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CARAVAN ROAD - AROUND MIDNIGHT
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Gareth sighs a bit as he walks a small patrol along the wagons, the feeling in his wounded shoulder having come back around the time the entire group settled down for an uneasy dinner. It's still an injury that's going to require Respite's doctor to look at, but he's at least able to use it if absolutely necessary. He'd tucked Sammi in for the night a little bit after dinner, making sure she was as comfortable as possible while doing his best to not aggravate the wounds she'd sustained, and he's taken a turn on watch to let the others get some much-needed rest. He can always sleep on the wagon during the day, since the bumps and rocking aren't much different from being on a ship at sea.
Gareth looks around at the scuffed grounds around the wagon, bits of adrenaline from combat earlier still flowing through him as he considers what all even happened. He'd not been an engagement like that in years...
Gareth's good eye is drawn to the glint of metal from a sword buried point down in the dirt as he walks by the spot, the same sword Sammi was using and said could be drawn and wielded by heroes. His gaze lingers on it for a bit, before an amused notion comes to mind and he starts walking towards the blade.
Gareth wraps his hand around the grip, a wry little smirk on his face as he gives the blade an experimental little wiggle, to see if it's loose. His smirk fades a little when he notes that the blade seems jammed into the dirt pretty solidly, not even budging from the wiggle.
Gareth hums thoughtfully as he turns to grip the sword a bit more firmly and tries to give it a tug. Sure enough, the blade seems well and truly stuck fast in the dirt. He lets go of the handle as he glances at his patched shoulder, taking a moment to rub at the wound as he rolls his arm. He winces a little as his shoulder throbs, but it doesn't stop him from then grabbing the sword with both hands.
Gareth feels his shoulder burning a little in protest as he plants his feet and prepares to try and give the sword a good pull. He grunts as the sword doesn't budge again, the sudden jerk on his shoulder sending a bit of a jolt through his arm.
Gareth pauses for a moment to give his shoulder a chance to rest, before he adjusts his grip again and instead tries a different tactic. This time, he attempts to just apply constant force instead of a sudden tug. He grits his teeth as he starts to do just that and works to try and pull the sword free of the dirt again.
Narrator: The sword, obstinate in its unwillingness to get pulled free of the dirt, suddenly jerks up a bit about a half-inch or so before getting stuck again.
Gareth overbalances as the sword gives for a moment and ends up staggering back a few steps, his arms flailing as he tries to keep his balance. Once he's recovered, he chuckles a bit and nods, confident that the sword is just really, really jammed into the dirt. He's already loosened it a bit, so he might as well get it all the way back out. It's with a bit of a confident step that he moves back to the sword and grabs hold of it with both hands again and prepares to continue working the blade free.
Gareth sets his jaw and plants his feet as he readies up, then lets out a truncated grunt as he puts as much strength as he can muster into pulling the blade free.
Narrator: The blade seems to be completely stuck again as Gareth starts pulling again, even though it shifted a touch on his last attempt. Several long seconds pass in complete silence as Gareth strives to free the blade, before it comes free all of a sudden and without any warning.
Gareth is completely unprepared for the sword to suddenly give again, and the pommel practically rockets up into the air in his grasp, impacting on his chin with a solid thunk a few moments after coming loose.
Gareth sees nothing but stars for a few moments as he once again flails and staggers backwards, now contending with a throbbing welt on his chin in addition to the rest of the injuries he's gotten. This time, however, he can't catch himself, and it's with decidedly very little grace that he flops over onto his back, leaving him staring at the actual stars for a good fifteen seconds as he reorders his senses...
Gareth lets out a sound of discontent as he goes to rub his jaw, which is now a fair bit more tender to the touch. Slowly, he pushes himself up into a sitting position and looks at the now-freed sword he's holding, feeling almost like he's being mocked by it for some reason. "Real funny... Could have just left ye here to rust, ye know..."
Gareth sighs and stands back up, taking some time to examine the blade as it glints in the moonlight. A few seconds later, he tests the balance of the blade, then smacks the flat of it against his free hand, just to get a feel for how it balances compared to his trusty cutlass.
Gareth hums, impressed at the blade's quality, then shrugs as he goes to the wagon where his stuff is packed away and sets it among his belongings. He'll return it to Sammi once the group is back in town, and she's recovered.
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CARAVAN ROAD - MORNING
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Gareth sighs, stretching his shoulder a bit as he tries to loosen it up. The cold night left his wound feeling a bit sore, but now that the sun is rising and warming the land, the ache is slowly going away. He nods at the other guards, who are likewise massaging aches and stretching out a bit after the chaos of the previous day's battle, and joins them in figuring out positioning around the wagons as the caravaneers prepare to continue to Respite.
