002.2 Shamal and Lyselle

[Corwin]

[21:44] <Kotono> The docks are shining and bright! The deep green water of the Sea of Sparkling Star gleams in the sunlight. Several tall and wide ships are docked on the vast and long main pier, stretching out hundreds of feet. Sailors come and go, artisans as well. A priest of Gond helps one, the hearty, black skinned man grinning as he hauls around planks of wood. To the sides several ships are being construted, build with abandon and investment. Your
[21:45] <Kotono>  investment. Your destination is at the end of the long docks, to where a new ship comes in. To where one should be soon. (More)
[21:46] <Kotono> As the cry of seagulls in the air rings in your ears, you walk down the peer. A few soldiers stand at the end, coming to attention and saluting as Lyselle and Shamal approach. One is familiar - a certain young, rakish haired guard and his mustached older partner. The youngest one blushes slightly, but doesn't lower his hand at all.
[21:48] * Shamal salutes back, though hers is somewhat lacking in military precision. "We just keep running into each other, don't we?" she notes cheerily. "Any sign of our dignitary's ship?" she asks, glancing out to sea.
[21:48] * Lyselle gives a slight smile to herself, but doesn't otherwise recognize the two guards, offering a salute back. "Who knows with the ways of the sea..."
[21:48] <Kotono> "N-no!" The younger one salutes dutifully, looking downward.
[21:49] <Kotono> "Not a thing, ma'ams," the older one says most dutifully as well, voice rock soild and calm. "Even if someone has an overactive imagination!" There's notes of scolding there, a weary look from older to younger.
[21:52] <Shamal> "Oh?" Shamal enquires curiously as she idly takes in their surroundings at this part of the dock.
[21:52] * Lyselle stifles her giggle, smiling none the less and glancing between the two guards. "It's not always so bad, just as long as they outgrow it eventually."
[21:53] <Kotono> "He thinks he saw a sea elf," The guard rolls his eyes, mustache quivering as he tries not to laugh. "Most outgrow that foolishness by the time they leave their mother's teat!"
[21:53] <Kotono> The poor young guard just hangs his head, coloring mightily. "I swear I saw it..."
[21:54] <Shamal> "While there are many unfathomable-" Shamal briefly stifles a giggle at her unintended pun, "Mysteries of the deep, I don't think a busy harbour is a place sea elves would visit much."
[21:57] * Hotaru-chan (dragomirst@225-52-77-204.sptc.mnscu.edu) has joined #evildunes
[21:57] * ChanServ sets mode: +ao Hotaru-chan Hotaru-chan
[21:57] * Lyselle (dragomirst@225-52-77-204.sptc.mnscu.edu) Quit (NickServ (GHOST command used by Hotaru-chan))
[21:57] * Hotaru-chan is now known as Lyselle
[21:59] * Lyselle just shrugs, smiling easily adn letting her hands settle on her swordbelt. "Well, maybe it was a mermaid then?" she jokes, laughing a little bit. "You haven't been very busy, have you?"
[22:00] <Kotono> "The ship is expected some time today. I hope soon," The older guard says, bland adn dutiful again as he brushes back his mustache. As he does he glances back behind him, "Mmm, shouldn't be long, Illmater willing."
[22:04] * Shamal wishes she'd brought Rin or Flopsy along if she had a long wait ahead... Oh, well, nothing else for it but to tough it out. Looking around briefly, she goes to sit on a nearby bollard, looking out at the sea and at least enjoying the view and fresh air.
[22:05] <Kotono> OOC - Spot check, Shamal.
[22:06] <Shamal> roll 1d20+7
[22:06] * Kotono sets mode: +v Serith
[22:06] * Shamal sets mode: +v Hatbot
[22:06] * Shamal sets mode: -v Serith
[22:06] <Shamal> roll 1d20+7
[22:06] * Hatbot --> "Shamal rolls 1d20+7 and gets 22."12 [1d20=15]
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[22:06] * ChanServ sets mode: +ao Hotaru-chan Hotaru-chan
[22:07] * Lyselle (dragomirst@225-52-77-204.sptc.mnscu.edu) Quit (NickServ (GHOST command used by Hotaru-chan))
[22:07] <Kotono> Yawn. An hour passes.  As the sun winds high into the noon sky, relief comes! You can see a white prowed ship on the horizon! Yet also out of the corner of your eye, you see a black shape moving in the green water, off to the side.
