The Cerulean Brigade, Ch. 1

[mauve]

Originally Posted by King

"Welcome, my subjects. I'm sure you're all wondering why I have called you here today."

"Oh, he's a bloody genius," Curua muttered quietly to himself. "Why does he need a Seer with those wonderful powers of insight?"

Originally Posted by Dirk

"I don't mean to be blunt, you're highness, but I have to know. Will I be getting paid for this?"

"Oh yes, oh yes of course," Curua mumbled grumpily, much too quiet to be heard by those around him. "You'll get a lovely little grave on the side of the road, just like all the other brave warriors who go out on these bloody missions. Or if you survive, you might earn enough coins to buy yourself the amount of ale necessary to help you forget all the horrors you've seen. Well, tallyho, let's all go out and have a jolly good time saving the bloody kingdom from evil."

He was, as one might gather, not in the best of moods at the moment.

[Astral Harmony]

Aishel fought very hard to keep a smile from spreading across her face, and partially succeeded, ending with a smirk. She herself had several reasons to be standing here.
The first was duty, she supposed. By answering the summons, she might ensure that the kingdom of Gillnor's problem wouldn't become Duvashnia's problem as well.
The second was to just get away from the kingdom itself. There were some things she liked, such as the friends she made of the women serving in the Princess Guard and Riven's silly antics whenever the two were alone. But still, serving as a woman in the Duvashnian Knighthood can really be stressful sometimes.
The third was to see her mother and little sister in the town of Hristol, which was a lot closer to Gillnor. If their mission sent them in the right direction, Aishel would be able to see them. Maybe even spend the night and talk about various things.
And, while Aishel didn't like making it such a low priority reason, she needed to broaden her horizons. As Supreme Commander Foxmourne had said, officers didn't come by their skills just by working and fighting in the military. Sometimes, they had to just get out there and do some adventuring. Find their reasons for wanting to be the best.
"... ... ..."
But if there was a handsome reward for all their efforts...then that was just icing on the cake.

[Raiden]

When Dirk thought to himself, the blind boy beside the king gave out a small chuckle. He spoke for the first time, in a whisper so quiet, it was hard for the group to tell that he had spoken at all.

"The king is a politician." A few of the others looked at him. "He's surrounded by stupid people every day." Then, almost as if he had done something wrong, he turned his head away, hiding his face in his long hair.

The king didn't take notice. He stayed focused on the group.

"Of course you will be paid. What kind of king would I be if I just sent you off willy-nilly without some sort of retribution. However, before we come to talk of money, there's a little matter of a test. You see, I have had many, MANY of my informant agents assure me of your abilities. My young friend here has been watching over all of your for some time now, and believes you would be satisfactory. But like the old saying goes, "A word is flimsy, an action is solid." So, I intend to send you on a trial. Be successfull, and you will be hired. With full payment, of course. Fail...and you prove I was right."

The King gave them a moment to let it sink in, then continued.

"There is a small problem near the south end of the country. With the absence of the guard apparant, a few bandit clans have seen it fit to meld together into one bandit army. They've been raiding several large villages and colonies, and I simply don't have the manpower to handle it right now. So, go take care of it, and bring back the crowns of the three bandit kings that rule them. They should currently be..."

The king turned his head to the seer.

"A mile west of Relent, the wheat town."

"Yes. A mile west of Relent. Now, any questions before you leave?"

[Skyshot]

Hunpher raised his head.

"Yes, I assume you'll be outfitting us with the best gear you have to spare, since you have so much invested in this mission? And if nothing else, some actual reconnaissance about these bandits?

"How many are there? What are their standard tactics? What do we know about them?" Hunpher realized he was raising his voice and fell silent. There was no sense in irritating the king.

[Astral Harmony]

