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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1659995" data-attributes="member: 15043">“I look like a brigand,” Royukgan grumbled.  He was not a prince for being proud like a peacock, but he was not used to dressing in plain, even torn, jerkins either.  His face was still too young to form stubble, but he could see the other members of the Household Guard had already grown such.  It must itch terribly, he reasoned.  All, even the twelve normally haughty court mages, were dressed down in rather common attire.  Not rags, but nothing fancy either.  Only twenty remained out of the original force of six times that number.  Vintressa reasoned it would make sense to send the groups out piecemeal, to attract less attention.  Outside of the city, the six groups would meet up, and actual orders would begin.“Good,” Vintressa retorted with a smirk as she tossed a few essentials onto the back of her horse, Winter.  Unlike many royalty, she didn’t mind not having a long baggage train full of courtiers, outfits, and food to drag along.  The more Royukgan looked at her prepping her black mare, the more he realized she might very well think this all was one gigantic joyride.“You really think we can fool them?” the Prince of Han asked quietly.  “I mean... the odds...”“You are still hung up on the odds,” Vintressa smirked again as she set her rapier into its riding scabbard.  “Don’t worry about them!  I stayed up last night, in my father’s chambers, researching.  We’ll be fine!”“Vin,” Royukgan growled again, “attacking people fifty times your number isn’t like one of Aegrifyr’s magical theorems, or a mathematical equation.  You can’t solve it through research!”“Oh really?” she turned to him, and once again he noticed her eyes slightly sunken in, red blazing around their edges from lack of sleep.  “I’ll have you know that through some studious work, I have found some situations where such things have happened.  And I’m going to simply copy what worked before.”“Which is?”“Surprise them when they’re on the march... hit and run, real fast,” she started to explain as she checked over the final arrangements for her saddle, “and then use some simple illusions, the Household Guard’s fighting ability, and false information to convince them to turn around.  Simple, huh?”  She gave a slight grunt of satisfaction, and swung up into the saddle.“That sounds about as simple as a mathematical formula,” the prince complained.  “I’ve never heard of any simple illusion to create an army... or any illusion to create an army!”Vintressa’s mind reflected back to an afternoon in a past not to distant where she had spent several hours with her Aunt Tess, talking about the bard’s former life as a performer and about theater.  Up till that day, Vintressa had found theater to be boring at best... something to go to only when her mother, father, or nanny’s insisted.But her idol’s explanations on how she used ‘theater’ in real life, the young princess had taken a keen interest... not in the plays or scores, but one what happened to bring them alive.“Have you ever been an actor, my Prince?” Vintressa smiled, bringing her steed around.  The horse’s hooves clattered along the cobblestones of one of the many side entrances to the palace.   Royukgan gingerly brought his own bay alongside... it was not his usual mount, and this animal seemed slightly skittish.“Of course not,” Royukgan replied rather stiffly.  He was slightly offended at the question.  Actors and the like are loose people!  They make money however they can... including selling themselves out to whoever and whatever wishes their... “Well, you will be in the coming days!” the princess laughed, and spurred her mount on.Eyrna’s stomach jumped and quivered unnaturally as the stench of her own legs and shoes filled her nostrils.  As the mists continued to swirl about, for several moments, she was sure she would vomit yet again.Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, she nauseating feeling began to subside, as the mists of shifting time and place began to lift.  To her left and right, muddy boots once again came into view, a stark reminder of Eyrna’s present state.“On your feet!” came a growl from a deep voice, one belonging to Evermyn’s lieutenant, Vanerthorpe.  Eyrna didn’t need to turn around to see the sharp, vicious gleam that was likely dancing in his eyes.  Her ears also picked up the slightly whispered exchange that was likely not meant for her ears.“Why did we bring her at all!  For all the harm she has done, we should have left her in the woods!” Vanerthorpe’s voice hissed quietly.“She is our only link to where Elsidor is headed,” a cool female voice replied.  Evermyn’s.  “After we deal with Elsidor, we can turn her over to the Imperial government.  They will met out justice.”“What if she leads us astray?” came another male voice.  Eyrna had not yet been able to place a name with this voice... she thought the warrior’s name was Constans.  “What then?  I wouldn’t put it past her... treacherous woman!”“Then we will deal with her..” Evermyn’s voice began.  The rest of the red headed paladin’s statement went beyond Eyrna’s hearing, as the slight noise of the group marching through the wooded dales covered the whispering voices.“Traitor,” Vanerthorpe’s sharp voice addressed Eyrna again, “that up ahead.  Are you sure that is where they would have been headed?  Your life rests in your honesty!”Eyrna raised her eyes upward, and was met by sharp, gleaming white heights... cliffs.  Lazily, in the sky far above, hawks circled.