[22:07] * Hotaru-chan is now known as Lyselle
[22:09] * Shamal stands up and walks closer to the edge of the dock, looking down towards the water to try and identify the black shape. It's something to keep her occupied!
[22:12] <Kotono> Hm? You see it at least sixty feet down, only the barest of images even in this relatively clear water. It's going under the pier, a black shape. About five feet long or so? Give or take a foot? "Aaaah, there it is," the older guard says, snapping to attention. "Lord Khardon's vessel."
[22:12] * Lyselle turns upon Shamal's movement, following her curiously. "Something up?" she asks her companion, looking to the nature-lover.
[22:13] <Shamal> "I think it's a porpoise," Shamal tells Lyselle, continuing to follow the dark shape as it moves, leaning almost off the edge of the pier to watch it. The boat still won't arrive for a little while, after all.
[22:14] <Kotono> OOC - Spot check again, both of you.
[22:14] <Lyselle> "Do poroises normally come this close to piers?" Lyselle asks, trying to follow Shamal's vision.
[22:14] <Lyselle> roll 1d20+1
[22:14] * Hatbot --> "Lyselle rolls 1d20+1 and gets 21."12 [1d20=20]
[22:14] <Shamal> roll 1d20+7
[22:14] * Hatbot --> "Shamal rolls 1d20+7 and gets 27."12 [1d20=20]
[22:17] <Kotono> So the two look down! A bit of fortune strikes them, a bit of sunlight coming through the slatted wood of the pier. The figure rises up perhaps twenty feet. You only get a glance, but you see water blue hair and a head of some sort before it dives back down, out of view. You think...it was just a moment, lingering in your minds.
[22:18] <Shamal> "Ah..." Shamal gasps quietly. "I'm not sure it's a porpoise after all..." she glances briefly back at the younger guard who claimed to see a sea elf. "Excuse me, did the sea elf you saw have blue hair?" she asks.
[22:19] <Kotono> "Uh..." The younger guard blinks, "I didn't get that good a look...wait, what?"
[22:20] <Shamal> "No reason," Shamal smiles guilelessly, before turning her attention back to the water. "I wonder what it's doing, here..." she murmurs more softly.
[22:20] <Kotono> "Eh? Don't tell me that this kid's addled brains ahve gotten to you?" The older guard sighs, "Last week it was about those damned ruins and that they had a passage to the heavens. Next week it'll be that Lord Salman is descended from Lathander himself!"
[22:21] <Shamal> "Let's not go that far. But there is definitely something swimming down there that isn't a simple animal," Shamal confirms.
[22:22] <Kotono> "See?" The younger one starts to smile in triumph, as the ship sails closer.
[22:22] <Kotono> "Feh..." The older one shakes his head, glancing out to the sea. "Sir Khardon should arrive soon!"
[22:24] <Shamal> "Yes, I suppose if it's just having a swim then we can leave it alone," Shamal decides, straightening up and turning her attention to the approaching vessel.
[22:36] <Kotono> So the ship approaches! It's grand white sails nearly block out the sun, pulling up to the dock. A landing board comes, passengers ready to disembark. The two guards stand at attention, waiting.
[22:37] * Lyselle draws herself, her casual posture tightened into one of formality and attention, though not as stiff as their male companions. Rank hath its priveliges? Lyselle awaits their charge, smiling openly.
[22:38] * Shamal takes her position alongside the landing board, almost succeeding at standing to attention after taking a second to straighten out her hat as she waits for their distinguished guest.
[22:40] <Kotono> Down the plank he comes. He's not tall at all - in fact, one could lose track of him. HE's not even quite 5 and a half feet tall, yet his bearing is confident. He wears a rich dark blue mantle, fancy clothes of fine make and material on his slender body. He walks quickly, soft boots making little sound on the noisy wood plank. His face is sharp, like a hawk stalking a rat and with a long, protruding nose. "Aaaaaah," he stretches, a sly gr
[22:40] <Kotono>  "Aaaaaah," he stretches, a sly grin on his face. "The ol' Bear couldn't be bothered showing up himself?"