Maximillian and his crew are sticking to their own carts again, with the exception of Hannah, who has been doing morning rounds to make sure no one got worse overnight from their wounds. The owlbear leans against the wagon with the large box on it, watching Gareth and the guards talk.
Gareth finds himself getting shuffled around towards Maximillian's wagon, and he waves at the group as he approaches. "Guess I'm settin' up here with ye fer this leg o' the trip. How are ye and yer companions recoverin' from yesterday?"
Maximillian nods to Gareth impassively, not moving from his stance. "Sounds good to me. We're all right. A few scratches and bruises. Beef took a couple of arrows but not too deep. Not that you could tell." The big ox gives a snort from his position in front of the wagon, harnessed up to haul the heavy load once more.
Gareth chuckles a bit as he nods over at the wagon his companions are residing in. "Sounds like Piper over there. Lass had a few arrows stuck in her, but ye'd never know lookin' at her this mornin'." He smiles a bit as he takes up his spot towards the front left quarter of the wagon, "Glad ye all got through things well enough, at least."
Maximillian gives a small chuckle. "Well, comes with the job. What we're hauling is worth more than most folks see in a lifetime, so the company sends the best to get it through."
Gareth hums, nodding. "No kiddin'... I saw a couple o' glimpses of ye and yer companions durin' the fight. Wherever ye got yer trainin' from, must've been prestigious."
Maximillian eyes Gareth for a moment before he unties one corner of the tarp over the large box, revealing a mark burned into it that anyone would recognize. Once he's sure that Gareth has seen it, he lashes down the tarp again before any prying eyes can catch a glimpse.
Gareth glances at the mark on the box, his eyebrows shooting up on reflex at what is indeed a very familiar emblem. "Well, that'd explain it, alright. I guess at the very least, we can assume those reptiles weren't here fer whatever that is, though, since they were more focused on the carts carryin' people."
Maximillian frowns a bit as he looks over to where the pyre of dead attackers is still smoldering. "Indeed, but these folk seem like a problem. Going to have to let the company know about them." His tone is dark, as the Silver-Talon Trading Company does not take kindly to any impediments to its free trading.
Gareth glances behind him as well. "Aye, gotta protect yer assets and all that. Never know when a group's goin' to be stupid enough to try and attack a Silver-Talon shipment."
Maximillian nods. "Aye. Still not sure why they're shipping this out to the middle of nowhere, but not our place to ask." He gives a little shrug and looks at Gareth. "So what's your story? You and your folk."
Gareth shrugs a bit. "Not much, honestly. Just a group o' travelers from a few different spots around the world all comin' to Respite fer several different reasons. Meself and Sammi, we're comin' back from a trip to Sarn after doin' a couple o' errands. Piper's here fer personal business. Aelia and her companion are just travelers out o' Sarn."
Maximillian gives a hit of a smile at the corners of his beak. "Motley crew, that. But I don't think the guard would have had this situation handled without any of us..."
Gareth hums quietly, shaking his head. "Aye... the guards were definitely on alert, though, so that's tellin' me somethin'... Still, fer the amount o' fighters that we were dealin' with, they definitely needed the extra hands."
Maximillian stretches a bit and straightens up as he eyes guards moving down the caravan to start signalling it's time to move out. "Well, time to hit the road again." He gives a nod to Gareth that doesn't seem rude so much as final. The owlbear's attention moves to his own crew as he sounds out a few different whistles and clicks, moving them into formation on and around the cart with a practiced smoothness.
Gareth nods in turn as he quickly matches the pace of the wagons, moving with an easy stride and sharp eyes. They might have driven off the attackers, but they had enough left that an untimely reinforcement could spell disaster for the caravan. He's not the only one looking especially wary, either, if the remaining guards' hardened expressions are anything to go by. "Aye, let's get movin', then."
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RESPITE GENERATOR - AFTERNOON
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Maybelline has her notes at the ready as she reaches over to throw The Switch once again, watching the incredible burst of power through her shaded goggles and then turning to examine the received energy levels, measuring the power decay between Strix's lightning thrower and the receiver, both mounted safely upon large metalwalls across the chamber. She writes the results, then turns the switch off, letting the system power down and cool before she can make any adjustments as her work on the weather shield continues.
Narrator: There is a strong knock at the door, followed by the sound of the door opening right away. "M... Maybelline, are you here? I thought I'd find you here, anyway... don't bother answering if you're not, though." The voice sounds less certain by sentence spoken.
Maybelline calls out over the fading hum of electrical power, "Up here! Don't walk past the yellow tape!" She turns on the safety shutoff and flips a few switches to vent the excess back into the generator housing, then hops down from her perch to disable the lightning thrower. "Just gotta shut things off, wouldn't want any stray lighting strikes... and... there." She dusts off her hands, grinning at the cow. "Ah! Jennifer! What can I do for you today?"
