(Western Everplains) Expedition or Shirking Active Duty (24th Board)

Dressing like one of the rich nobles or Kaionar was not what he enjoyed, at least the robes over his usual attire meant he avoided the horrid rubbing of silk on skin, his steed trotting along as it did, silence besides the steady clip, clip of the hooves on the road and the wind, he knew where he was going and arrived within the hour, at a small entrance to a set of ruins, he knew this was not his main occupation but he couldn't stay away from two things, a highly paid contract for returning with an item of note from this expedition and he could probably get some items for himself in the process.

He tied off his horse and knew that the rest of the expedition made up of Shuranian men and women were likely to arrive, so he pitched a tent in the meanwhile and used his bow to hunt some food for himself, he even found a few carrots and berries for his horse to eat along with the deer, he was annoyed at himself while eating on its roasted hind leg from the fire he built also he managed to miss his main target and get a shot in its head rather than its neck, he didn't get to witness it drown in its own blood this time.

"Well old boys now we wait for the fodder to arrive" any normal person would've thought he was talking to his horse but no, he was playing around with his odd blades, spinning them artfully and the. Sheathing them all in a moment, followed by testing his throwing knife proficiency upon the ribs of the now dead deer, growing increasingly angry at how he rarely managed to get the knife to bounce off the ribs rather than slide between them, but eventually he knew they would come, he then proceeded to go into his tent and try napping until they arrived, seeing as there wasn't much else to be done.

It was so relaxing to be working outside her shop! Sinyaya had to stay behind and guard the place, sadly. Though with a woman obsessed with the dead and a cursed book apparently heading up this trip it was better the little dragon not get pulled into everything. Somehow there was very little apprehension about Lourna as she noticed one of the other, ahem, persons of interest involved in the expedition. The archer said nothing directly, but gave a rather distinct look of disapproval at his state of living. The added trouble of a man with very little respect for his living space was irksome. This was one of the few downsides to being back on duty and getting to travel: the outlandish nature of the people and creatures she met.

'What manner of man is this that lies about and sleeps directly before setting out on an expedition?!' she thought to herself. Perhaps there was method to this man's madness, but the Surah woman certainly couldn't fathom it. As much as she wanted to say something on the matter of leaving the deer carcass out in the open and napping so carelessly, the last thing she needed was for someone to get mad at her for opening her mouth and voicing an opinion. She prayed the gods would grant her luck and a silver tongue this time around, because saying a simple hello couldn't hurt 'too' much. She dismounted and took a few moments to string her bow before walking over to the tent to wake her . . . companion, for lack of a better word.

"I am looking for a man called Raven? My name is Lourna, and I am part of the escort for this underground expedition. I hope I didn’t startle you.” She knew her common skills were lacking a bit, and that she was speaking too formally, but it was all she knew to do without making herself look like a total fool. She had very little idea of where this journey would lead, but it was sure to be enjoyable to some degree, right?

In his current profession, being a light sleeper served him quite well a he was awake and ha some amount of clothing on by the time Lourna poked her head around he simply retorted with "Sure I'm Raven, what's up? Or are you one of the expedition party of the Shuranians" he began putting his main weapons back into their allocated areas and removed the knife he kept between his cheeks, never hurt to be cautious, he eyed the bow with some suspicion and noticed that through her rather over the top formality there was annoyance.
"Have I done something to offend you mi'lady, if so I am terribly sorry, I will have to find some way to repay this error".

He moved past her but unusually closely as he brisked his personal 'dagger' against her thigh he moved past and saw the bloodied, fly ridden corpse of the deer and understood, moving it quickly away and coming back only to offer his horse another handful of berries before turning back to her actin as if nothing had happened, "So, who else is to turn up before we enter the depths"

"Forgive me; my foreign language skills are basic at best. I do not mean to sound so rigid in my speech, but I am a Surahnian archer; you are correct. We can- . . .” she paused when he brushed past her, too close to her person for her liking, and cleared her throat before going back to speaking. “We can expect a woman and a book, as well as another archer I am acquainted with. Any others accompanying us are unknown to me.” Having him getting so close to her felt very, very awkward, and she quickly busied herself with target practice. A knot in a nearby tree was good enough for her, and she let at least three arrows fly before getting anxious and returning to her horse, arrows and bow across her back.