Aishel looked thoughtful. "If it's a test, I doubt we'll get the finest equipment from Gillnor's blacksmiths and tailors and leatherworkers available. After all, we're being tested based on our talents, not on our equipment."
"As for the information we might need, I think I know a better way to get it. In Duvashnia and just about every town within its jurisdiction, there's a place called the Civilian Service Guild. In a nutshell, people bring jobs and problems they want taken care of to the guild along with bounties which can consist of anything from money to food to clothes and just about anyone can take those jobs. Hell, one time I heard a guy who wanted his house cleaned brought the job to the guild. Nobody took the offer because the bounty was pathetic so he ended up taking the job himself and reclaiming his own bounty. And I've heard of a woman who found her lover by placing a 'dating job' there."
Aishel shrugged as she continued. "What I'm saying is, if the Kingdom of Gillnor has Civilian Service Guilds as well, we can pick up our information and possible bounties set up if somebody put in the jobs to take down this bandit army. And if that's not possible, then we can always get the information from the wheat town itself and then loot the bandits once we've stomped them into bloody paste."
She hoped she was contributing something. She didn't believe that the king would be useful in the slightest. With his army off to war, there'd be no scouts, no spies, no nothing to gather information for them. And the best equipment, or at least equipment better than what they all currently had, was probably already deployed to the front lines. If she was a gambling woman, then she'd bet her own coin sack that they'd have to gather their own information, supplies, and even necessities like food right out in the field.
"Anyways, we should probably depart very soon. Given the name 'the wheat town', wasting any significant amount of time might find Relent to be a smoldering ruin when we finally arrive. Unless the town is under ransom and is forced to supply the army with wheat just to not be butchered."

[PyrosNine]

Faze was wary of the boy still. People who seemingly could tell you anything do not tell all or everything...but an army of bandits was bad news from any source. It made wanderers like Faze easily suspected of being a scout.

Faze said nothing of this to the other people brought forth. He was not a team player, and intended to resolve all this himself. He was by all means a loner, and considering the female percentage of the group, there would only be trouble if he were to band with them. Faze intended to go ahead first, and if he failed, they would be able to finish where he left off.

Faze gave a nod to the king and the other people present as he started to leave. "Very well then, I shall go deal with it it posthaste, free of charge."

[Astral Harmony]

"Hold up." Aishel said, quickly kneeled to the king just as she did when entering with a 'by your leave', and joined up with Faze. "I don't have a map, and since you look like you might know how to get to Relent, I'd better tag along."
As they left the throne room, Aishel's real feelings surfaced. "Besides, I can't stand being in this castle much longer."

[PyrosNine]

Faze's face was one of both panic and pain. Wars had been started by less than this, a meeting between him and one of the opposite gender.

<Alright Faze. Be cool. Be friendly. Don't make her hate you. Don't try to make her like you. Don't be neutral with her. Don't tell her that she may very well be the death of you.... As a matter of fact, don't....and don't seem like the strong and silent type...>

Despite these contradictions, Faze's mouth opened up.

"Why yes, I most certaintly know the way to Relent. And I totally know I hate this castle. And I am most definitely not fearful of women not no sir. Not that you're a sir or anything. I should shut up but i don't because I'm fearful of women. Pay me no mind."

<Well, that seemed to come out well. Time to gauge her reaction.>

Faze started to sweat buckets and held onto his spear like a teddy bear, He was so much put out of his wits by Aishiel, he turned a 'corner' and walked straight into a wall.

"My head! Ow...ouch...I needed that." Faze grabbed his throbbing head, and was back to himself. Nursing a bruise, he turned back to Aishiel, who was probably thinking him a crazy man.

"Um...forgive me. I tend to panic around women. I wish not to get into it, but I'm better now and I must beg you to not mind my justly so phobia. Anyway, umm...I am Faze, wielder of the Crimson Flame. Er... pleased to meet you."

[Astral Harmony]

Aishel just had to laugh. While this might be a serious problem on the actual battlefield, she found Faze's reaction to female proximity rather funny, and quite disarming. He might have used this ability to woo his fair share of virgins. She knew she'd have to be careful around him, but it probably wasn't a bad idea to enjoy his quirks.
"Don't worry yourself too much, Sir Faze. You'll probably forget that I'm a girl once we reach that bandit camp. I hear my mannerisms and personality are becoming more masculine with each passing month."
And then she gestured to herself. "My name is Aishel McValerie. I'm a Commanding Knight in the Duvashnian Knighthood, Roaring Chimera division. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintence."
And while smiling. "I mean, how often do you get to meet people who answer summons by strolling up the castle, drunk enough to look like they'll howl at the moon?"

[IHateMakingNames]

With the battle ready female deciding that her word was law, two of the newly formed group's members were already leaving. It is as if she was trying to hijack the kings meeting. Ruin didn't want the group to already break apart, so he spoke up.

"Will you two wait a bit? Some people still may questions, and you may be wrong."

Then they just kept chatting by themselves in the back, so it worked out.

OOC: For time placement, this is after Pyros' post with Faze leaving.