[22:41] <Shamal> "Commander Oberuth sends his apologies for being detained, Colonel Khardon," Shamal replies after snapping off a reasonable facsimile of a salute.
[22:44] * Lyselle smiles pleasently in the manner normative to a courtier, polite and facial. "He sends his greetings...one might say warmest, but that wouldn't particularly fit to Commander Oberuth's demeanor," she remarks familiarly after her salute, hands resting down again on her swordbelt. "Welcome back to Balmuria, Colonel."
[22:46] <Kotono> "Of course, my lady," he smiles to both, "It's been entirely too long. I'd forgotten what the smell of nearby Malmuth was...aaaah." He looks about once, then starts to walk down the pier. "Would the lovely ladies be adverse to introducing yourselves?"
[22:48] <Shamal> "Cadet Shamal Velka, sir," Shamal replies with a warm smile as she falls in step with the colonel.
[22:49] <Lyselle> "Cadet Lyselle o-, Armasea, sire," Lyselle offers, smiling over the slip of language.
[22:50] <Kotono> roll 1d20+15
[22:50] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+15 and gets 30."12 [1d20=15]
[22:52] <Kotono> "Aaaah." He bows to both, a smooth motion and sweep. "A pleasure hence reserved only to those so blessed by the Gods...aaah." Taking in a deep breath of air, "Armasea? My Lady." He says, a note of respect as he inclines his head, before he smiles and goes to a looser, more casual banter. "It's an added pleasure to see you alive and doing well for yourself."
[22:55] <Lyselle> Lyselle looks a little taken aback, eyes widening for half a second before she sketches a slight bow. "Ahhh...thank you, I just wish things could be ebtter for Armasea itself, rather than just me," she offers quietly.
[22:55] <Lyselle> *better
[22:55] * Shamal raises an eyebrow, not having heard much of where Lyselle is from, but deigns not to interrupt the conversation.
[22:56] <Kotono> "Aaaah, such is the vagaries of life." So he walks, the two guards starting to follow as well. He looks onward, at the fortress city ahead, the last bastion between the Baronies and the Empire. "Still, it's good to see you. I haven't heard the name Armasea..." He bows his head a moment, thinking, "In nearly ten years? Longer?"
[23:00] * Lyselle (dragomirst@225-52-77-204.sptc.mnscu.edu) Quit (-=SysReset 2.53=-)
[23:04] * Lyselle (dragomirst@225-52-77-204.sptc.mnscu.edu) has joined #evildunes
[23:04] * ChanServ sets mode: +ao Lyselle Lyselle
[23:06] <Lyselle> "Probably not since my Uncle..." Lyselle pauses, forcing her smile for a moment until she can focus past it, the expression warming quickly again. "Armasea hasn't been at large for about that long."
[23:07] <Kotono> "Yes...yes. I remember meeting your father once. A shame." Khardon says in light condolence, "Ended up in the military?"
[23:10] <Lyselle> "An Armasean abroad would end up many other places?" Lyselle points out idly, smiling warmly again, taking an idle glance at Shamal. "I couldn't well take to much else with my upbringing."
[23:11] * Shamal seems content enough to walk along with a placid smile on her face, not getting involved in the current conversation.
[23:12] <Kotono> "Aaah, a fair haired maiden in a rosy castle room, surrounded by decadent wealth in Malmuth or in a new country house, served by dozens in the United Baronies?" He spreads his arms out, "But no matter. Yes, I suppose this suits you."
[23:14] * Lyselle nods, ducking her head and blushing a little at the...was it a compliment? She couldn't totally be sure. "It's easier than giving up the name to continue it away from home."
[23:15] <Kotono> AT the end of the dock you reach the stone quays at last. Khardon stops here a moment, stretching again. "Yes, yes. I must admit between you and Miss Velka, the fair haired beauty of the United Baronies has brought me to nearly tears."
[23:16] <Shamal> "You're too kind," Shamal titters, holding her hand over her mouth for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking, Colonel, where have you been these past few years?"