“There was no error made, you may pass your time however you choose. Is there anything you may require or need to do before the excursion begins?” At some point she began to wonder just what sort of company she was going to be keeping on the journey, aside from this forward man who kept such a wide assortment of weapons with him. Somehow dealing with magic still gave her shivers despite being lucky enough to keep a dragon in her shop. The trouble she foresaw was likely to lay with the book, not the woman who supposedly could raise the dead. It was a very horrifying thought, corpses and skeletons wandering about. She sensed movement nearby and readied her bow just in case whatever it was happened to be dangerous.

Raven turned to face the girl a cocked his head, she was unsettling, and young too, but oddly she had some kind of ethereal beauty to her and it wasn't her that unsettled him, it was the moment his eyes caught sight of the amethyst on the front cover, it felt like it was an all seeing eye staring into his soul, he smiled at the girl though, the one who raised the dead. Her unsettling detachment was more of a method of interest for him. He grinned at her. A sinister grin revealing more about his psyche than was ever supposed to be known.

"Alice wasn't it? We were waiting for everyone, although your obviously eager there is no rush, we were asked to wait for everyone. Although we could probably survive as we are, I don't particularly want to contest with Zartear's orders"
Although she was odd she was alluring too, and her ability served him well as he could kill his victims over and over and over again. He turned back to the archer who still looked flustered and sad simply "Who else is to arrive?" He then moved over to Alice and whispered into her ear "Want to scout ahead then? But remember that before going right in we need to wait for everyone else little one, Just make sure to call my name if you see anything that is dangerous, I know you could probably handle it but I haven't killed anything in a few hours so I'd appreciate it if you would indulge me, Oh I'm Raven by the way, have fun"
He moved back to the fire and produced a small flask, taking a swig from it he attached it to a string and the string to a knife, throwing it at the knot in the tree, after striking the same point as Lourna's second arrow struck and called out "Have a drink! It's the strong stuff!".

Dekhovra was not a fan of this new land.

The grass around them was soft and luscious, evidence of fertile lands which would no doubt be perfect for farming. The city was functional enough, if not exactly to her taste- she had grown up in the countryside, and that was where she belonged. These huge, open, uninhabited plains should be an ideal place for her to settle, when their war was won. The Surahnians would be able to take this land with ease; the natives were feeble, not knowing one end of a sword from another. It was a rich island, all the reports had said, overflowing with untapped deposits of unusual crystals and the like. The forests were huge, with plentiful hunting to be had. New Surahnia was gloriously alive and varied in a way that Old Surahnia had never really been, even before the spell which had devastated it, and Dekhovra loved to imagine her future grandchildren being brought up here, joyful and untroubled.
But despite all that, this place would never be her home.

It wasn’t just her own sentiment; the island didn’t welcome them. It was full of strange and evil magics, not to mention these dragons which were so unlike anything she’d seen before. They weren’t the only things, either; she’d glimpsed all kinds of unnatural creatures in Racksom, the worst of them appearing so human, but being so wrong at the same time; people with wings like birds, or who were clearly mages like those filthy Lahrukan cowards who had defiled Surahnia. Of course, even the natives who were human were still bizarre, with their flushed pink or nut-brown skin. They could make this island New Surahnia in name easily enough, but it would take years for it to feel like New Surahnia- years Dekhovra might not have. She had always imagined herself dying at home, at least- perhaps she would be infected with the plague rot and starve to death, but she would still be home. There was no turning back now, though. All she could do was make herself at home here.

Despite her unease with the island in general, Dekhovra felt comfortable in her current situation. More than a few Surahnians had stayed behind in the conquered city of Racksom, of course, but with two of her three surviving children in the army and no partner or small children to keep house for, she had preferred the option of moving on and aiding the war effort more actively. Given her age and gender, she wasn’t always out on the battlefield, but it was easy enough to make herself useful in other ways- cooking, mending soldiers’ clothes and so on. Today, though, she was out on duty with her bow slung across her back. There were ten or so others with her, mostly archers with a commanding pair of swordsmen. Lourna had been sent ahead of the group to scout and meet the others who were joining their expedition- she spoke better Common than many- but the rest of the Surahs were moving along quickly behind her, not wanting to waste any time.

Finally, the small and rather assorted group of people came into view in the distance, Lourna easily distinguishable among the child and the somewhat ominous-looking man. The man leading their group called out a greeting in Surahnian as they approached, before addressing Alice and Raven in somewhat stilted Common as the Surahnians came to a halt at the entrance to the ruins.

