falling off a cliff or walking into trees overly hard. "That." pregnant pause, "Was exactly what I was hoping to avoid, Chimes." He continues on the march, saying very little unless spoken to.
*Griff walks with the group occasionally inserting a dirty finger in his ear to wiggle out all the chatter. He stays vigilant about his surroundings and keeps his situational awareness hightened.*
Oi never made a deal with dat chair bound bassard, nor de Oi tink he ever inteded us tah return deh book tah him. He underestimate us Oi tink and dat beh his weakness. If what weh got beh as important n dangerous as been talked, den weh bes make all haste to a safe location. Commander n Birdman tink deh gota place den so be it; lets get der quick loike n beh ready fer any and all encounters on deh way der. If dat ting beh shout'n as loud as deh halfer lass say, den ain't only Milara gona beh listen'n. Meh tink what ever location weh choose tah take it, weh gona have a foight before weh get der. Oi'd say Hilm cuz it's close n fortifoied n den Oi can call in Voraxian elite tah 'elp take to where weh decoide.
Either way, keep deh jabber'n down tah a minimum n nay let ye self beh distracted on dis 'ere mission. Weh gota package lota powerful folk want n now is tah toime tah beh Vigilant and pray tah Vorax dat weh strong n have courage when weh beh called upon tah use it.
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Topic: Through the Forest... (Read 4019 times)