Jennica holds her hand on her other arm, looking more than a bit frazzled and uncertain: "O-oh. Hey. Just... wanted some company I guess. And maybe some ideas." She lets out a sigh, shaking her head: "Gotta keep my mind occupied, that's what everyone suggests."
Maybelline hums, tilting her head as she walks towards Jennica. "Oh? Sure. Strix has been stopping a lot lately for much the same reason, ideas and such. And beyond that I've just been fine tuning his lightning thrower. Lightning Tosser? It's more of a projector? Or a... generator? But it's not really generating the lightning. It sorta is. It's... complicated. I'm not even completely sure what it's doing. It's cool though."
Jennica tilts her head, looking over the constructions behind Maybelline: "That's... oh wow that's pretty big. And neat. Lightning... Deliverer?" She smiles, the techie in her waking up: "It is undoubtedly pretty cool, though."
Maybelline nods, walking alongside Jennica to turn around and admire it, with the dish on the opposite wall. "And the receiver... that part will be up in the air soon, with the projector aimed up right at it. I fire it up, blast however much energy we need to power the new equipment, and it should power on the weather shield, and then... then Respite's generator will be officially restored to full working order as per the original specifications... even if some changes were made along the way."
Jennica looks up and around the equipment once more, before turning to look at Maybelline with a smile: "This is pretty grand. How come I didn't know of this? G-guess I just didn't come here before..." She looks back up with an appreciative grin.
Maybelline chuckles, giving a shrug. "The building is pretty big. It was state of the art when Respite was founded, then fell into disrepair, then... exploded. But now it's restored, rebuilt, and back online! I'll give you the full tour sometime, if you want." She lifts her hands to take the goggles off at last to look up at Jennica. "So, what's on your mind, hm?"
Jennica nods at the idea of a full tour, then sags slightly at the question. She takes a deep breath: "They got Emmeline. I need to help, in... in any way I can." She's not tearing up. Really, she's trying not to, she's cried so much last couple of days. "Craft something to help."
Maybelline 's expression of pride in her work slowly falls away at Jennica's words. "They... got..." She clenches her fists, then sighs, closing her eyes to hide her own tears. "I... I'm sorry. I... know... I'm not.... Ugh. They-The Guards, I mean, they're doing everything they can. I've been building them some survival equipment when I can... Nesseth is pushing himself, I know. It's not much... but it's all I can do. There's... a lot of folks who have gone missing. We want them all home safe and sound."
Jennica looks at Maybelline, frowning slightly: "T-they got E-Em. I need to help. Improve the chances. Whatever it takes." She shudders slightly: "I... I have never c-crafted anything like that, b-but I need to. N-not weapons I think, but... other things. What do Guards need if they go out there?"
Maybelline raises a hand, "Firstly, they... they need folks like us to stay calm, okay? I... I know... I know this is hard, but Emmeline is going to be okay. She's going to be okay." She lowers her arm to fold them There's... there's a lot of things we can make that aren't weapons. They need good survival gear, protective equipment, medical supplies. Heck, if you've got the raw talent for magic, stealth gear, ways to increase vision or hearing, um... short range teleportation? Hell, long range teleportation spells if you know them, but that's asking a hell of a lot... I'm just... there's a lot."
Jennica nods, shuddering again but then steeling herself. She attempts to steady her voice: "Y-yeah, I know. I can... can't really do equipment, but maybe... maybe something that will protect them from... err, what would they need protection from?" She sighs, shaking her head: "Hmmh. Don't know enough, gotta be generic I guess. Safe bet that someone will be trying to harm them..." She continues musing: "...I can at least do something that would... sort of reverse emotional impact. Like, turn ill will away..."
Maybelline tilts her head, trying to think through the implications of that, "W-wait, it would make folks... not want to attack them? Or like... hide them from detection if the user would have ill-will? That could be... wow, yeah."
Jennica nods slowly, thinking: "Maybe... maybe both. Probably not in the same small trinket, it'd overheat at like count of... two, or something." She continues thinking: "Arrows. I think I heard they use a lot of arrows in their attacks. I wonder if there's a way to repel those safely without needing to carry a shield...?"
Maybelline is clearly in a bit of awe. "Part of me wonders why I do... literally anything when magic is so... magical. I make little blinking lights for Nesseth to use to signal folks from far away..." She shakes her head. "I'm pretty sure Nesseth said they found arrows, yeah..." She cringes, reminding herself that no evidence Louma had been shot down was found. "D-definitely arrows."
Jennica glances at Maybelline curiously and slightly worriedly, but does not push the issue. She shakes her head: "I can't actually DO magic. I can only... tie it to something. Make it trigger." She waves her hand with a wry smile: "No power coming out of these hands anytime soon, harmful or otherwise."