Eyeing Lourna suspiciously, Dekhovra drew closer to the girl with a sharp nod of greeting. “Krishnev,” she said, sharply but not unkindly. Despite the stupidity she had shown in Jiluria, the girl was not in fact a complete failure; she had worked hard to redeem herself, which earnt some respect from Dek, if not very much. If, as it appeared, her going ahead hadn’t been a complete disaster, then that was one more point in her favour. “Do you have anything to report, child?”


OOC: Just to note that any time Dek is speaking normally, it's in Surahnian. Her common is more like. "Talk! Kill! TOMATO!"

[OOC: Surahnian is bold, common is normal.]
The girl shook her head and regained her composure before looking over to Raven. "I am not permitted to drink on duty; I must politely decline." Her attention turned to the necromancer woman who stood at the head of the stairway to the ruins and a shiver ran up her spine. What was her name again . . . ? Alice, perhaps . . . ? Yes, her name was Alice! She didn’t dare address the woman just yet for fear of butchering her name, but she gave a friendly nod and stood guard over the camp. Where was Knix? It was unlike her to be anything less than punctual, but if something had detained her it had to be of grave importance. Now and then her attention would drift back to the woman only to feel as though her eyes, as well as the book, were staring straight into her soul. At that very point she was wary of them both, but the woman was more unnerving to look at than the tome in her arms.

Seeing the woman appear and greet her formally, she gave a heartfelt salute and shook her head lightly. “Nothing has gone amiss, and with your arrival this is the entirety of the party to venture into the ruins. The young woman with the book has a very chilling presence but otherwise appears to be benign, and the man appears to be a mercenary type with little respect for personal space. He also appears to be somewhat intoxicated: in essence his behavior is not easily predicted or handled.”

Circumstances required a translator, and for now she seemed to fit the role rather well. Thus she would communicate with her fellow soldiers in their own language and with the natives as best she could in their own. At that point she stood at attention beside the ancient staircase and awaited further orders.

[OOC: Raven will abide by the same principal as Lourna]

Raven was rather shocked by the words of the girl Alice and how her style of voice did not suit her age, but he did not try and break his faked persona as he warped his voice to sound odd and deep as he said "As you wish milady, however thou art mistaken, for I was not issuing orders, simply giving you a choice to peak your interest, however now that I have received a statement as insulting as that I will just assume you have no interest of making friends and thou art in fact playing the role of heartless bitch who obsesses over a tome. At least I don't need a book to utilize my skills".

He then gets up and saunters over through the party sliding his hand over to dislodge his knife and drink from the tree, he then slinks over to the pair of ladies and states clearly in very well refined Surahnian "I enjoy the assumption that she is a little chilling however I must resent not having an understanding of personal space and being intoxicated, the stuff in the tankard is in this case mineral water, from a spring that runs through a set of mineral deposits, I enjoy a good drink as much as anyone but i know when it's time to drink and when it isn't my dear, now, would you like a drink since you have travelled so far". He leant on his back foot a little and smiled as he braced himself for some kind of stunned expression of his knowledge of the language, his skills as an emissary as well as an assassin served him well after all.

He was a little hurt by how everyone seemed to find little niggling things about him bad but it fortified his persona that much more as these weren't contracts, so he didn't needed to be liked by any one of these people. He then turned and whispered to Lourna "The only thing I have about personal space is it is Null and void when a woman such as yourself is as hot as desert sand and as majestic as a sunset, then the attempt to so say breach their castle anything goes". He laughs at this then moves around after shaking all of the squads hands and greeting them all in Surahnian he turned back to Dekhovra and smiled holding out his hand "Miss Dekhovra wasn't it? I hold great admiration for women who can hold their own, and i assume you can do the same"

As much as Lourna wanted to remain stoic, her face had turned a bright shade of red and she wanted to say something, but knew if she did it wouldn't make a difference. For a time she sort of sputtered and fumed over what he had said to her, it was ridiculous! If she were off duty and he were flirting like this, it would not have been such a huge deal, but he was disrespecting her, the archery unit, and by that extension the entirety of Surahnian culture. Nonetheless she'd try and temper her feelings instead of yelling at him like Dekhovra had just done. "Your compliments are appreciated, but you have chosen a very poor time to say them and to the wrong woman. A Surahnian woman does not have lovers, nor does she disgrace her military uniform by entertaining such ideas. You would first have to marry me to have what it is you desire, and you do not seem the type to settle down."

