[27] Endings

[Merc]

Session Start: Sun Nov 21 16:50:24 2010

<Merc> It takes a few days of traveling to get out of Vyrdam, but all of them can breathe easier once they're well inside the Adallian borders and on the way to the capital to let the king know their mission was a success.
<Merc> OOC: To head to the capital you have to pass near your hometown. Any interest in stopping there, saying hi to people, or just want to go around and hurry to king and double back for greetings and all that later?
<Maya_Mahabala> OOC: King first, greetings second
<Aleph> OOC: Aleph would rather see the king first.  He's got no real incentive to return to the hometown.
<Maya_Mahabala> "It feels like forever since we've been back in civilization," Maya stretched out, walking toward the capital with the rest.
<Aleph> "I'm just glad we didn't go on the ship this time."
* Anassia has changed back into her dress, walking along with the others. "I think I missed the weather," she comments idly. "I still think a ship would have gotten us back faster."
<Aleph> "...please.  Just...no more ships."
* Aleph has gotten to really clean himself up, finally.
<Maya_Mahabala> "A ship isn't going to kill you, Aleph," She smirked a bit, looking to see if they could just enter the capital or there was another trade line.
<Merc> ooc: ship would probably have been longer actually.
<Anassia> "It's not like we would get attacked twice in a row..."
<Aleph> "Perhaps not, but I don't want to relive that hell."
<Merc> It doesn't take too long to arrive at the capital, helped by the decision to not stop by in town to say hi to everyone else. Adallia the capital was already in sight for them. While there was a bit of that trade line that Maya expected to see, you probably could just walk past them and get in after explaining yourselves.
<Aleph> "Well, at least this time we're not getting sidetracked by people starting arguments with angry merchants."
<Anassia> "We could do it anyway, though," Anassia says, grinning over toward him.  "For old times' sake."
* Maya_Mahabala giggled a bit at that as they simply waited their way through the line and then headed in.  "Yeah, he was certainly a trip."
<Jack_> "How much do you think our reward'll be?"
* Aleph snrks.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Hopefully a lot," Maya grinned, not a little bit greedy.
<Aleph> "...you know, I never imagined how things would be if I got a lot of money."
<Anassia> "All about the money, I see?" she asks, smirking at the others.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Too much lazing with the cows?" She smiled, picturing picking up some new outfits.
<Aleph> "Too much lazing on rooftops.  Or occasionally being distracted."
<Aleph> "Or drunk."
<Jack_> "Or all of the above?"
<Merc> The group is barely stopped at the gate, and onward they go to the castle, unempeded! It is not until they arrive at the castle gates that they're forced to wait a bit as one of the guards heads in to check that you are allowed to enter, neither of the two guards recognizing your group.
<Maya_Mahabala> "So, what are you guys planning to do after the fun?" Maya started wondering, already having her mind made up to keep traveling.  It was exciting.
* Anassia can't help but shrug slightly. She acn't expect everyone to just recognise them. "I dunno," she admits, shrugging again.
<Jack_> "Depends on how big the reward is."
<Maya_Mahabala> "That's just like you," She teased a bit.  "Your parents are probably worried about you though."
<Aleph> "Not sure myself.  Might just start wandering here and there.  Better than watching crops or livestock anyway."
<Anassia> "Mhh," Anassia replies, flatly.
<Merc> The guard comes rushing out hurriedly, and bows to you as he's joined by a more familiar face, that of Lord Anoire, the king's brother. "Ah, so you've made it back!" he says with a warm smile. "I don't know what answers you lot found, but the hostilities along the border seem to have all but vanished! Good job!"
<Merc> He motions for all of you to follow him, as he starts heading back towards the king's hall once you're all with him.
* Aleph follows, lagging near Maya.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Maybe you should come along," She playfully teased Aleph, turning to pay attention to Lord Anoire and following him.  She didn't have much reason to be shy with the court.  They were heroes now after all.
* Anassia bows to the prince after he arrives, before following behind the prince.
<Aleph> "Maybe I will."
<Merc> ooc: I assume you mean lord, not prince, Anassia =p
* Maya_Mahabala smiles a bit back at him at that, still playing hard to catch but not pushing him away.