Maybelline takes a moment to shake herself back to the moment, then waves a hand, "None here either, but I can't do what you do. I don't know what it is, but it's still some kind of magic to do what you do. I just know engineering." She points at the generator. "That's all just someone else's magic that I know how to direct. Mostly for street lights and water."
Jennica looks at Maybelline, then nods with a smile: "It's still a lot bigger than I know how to do." She motions with her hands, measuring the size of maybe a mango between them: "I can't... make anything that big. My magic breaks down if I try to size it up, if you will."
Maybelline smiles, "Then keep it small. Single users. If you can keep Nesseth's scouts hidden, or... hell, if they could sneak in and give them to prisoners and help them just sneak right back out alongside them. That's a lot of aid. It's a worthwhile direction to think in, at least."
Jennica hums, looking over at the generator for a second: "Yeah... I don't really know much about combat, but having that upper edge... it would mean a lot, wouldn't it? Maybe that is a direction to focus, yes..." She pauses, thinking of something else: "If I... if I can make something project a shield against arrows, could you create a frame for it that'd project it bigger?"
Maybelline coughs slightly, then points towards an object the size of a dinner table sitting in the corner, "Like a um... town-sized weather shield?" She grins. "You provide the power, I can direct it however you want."
Jennica blinks, then blushes: "O-oh. Oops. Yeah." She smiles: "M-maybe we should work together. Keep the Guards safe... w-well, safe-er, I hope."
Maybelline nods, "I... think that's a good idea. I've more or less exhausted fine tuning the lightning tosser... it just needs to be set into place and... the weather shield is basically done. But I could only keep busy for so long. This'll be something new to keep me occupied."
Jennica looks over at the lightning tosser, and is quiet for a moment. "Did you... a-and sorry I ask, but... d-did someone you c-care about go missing too? That why too need to... occupy yourself?" She winces at her question, but curious cow is rather very curious.
Maybelline closes her eyes and nods quietly for a moment. "Y-yeah. Captain Louma... she's my girlfriend. She went missing... I'm d-doing my best to be brave for her. If she doesn't have to worry about me, she can focus on keeping herself safe." She glances back up. "Emmeline is your girlfriend too, right?"
Jennica looks down as Maybelline talks, until the point of the question, at which point she looks up with surprise. "S-she. Um. S-she's my friend. My b-best friend. A-and a g-girl of course. So, um, s-sorta?"
Maybelline tilts her head, slightly confused, "Oh uh... sorry... I just thought, the way you were talking about her... and how upset you are... I guess I just thought you and she were..." She blushes, glancing away. "B-but yeah... sorry... lots of folks went missing in the first attack, even before they took... before Louma went missing. We're not alone in this... we also... we can't give into it, you know?"
Jennica takes a breath, part of her wanting to correct Maybelline but another part reminding Jennica that she doesn't actually know any of that. She quickly shakes her head: "Right. Can't give in. Focus. F-focus..." She sighs, looking absently into the middle distance of nothing for a moment.
Maybelline snaps her fingers to get Jennica's attention back before the cow gets too distracted in her own head. "Focus. Yes. Projects. I don't actually know how you work through things, so what do you need in order to get started?"
Jennica blinks several times, then starts actually focusing instead of saying the word: "...not much. Usually I just... sort of get inspired, feel what I want to create and push my magic into a small hunk of metal or wood for that purpose. It's... it's hard to describe as I never do the exact same thing." She looks at Maybelline: "B-but I can do it." She pauses, thinking on as she once again veers more towards actually doing something useful: "...Miss Teis could help. She's pretty good at this too, in a different way from either of us I guess."
Maybelline grins as best she can, "Miss Teis is very good, yes. I've done consulting work for her on pretty much this same sort of thing." She holds out her hands, "About this big, you said? I'll start a bit of design work but I won't be able to build much until I have a final device in hand, of course."
Jennica nods, mind going design places already: "Yeah, that feels about right... we'll find the exact best compromise with trial and error, I guess. I mean... the Guard vary in size a lot, yeah?" She idly picks up a wrench, holding it in her hands for a second: "...we can make a difference. We have to, but we also can, can't we?"
Maybelline gives Jennica a thumbs up. "We absolutely can. Things will be alright... and we'll do everything we can to ensure that."
Jennica nods slowly, finding a smile: "...yeah. I like that. Let's start brainstorming what we... what we should actually do, yea?"
Maybelline leads Jennica over towards her drafting tables, the 'brainstorming area', as it were, and the two start to talk through various ideas, just trying to come up with a semi-viable plan, with May's determination and optimisim mostly distracting Jennica for the moment, and almost distracting May from the pain she feels as well...