The least she could do was educate him a little, right? Perhaps he’d stop pursuing her so earnestly if he knew why she couldn’t respond in the way he wanted. Regardless of whether or not any rumors she heard were true, it wouldn’t do to have him despising her throughout the entirety of the journey. The last thing she needed was to make unnecessary enemies among the native population, much less ones who threw daggers like the one currently infuriating Dekhovra so easily. “Shall I venture down with a torch and light the way then? I’d rather risk injury than let a commanding officer or one of our guests run into something dangerous. Who knows what could be residing in these ruins?”

Raven was considerably less rambunctious than before, calming himself fully as he realised there weren't going to be any active companionships formed here. He walked away and spoke to the apparent commanding officer although he didn't seem particularly confident in his role, starting with a greeting to the officer quite courteously, then requesting that he could scout for the group. He then after receiving the go ahead out of courtesy asked if wanted a drink of water. After refusing as he expected the man to Raven returned to the fire and awaited the sign that we were disappearing into the depths.

He then spent the next while ignoring everyone else as people seemed to despise his faked personality. He began drinking once more from his flask and looked around not holding gazes for very long, except when it came to Lourna, he had hoped for some action within the depths as he wished to kill something and prove that he could do something to those who had issues with him.

While she wasn’t the best soldier for the job, she knew that there needed to be initiative for this to get moving. If that meant she had to strike a light and venture down with the relatively silent girl and her cursed book then so be it. Finally she struck up a light, rather than cursing the dark ignorance that surrounded her commanding officers, and marched herself down the first couple of steps before looking back a little warily. "The stairs appear to be sound. If we are to get this expedition underway, we will need someone to take the lead."

Of course when she said this, she looked at Alice with her constant companion. "Would the young lady care to lead? You seem particularly anxious to see what mysteries await at the bottom of this ancient staircase.” Maybe anxious wasn’t quite the word to use, but from the archer’s point of view it appeared to be accurate. She couldn’t see more than three steps ahead of her feet when she looked down the underground corridor, but when she moved the torch to light the way further she stepped aside. “After you, Miss Alice.” Apparently being a baker was nothing to sneeze at in terms of a civilian job: she’d built more muscle in three months working in her shop than she did in six doing military conditioning. That was her opinion, at least. Either way she was capable of handling most anything that posed a threat, provided it could be taken down with a knife or an arrow. Into the depths to greet a brand new learning experience then . . .

Being a scout and not being first down the rabbit hole?! Unthinkable. He thought carefully about this and began looking at the walls and ceiling, as he expected going into an underground area there were support beams which he saw they were free from water damage but age still affected these. He called down at the members below and said quietly "I will scout ahead from the support beams".

He then leapt an unnaturally high distance onto the one above him which had delivered a resonant creaking noise down the tunnel, but he began hopping from beam to beam which was around 7 feet in distance, sometimes making elaborate somersaults like a trapeze artist only saying excuse me as he passed over Alice's an Lourna's heads and continued on apparently into the darkness.

He didn't like it down here, it wasn't just dark, it felt dark, as if something were generating this unnatural darkness and he noticed something familiar, as if he'd felt it before, he began thinking back stopping some 10 beams down and thought about that strange girl and that book. It was odd but it wasn't in his nature to give into superstition, he had a job to do and would do it, money was all he wanted an he was sure to get it regardless.

Getting further and further from daylight was a little unsettling, but that feeling was easily overwhelmed by her amazement at how old this place had to be. The man over head was just asking for a thrashing the way he was haphazardly leaping about near the ceiling. Maybe he’d fall and realize quickly that showing off like he was had been an ill-planned idea. When at last she felt a platform underfoot instead of another step, she jammed her torch into a crack in the wall then stepped to the side and restrung her bow. Lourna began to feel a disturbing tingle running down her spine and carefully stepped around a few strange looking markings in the ground at her feet. The writing wasn’t coherent sentences, they were symbols, which made the archer shudder visibly at remembering similar ones found everywhere in her homeland.

She silently danced her way around a myriad of those little symbols and paused as she took in her surroundings. There wasn’t much to see so early in the voyage, but the fact there was anything down here to find was incredible to her. “What are these symbols all over the ground? More of your island’s magic?” The girl knew better than to expect an answer, but when the stone above them crumbled slightly and dropped onto one of the more prominent runes, she was on edge immediately and worried for the safety of the scouts ahead of her. Behind her, she could tell Dekhovra was getting frustrated, but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it. This was the worst part about not being in Surahnian territory: helplessness. The entirety of the party was at the mercy of the necromancer child and her ominous devil book. The effect of the rune was not immediately clear, which was never a good sign, but there was an echoing clatter up ahead. Willow Mother have mercy. . .