<Anassia> ooczz; I did; brain left for a momenmt
<Merc> As they pass through the door into the king's hall, trumpets ring and the king rises with a smile from his throne, while his son the prince waves heartily to Jack with a call of, "Look father, it's Sir Jack and his band!" even as all the nobles in the room turn to look at your group and clap.
<Aleph> Aleph grumbles a bit at his marginalization
* Maya_Mahabala smiles at the kid, waving at the nobles as she heads toward the throne with them.
* Jack_ bows
<Anassia> "Sir Jack?" Anassia asks the others out of the side of her mouth even as she smiles self-consciously toward the assembled nobles.
<Jack_> "Your majesty."
<Merc> "Welcome, all of you. I'm sure my brother has already told you that we no longer seem to find ourselves at war with Vyrdam. I'm sure you have some tale to share how your information finding mission turned out quite this successful!"
<Merc> The king says as he prods for some answers, though pretty pleased with the results apparently.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, I think the easiest way is to say, a wizard had too much time on his hands and Vyrdam breeds backstabbers like livestock," She said simply, explaining nothing.
<Aleph> "Yeah.  Long story short," Aleph starts,  "cutting out the seasickness and other traveling problems, there was a third party manipulating tensions between the two.  Some guy by the name of Ranus."
<Anassia> "Suffice to say, he shouldn't be causing any problems for anyone anymore..." she doesn't see the point in mentioning the amulet around her neck.  Or the castle they kindof/sortof inherited.  Through blood.
<Aleph> ...or the dead lizards.
<Aleph> ...or the altercation with the prince and his guards.
<Merc> Confused whispering amongst the nobles, nobody familiar with the name of Ranus. Neither is the king apparently, as he nods at the information with a frown. "The name is not familiar to me, though treachery amongst Vyrdam's house is. Adallia split off so long ago from them for a reason after all. Still, whatever your actions with this Ranus fellow, we are all glad that it has stopped a war from breaking out," the king says.
<Merc> "This calls for another feast! One without my brother getting poisoned and I blamed for it, I hope!" Lord Anoire says in jest, and while some nobles laugh, most seem to find the joke a little awkward to laugh along to.
* Aleph snrks. "I...think that was a bit too soon."
* Anassia quirks an eyebrow at the joke slightly. "So long as we don't have to hunt some plants, I'm good."
<Merc> "A feast sounds wonderful, as does a reward for Adallia's latest batch of heroes," the king says, as the crowd goes quiet while the king motions for his son, who brings up a small case and opens it, revealing some silver badges with Adallia's symbol. "All of you are granted the title of Knight of Adallia, which this emblem you can wear as proof, wherever you might go in the future. (ooc:more)
<Merc> In addition, following our feast tonight, I will ensure you all receive a monetary reward large enough that you can retire and live off of in peace for the rest of your days if you so wish."
* Aleph raises an eyebrow in surprise
<Aleph> ...and then his jaw drops
<Merc> "Of course, if you wish to stay in the service of Adallia, all the better!" Captain Avriks chips in with a laugh.
* Anassia blinks a few times in surprise. Even with the inspecific nature of the monentary reward, that's... "...wow."
* Maya_Mahabala grins.  "Well, Adallia's always my home...but I'm going to go traveling," Maya explained.
<Jack_> "I've always wanted to retire..."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Really?  You seem too young for it," She teased.  "But I guess not everyone lives riskily."  She smiled.
<Anassia> "Did you ever really have a job to retire /from/, Jack?"
* Aleph snrks. "Retiring in that sleepy town already?"
<Jack_> "Well, I did a little bit of everything, a Jack of all trades, if you will."
<Merc> "Sir Jack can stay and teach me how to fight and lead!" The prince suggests.
<Merc> The king looks like he's actually considering the idea!
<Aleph> "..."
<Anassia> "I am sure there's nothing he could teach you, m'Lord..." Anassia says wrily
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm, Going to at least go home to say goodbye?"  Maya was a little less belittling there.  Still, it was weird thinking of Jack staying around to responsibly do anything.
<Jack_> "Of course, I did live there for quite a while by my standards."