[23:17] * Lyselle blushes demurely, nodding and staying quiet. Compliments were compliments, and from such a man...ah, inappropriateness was hardly likely.
[23:18] <Kotono> "Aaah, around the world. To the highest mountain! To the lowest valley, to the Heavens and the very Peak of the Great Mount Celestia! To the deepest pit of the Nine Hells, where demonspawn roam like children at play...aaah," Smiling broad as a tiger, "Merely about, seeing the world. Searching."
[23:19] <Shamal> "Searching for what? If it's not too forward to ask..." Shamal presses, albeit in an excessively friendly manner.
[23:20] <Kotono> "One of the rare gifts of the elder magi, or of the gods. A magical artifact!" So he smirks now, "My ladies, would you wish to see something forged by the very hands of immortals?"
[23:21] <Shamal> "Oh?" Shamal does indeed perk up. "I suppose I might have a professional interest in such a thing," she allows, not concealing her enthusiasm all that well.
[23:23] <Lyselle> "I'd be very interested..." Lyselle agreed, smiling happily with the topic change from how she and Shamal are model female citizens...
[23:24] <Kotono> With a flick of his wrist, a small golden dagger appears in his hand. It's gold, pure gold and glittering in the sunlight. You hear gasps from the guards at that, surely worth a tenyear set of their wages in the least! Lighting and fire crackle over it like rivulets of fluid. "The Third Resort is it's name."
[23:27] <Shamal> "Oooh," Shamal breathes in softly. "Forgive my curiousity, but I simply must inspect this more closely," she apologises, before murmuring a brief incantation and flexing her fingers a bit as she casts a spell to let her see magic.
[23:28] <Lyselle> "Oh my..." Lyselle murmurs, eyes widening slowly as she inspects the dagger, though having no mind herself for such things arcane, simply admiring the craftsmanship and aesthetics of the weapon.
[23:29] <Kotono> (1st round - there is indeed a magical aura around it.) "Oh, a spellcaster?" he says in mild surprise, "Perhaps the old Bear really is busy, if he's sending you to meet me instead fo himself. My fortunes rise."
[23:30] <Shamal> "I wasn't joking about the professional interest," Shamal smiles earnestly, before focusing on the dagger. "Sadly not a spellcaster skilled enough to make a weapon such as this..."
[23:32] <Kotono> (2nd round. There is one unified arua, and it's extremely powerful magic.) "Those are the rare of the rare. But with seeing this, surely your craft will begin to become as skilled and as beautiful as yourself?"
[23:34] <Shamal> "My but you are a flatterer, Colonel," Shamal blushes faintly at his words. "Perhaps one day, though... By Mielikki, but this is a powerful aura - I've never seen anything like it!" she marvels, all too easily distracted.
[23:34] <Shamal> roll 1d20+9 spellcraft go
[23:34] * Hatbot --> "Shamal rolls 1d20+9 spellcraft go and gets 18."12 [1d20=9]
[23:36] <Kotono> (3rd round: You can't figure out what schools the aura is.) "Yes...yes it is..." he murmurs, flicking his wrist so that the dagger vanishes again. "Would you like to hear the tale of how I found it, my ladies?"
[23:36] <Shamal> "Of course," Shamal smiles cheerily, hiding her disappointment at failing to decipher the aura. She still has a long way to go...
[23:37] <Lyselle> "Verily...it must be quite a tale for such an artifact," Lyselle agrees, smiling gamely despite the lack of attention. Did she even want it? Maybe!
[23:37] <Kotono> "Come then! I'll lead you to my old favorite tavern. It's been a long time! If you would," he glances back to the two guards, "I believe you may return to your stations," he says, slipping into a commanding voice.
[23:37] <Kotono> The two exchange looks, but the older one quickly bucks up. "Sir?" hepauses a moment, glancing at Lyselle.
[23:39] <Lyselle> "Hmm?" Lyselle blinks, looking back at the guards with a raised eyebrow.
[23:40] * Shamal catches the hesitation, before stepping in. "You're dismissed - take the rest of the afternoon off," she smiles to the two guardsmen.
[23:41] <Kotono> "Thank you!" The younger one quickly salutes, going off quickly. The older one smiles just a little bit, "May you be careful and safe, ma'ams."