<Aleph> "...Something tells me that they were saying 'good riddance' after I left the first time."  Aleph snrks.
<Anassia> "Seems that's traditonal,"
<Aleph> "And thus I'd come back to booing and jeers."  Aleph keeps on trying to joke about his place in the village
<Maya_Mahabala> "Hey, we're heroes now.  They don't get to jeer," Maya teased, ruffling his curly hair.
* Aleph doesn't have curly hair. :P
<Anassia> "I'm sure that they won't mind you returning that much Aleph," she says, grinning to him.  "Maybe they'll be willing to give your cell back, even."
<Aleph> "...I'd rather not."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, let's talk more at the feast," She smiled, taking the king's offer of royal housing while they were here and going to freshen up.  OOC: LEaving the scene so we can timeskip :)
<Aleph> "Indeed, let's."
* Anassia heads off as well; freshening up sounds nice, after the travelling
* Aleph just hopes he's not stuck in the unbelievably fancy clothes again.
<Merc> The banquet goes well, it's somehow more impressive than the one you got when you rescued the prince, with a lot of delicious food and stories to share, about slaves, dinosaurs, princes and demons. Afterwards, the group collect their reward and start heading back towards Ferune. It'll be great to see family again! Or in the case of those without it, it'll be great to rub some faces in!
<Aleph> Also a hatred of reptiles.
<Aleph> Let's not forget the hatred of reptiles.
* Anassia is quiet on the return trip to home, clearly lost in thought
<Maya_Mahabala> "Need help with your family?" Maya wasn't totally unsympathetic, noticing how much they'd been opposed earlier.
<Aleph> "...yeah.  I forgot how much of assholes they were to you on the way out."
<Jack_> "What? I seem to remember them being fairly supportive..."
<Anassia> "No, Maya, I don't think you could help with this, really," she says softly, before eyeing Aleph slightly.
<Merc> "Well, you do raise undead abominations back to life...or unlife?" Elise notes with a frown. While she's gotten used to it, she'll probably never get fully behind it!
<Anassia> "And?" Anassia asks, quirking an eyebrow at Elise
<Aleph> "...I guess we should leave Anassia's family to her, really.  Not our problem."  Aleph shrugs
<Anassia> "..thanks, though," she says, brushing some hair from her face.
<Aleph> "Sorry, though I still think they were pretty bad to you."
<Maya_Mahabala> "It's exotic," Maya explained.  "Good luck, Anassia...You can always come with us if...things go poorly," She waved to the girl, glancing over.  "Oh, I definitely need to pick up some new clothes.  Hiking through the mud for so long ruined my dancing dresses," She smiled, eying the tailor as they walked by.
<Anassia> "It wasn't too bad," she says, shrugging.  "And I'm sure it won't go that bad..."
<Aleph> "Need help choosing?"  Aleph suggests, trying to tease back
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm, maybe," She grinned.  "You should get a new one too, Anassia."
<Navilee> "Maybe later," she says softly.  "I'm going hold off on spending any of that money for now."
* Aleph snrks. "Hm...maybe I'll get something as well, come to think about it..."
<Aleph> "What would you think I'd look good in, Maya?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "Hmm, well, alright.  It's just a small bit," She grinned.  "I think you could do good with a vest," She nodded.  "In red."
* Aleph snrks. "Not the first thing that comes to mind, I admit"
<Aleph> "Well, let's go, I guess.  Perhaps we can hit the bar later?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "It'll go with your hair.  You can be a classic traveling robin hood," She smirked, nodding walking into a store.
* Aleph pauses for a bit, blinking. "...I...uh...see?" before following Maya in
<Maya_Mahabala> "What, you've never thought of dressing to be a ravishing noble?"  She wondered.
<Aleph> "Not really."  Aleph shakes his head.  "Too focused on a few other things as of recent and whatnot."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, why not try it.  It'll be a dignified look for you," She walked over to the men's clothes, tossing a few expensive ones at him.
<Aleph> "Gah!"  He catches them--one in the face, before peeling it off and starting toward the changing room.  "Sure thing, though I doubt that'll instantly make me act dignified."  he grins, trying for a subtle grab of Maya's butt as he passes by her
<Maya_Mahabala> She let's him almost get near, swaying her hips just out of the way.  "Oh, no, you I suppose not." She smirked.