[23:42] * Signum is now known as Makoto
[23:42] <Shamal> "Always," Shamal sees them off with a cheery wave before returning her attention to Colonel Khardon. "You were going to suggest a drinking establishment, sir?"
[23:43] <Kotono> "Indeed. Shall we," he offers, taking the lead now.
[23:43] * Lyselle simply smiles, folding her arms across her waist, nodding. "Please."
Session Time: Wed Feb 07 00:00:00 2007
[00:02] <Kotono> So you walk down the streets! Khardon is in no hurry, whistling as you head down the streets. Soon you reach the main road, busy and bustling as always. The inn ahead is a nice one - Liberty Point. "Oh, the name's changed. Just as well considering the last one," Khardon muses aloud. "The Star of Malmuth is such an unbefitting name these days."
[00:04] <Shamal> "It got changed not long after we seceded," Shamal nods, recognising the inn. "Makes good business sense to capitalise on the mood."
[00:04] <Lyselle> "...It would be," Lyselle agrees, smiling as she follows, not so familiar with such an establishment. "Must have been around for quite a number of years..."
[00:06] <Kotono> "It was barely much - there wasn't too much here before the war ended and all that," Khardon notes as you head inside. It's a nice place - taxidermy and animal heads hang about, freshly cleaned tables and sweet serving women. Khardon looks about briefly, a rather irritated clerk wiping his hands with a dishcloth over and over at the front desk.
[00:07] * Shamal makes a somewhat distasteful expression at the taxidermy on display, but keeps any unkind comments to herself.
[00:08] * Lyselle looks curious between taxidermy and compulsive greeters, focusing back on her companions for now. She has to wonder if their commander had some forethought here, or if it was completely coincidence.
[00:09] <Kotono> "Can I help you," he says, a note of disgusteness still in his voice. "Oh good, you're not HIM again."
[00:11] * Shamal leaves it to the colonel to order. She sure isn't paying, having been left with barely enough to live on after blowing all her money on magic supplies. The life of a witch is fraught with peril...
[00:11] <Kotono> "Table and drinks, what would my ladies want," Khardon smiles at this, taking out a small cloth pouch, a few gold coins placed down in front of the clerk.
[00:12] <Shamal> "I'll have white wine, please," Shamal smiles serenely in reply. It's nice to have a treat she couldn't afford on her salary otherwise...
[00:14] <Lyselle> "Northern red," Lyselle hazards, her smile warm and only faintly tinted by remnant blush. The wine of her home regions...it had been a while since she could indulge such.
[00:15] <Kotono> "It'll be along." The coins vanish as they're taken, "Go take a table."
[00:17] * Shamal looks around for a suitably empty table where they can converse in peace.
[00:20] <Kotono> Most of the tables are empty. One in the far corner has a few men, and old man and a girl with a hat on, obscuring her face and plain clothes. Besides that, lots of empty tables to choose from.
[00:22] * Shamal goes to grab an out of the way table that happens to be empty, staying upright until her superior officer sits first. She might be a lady, but he's a colonel!
[00:22] * Lyselle follows Khardon, staying demurely formal in the same regard as Shamal. He's a colonel, and probably a lord somewhere...and well, she's just a landless Countess.
[00:23] <Kotono> He sits about midway from the corner tot he other wall, kicking his feet up. "Aaah, sit, sit."
[00:24] * Shamal obligingly does so. "So, you were going to tell us the tale of how you acquired the Third Resort?" she prods nicely.
[00:25] * Lyselle sits carefully, coiling herself into the chair and leaning only slightly forward, offering an endearing, interested smile. "It should certainly be quite interesting..."
[00:26] <Kotono> "Yes. Far, far, far to the north..." So he begins, leaning back and half closing his eyes. "There is a land of ice adn snow. Nothing but it, not a single blade of grass grows there. The only food are great white bears that roam and innocent creatures called seals."
[00:28] <Shamal> "Sounds very inhospitable," Shamal muses as she listens, sitting with a slight slouch as she relaxes. Of course, she's no stranger to hunting and killing her meals, but it's really not the thing to drop into civilised conversation, is it?
[00:30] <Kotono> "It's called the End of the World by the few natives. They say that the Gods live beyond it. I don't know if that's true, but...." He smiles, flicking his wrist again. Nothing appears, but he seems satistifed with that answer. "I'd found some old texts that talked about a long gone city there, ruled by a powerful archmage."
[00:31] * Lyselle listens, close and attentive with her violet eyes fixtured on Khardon's movements and story telling. Lyselle smiles, simply enjoying and greeting to the old commander.
[00:32] <Shamal> "And that city is where you found the dagger?" Shamal asks.
[00:33] <Kotono> "Yes. Frozen under a mile of ice, a week's worth of ice caverns traversed. But I found it - and this on the throne. But not unguarded. The creature there...mage, have you ever heard of a golem?"
[00:33] <Kotono> He smiles at this as your drinks come. He takes a cup of water, drinking it down.
[00:35] * Shamal accepts her wine and takes a brief sip before setting the goblet down and nodding. "A creation of stone with a bound elemental eternally driving it to unthinkingly follow its creator's commands?" she replies, before smiling quirkily, "Forgive me for waxing dramatic. I so rarely get to discuss these things."
[00:36] * Lyselle sips her wine, carefully relishing the flavor of more northerly vinyards, not attacking it. Hardly does she have time or money for such enjoyments, her expression warming to the colonel. "Sounds like a forbidding and dangerous creature," she offers softly, raising her eyebrows. "Yet you are here in one piece, m'lord. You certainly bested the creation...?"
[00:38] <Kotono> "Oh no. They're worth being dramatic about. Damned thing. It wasn't made of stone, though - of ice harder than steel. I even snuck up and struck it's back with my best blow, and it barely was phased. It's fists crushed the floor like glass, and it's mouth spewed winds cold enough to freeze a human alive! A nightmare of rare magic...but I won, yes." Pride seeps into his voice, warming and embolding. "I leapt up to the top of the throne! I
[00:38] <Kotono> "I leapt up to the top of the throne! I took the Third Resort and made a great lunge for it's head! In a single blow I sliced it into two!"
[00:40] * Shamal gives soft but earnest applause. "You certainly put our battles with goblins around here to shame, Colonel. It sounds like a dangerous foe, indeed. I take it the creator was long gone?"
[00:41] <Lyselle> "Such prowess..." Lyselle's not purring, not quite, as she leans forward, caught for a moment on the crest of the tale. "Such a tale certainly could hardly be matched anywhere in Balmuria by those living."
[00:41] <Kotono> "Very much so. After that, the forgotten castle was quiet." He beams at that, "I've never had a weapon like this. Elemental fire and lighting strike down anyone it slices, and it can even cut stone to the maximum."
[00:41] <Kotono> As he talks, you hear someone call for red wine, quite loudly.
[00:43] * Shamal ignores such distractions. "I'd say you earned such a prize for risking your life so," she beams approvingly. "If only Balmuria had more men such as yourself."
[00:44] <Kotono> "Then it's good I've returned! Aaah..." Stretching back another time, "Ol' Bear chose well indeed."

[Corwin]

[19:55] <Kotono> "I told you I knew your father..." He trails off, still looking upward. "I brought you here to unwind and to treat you, since I know the Ol' Bear probably doesn't pay you enough. Also as a memory to your father..." He sighs, "I hate being so forthright...Could you pretend you didn't hear that, Shamal?"
[19:55] * Shamal blushes a bit at the direction the conversation was taking, before blinking at that last request. Still, she knows the correct response to such questions! "Heard what, sir?" she replies innocently.
[19:56] <Kotono> "Thank you, beautiful soldier of Balmuria." With a wink he looks back, cocky smile making a quick and forceful return.
[19:58] <Shamal> "Think nothing of it, sir," Shamal replies with a smile, taking another sip of her wine. Deciding to change the subject, however... "If you don't mind my asking, however - if that's the Third Resort, what were the first and second?"
[19:59] * Lyselle finds her cheeks brightly and almost immediately lit red, coughing a little, though there's a noticeable slump to her shoulders. "I barely knew father," she whispers entirely to herself, shrugging and letting it go at that, taking a longer sip from her cup as she looks away, around the bar.