* Aleph heads toward the changing room...later coming out with...red vest on over all of the tan/brown stuff he's wearing
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm, no, no.  Put on the rest of it," She'd piled up a fair amount of clothing for him to try out.
<Aleph> "Hey, you just said the vest."  Aleph snrks
<Aleph> "Well...might as well."  Aleph brings the rest of the clothes in the changing room as he spends significantly more time changing this time.
<Maya_Mahabala> She sat down on a couch in the small building, waiting a little as she gazed over some of the outfits.  She could be patient after all.  It'd be more fun watching his face go red.
* Aleph comes out in...one of the outfits she picked out. complete with the red vest.
<Aleph> "Ah...you sure this works with the shorts.  And the fact that my shirt doesn't reach all the way down?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm," She giggled.  "I think Jack's more the partially clad type than you."
<Aleph> "...just hoping you didn't expect me to wear one of...those...things..."
* Aleph still has nightmares from the image of Jack in the mankini
<Aleph> "...besides, I'm pretty sure I look better than him."  He pouts
<Maya_Mahabala> "Oh definitely not," She stuck her tongue out blanching at the thought.
* Aleph heads into the dressing room, going through another changing session...
<Aleph> ...and comes out.  "Uh...I don't think -this- much green looks that good on me."
<Aleph> "There was also a feathered hat in there, but...no, that seemed like it'd look too silly on me."  he comments to Maya
* Aleph is dressed in a tunic, set of pants, and whatnot that is...nothing but varied shades of green. And of course another red vest
<Maya_Mahabala> "mmm, just a little, but more a good direction for you."  She smiled.  "Just work out a bit more," She brushed a hand against his arm.
<Aleph> "I can't be that out of shape, can I?  I mean, you'd be surprised how difficult a bow is to use..."
* Aleph steps back awkwardly a bit at the arm brushing, blushing slightly as he heads back into the fitting room
<Maya_Mahabala> "No, you're not THAT out of shape," She laughed, he was delightfully timid really.
<Aleph> More time passes as he changes, before a disbelief-filled "...how am I supposed to wear this?" can be heard from the room
<Aleph> ...a few more minutes, and then Aleph emerges, wearing an odd getup--that seemed to have an odd loincloth/skirt combo.  "Uh...I think some of the clothes got mixed up there."
<Maya_Mahabala> "...maybe!"  Maya shook her head.  "I don't really go for cross dressing men, Aleph," She shook her head.
<Aleph> "I don't go for skirts myself.  This feels too open for me..."  he comments as he walks back in
<Aleph> ...before walking out in what seems like a tuxedo, holding an opera mask.  "...This...really doesn't feel comfortable.  And I'm not sure I'd feel right wearing this on my face."
<Maya_Mahabala> "No, that's too far.  You're not a fop, I hope," She giggled.
<Maya_Mahabala> She pulled up a silver threaded blouse that left almost nothing to the imagination over her.  "What do you think?"
<Aleph> He stares for a second...
<Aleph> ...and then his face turns red.  Very red.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Definitely worth getting," She smiled, putting it in her own pile, as large as his was already, despite her not going into the dressing room.
<Aleph> "Ah...yeah...that it would be..."  he's still red.
* Aleph stares for a bit more...before backing off into the fitting room
<Maya_Mahabala> She grinned smilind and slipping on a copy of a simple purple blouse top, more than she normally wore, but then she wasn't dancing right now.
* Aleph comes out in a much different outfit--loose fitting, long-but-short-sleeved brown coat, another red vest, fingerless gloves, and long black pants. "Huh. This is a lot better than the last one, at least."
<Maya_Mahabala> "That fits you well," She grinned. "You don't have to only wear red," She headed over to pay for it all, well, at least her clothing. "Come on, I can't spend all day here."
* Aleph follows her, taking his current clothes with him--and a couple of other sets, including the one he entered with as he goes to pay for it in turn
<Aleph> "So, to the bar it is, then?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm, the bar it is.  You'll have to buy me a drink," She grinned, walking out with him.