[20:00] <Kotono> "I don't know. All I know about it came from the sage I paid to research it." He shrugs at that, sipping at his water. "Your father? He was a soldier doing what he could in a difficult time. I was proud to know him."
[20:05] <Lyselle> "Mmmmm," Lyselle hums, offering a faint if sad smile. "It's hard to understand, but I suppose I might later, much later," she agrees, enjoying her wine. "When there's a count, I'll probably understand father better."
[20:06] <Kotono> "You raise a good point...A First and Second resort? If this is merely the Third Resort..." Khardon rubs his chin as he thinks, lowering his eyes.
[20:06] <Kotono> "Ah yes. You will one day. Your father did what he did for his own reasons, ones he felt were valuable." So he smiles understandingly, "Even if he's probably turning over in his grave that such a lovely daughter is still unwed?"
[20:09] <Lyselle> "He'd turn over in his grave if I took any of the proposals and consigned Armasea to another family, too," Lyselle snickers, another, longer swallow of the deep red wine following her first sips. "Maybe when I take it back. But...mmm, a first and second? Spear and sword? Or the like?""
[20:10] <Kotono> "Perhaps. A dagger is a weapon only a sneaky thief uses. Company excepted," he smirks, putting his glass down. "A spear, a sword, a mace, a bow and arrow? Who knows? If they're of this potency as is this dagger, they'd be worth a kingdom if you had one to sell."
[20:11] <Shamal> "It would follow that a Third Resort would likely be more powerful than a First Resort," Shamal muses. "For most people, anyway, since playing your strongest card first can be a foolish move."
[20:12] <Lyselle> "Withholding your force at the same time can spell doom  for a battle if your enemy has too much momentum and advantage..." Lyselle muses, offering it with a small shrug. "Could mean anything, I suppose."
[20:13] <Kotono> "Then a Last Resort would be something to see!" Khardon kicks back, "Well, matters for the sages and those with minimal attachment to growing old to find out. To that, cheers!" Khardon takes his glass and raises it, drinking the cool water down.
[20:14] <Shamal> "To reckless adventure," Shamal grins, raising her goblet as well.
[20:14] * Lyselle raises her glass, snickering. "To the future," she agrees.
[20:16] <Kotono> With that Khardon finishes his drink, rising. "Well then. I'll pay for another bottle for the two of you, and I shall see you around. I'll be busy for a little bit, but Lyselle? Talk to the Old Bear if you want to catch me. We can talk about your family."
[20:16] <Kotono> With a pause he goes by Shamal, smiling, "You as well..." he says fondly, "But until then, may the Gods smile on you."
[20:18] <Shamal> "Thank you, sir," Shamal smiles, taking another sip of her wine as he departs, before leaning towards Lyselle. "Bad luck, there," she commiserates sympathetically.
[20:20] * Lyselle nods to Khardon, offering a smile and settling as he leaves. "...Yeah," she snorts a little, giving an easier smile to Shamal. "Were you trying, too?" she asks curiously, raising an eyebrow at her fellow blonde.
[20:21] <Shamal> "I was mostly just being nice, but..." she blushes a little, "I wouldn't have put up much resistance, no."
[20:23] * Lyselle gives Shamal a frank look, snickering a little. "Mmm," she agrees, shaking her head. "So now what, we get drunk and collapse on expensive wine?" she asks curiously, trying to keep from laughing.,
[20:25] <Shamal> "I'm not letting this go to waste!" Shamal insists, taking a more forceful gulp of her wine. "I already spent all my money from selling the goblin's equipment - it's looking to be another magic berry month for the Velka house," she laments over where a lot of their meals are going to be coming from.
[20:30] <Lyselle> "I haven't spent mine just yet...though I should," Lyselle sighs, draining the rest of her glass, reaching over and patting Shamal. "We could go hunting...your dog was good with the goblins, certainly...deer shouldn't be too difficult."
[20:32] <Shamal> "Yes, that's always something worth doing when duty doesn't loom large," Shamal agrees. "Have to see what the next few days have for us - for now, though, let's just drink and relax!" she declares.