“Yes... the Caladron family tombs... it is the only place he could be headed,” she breathed out.“It would make sense... they need a body, do they not?” Constans’ voice asked.“Not necessarily... they need either a whole body, or a partial body and items made by that person,” Evermyn’s voice corrected.  “Items a tomb undoubtedly would be full of.  Are you sure, Eyrna, that these are the only tombs of the Imperial Family?” Evermyn’s voice asked.“I know of no other tombs of anyone in that family.  The Valley tombs are the only known ones... they hold family members since they first took the title of Counts of Holstean,” Eyrna replied softly.  She had researched it, long before the failed scheme had begun.And now... it all falls apart, her mind numbly thought.“We are about five days travel from the entrance to the gorge, and according to her,” Eyrna could imagine Evermyn nodding to the group’s captive, “it’s a further two days into the gorge till we reach the tombs themselves.  A week’s march, people, so ration accordingly.”With an ungentle shove, Eyrna found herself lurching towards the ravine so far ahead.“Are you sure Raven is in there?” Ari asked, his voice filled with doubt.  He was not nearly as naive as he had been even only a few years before.  “She’s supposed to be in school in Iskeldrun... and that is a long way from here... even if I fly!”“I swear I saw her outside of the temple here!” Rose said defensively. “She’s not here now,” Ari stated the obvious.“I can see that!” Rose snapped defensively.  If there was one thing she hated, it was being proven wrong.  “Maybe she went inside, to ask for some prayers or something!”  The intrepid girl immediately started towards the gates of the temple complex.“Why would she do that?” Ari asked, still following despite the innocent doubt in his voice.  He still hadn’t caught on that Rose was annoyed with his observations.  “Isn’t Raven fairly a-religious?  Or is the term unreligious?  And when she does go to ceremonies, it is for Pelor, not Hie-“He finally understood after Rose gave him a dangerous growl.“Okay, Miss Rose.  I’m sorry, I’m not sure what I did,” Ari replied quietly.  Rose looked back, and saw his brilliant lavender eyes had changed to slightly blue... a sign that he would begin to cry soon.One nice thing about prismatic dragons... their emotions are easy to read.  One only needs to watch their eyes, Rose remembered her father saying sometime long ago.  She gave a sigh, and a brief nod.“I’m sorry, Ari.  It’s just, I know I saw her here, and now she’s gone.  And I want to find her... because if she’s back in Kulloden already, something must have come up.  Okay?” she said gently, hoping the dragon would accept her apology.  Immediately, his eyes flashed back to their deep lavender color, flecks of gold dancing in their depths.“Okay, Miss Rose!” the human disguised dragon laughed.  “And if she’s not in here, maybe she went up the street!  Raven is not as good at hiding as you are!” Rose had to laugh at Ari’s last comment.  Of all of their father’s children, Rose had been his closest heir... able to sneak about quietly when she needed to, tell tall tales and persuade even her parents they were true.  Skills that came in handy on more than one occasion.“True,” she smiled, as the two entered the walk approaching the main temple doors.  As they walked inside, an acolyte was immediately at their side, asking how they could be helped.“My name is Rose Dice.  I am the daughter of Elenya Dice, Chief of the Mage’s Guild in the city,” Rose offered bluntly.  “I am searching for someone... my sister namely.  I believe she found her way in here... and I have some important news for her,” Rose added quickly.“Um... I am unaware of any Dice family members entering said temple...” the acolyte said politely.“Surely you wouldn’t mind us talking a walk around, then?” Rose said innocently.  “It is a very important message... and perhaps you missed her when she entered?”  She started forward, quickly building up speed, forcing the acolyte to catch up.“Milady,” he called from behind her, as she looked left and right through all the alcoves she passed in her brisk walk, “If you wait patiently, I can ask some of the other priests if she has been here, and then tell you!”  He kept looking uneasily at Ari... unnerved by her companion’s shining eyes and strange colored skin.For a second, he thought his statement might have persuaded her, for Rose stopped suddenly.  Her face changing into a look of shock and surprise, as well as the little shriek, let him know she’d spotted something instead.  Before he could respond, she’d lunged out of an open side door, into the private gardens of the temple.The hapless acolyte dashed after her, the strange colored man on his heels.  When he burst into the sunshine, he saw the rather stunned High Commander of the Temple staring at two girls, both looking like the original Dice daughter hugging each other.  And to the priest’s astonishment, a boy fitting the description of the Crown Prince looked on in confusion.It was raining when Baron Valdemar Erelion finally spurred his horse to a trot through the gate of his family keep.  The downpour was vicious and hard enough that the Baron could not, for minutes at a time, see more than a hundred feet in front of him.An excellent mess to march in, he thought, dark thoughts towards the gods rumbling in his head.  Behind him came the canter of his knights, loyal to him alone.  He spurred his horse on, towards a lope.  To his right, his foot soldiers flashed by, apparitions dancing within the curtains of rain.  On all of their chests was emblazoned the snake-headed mark of House Erelion.In the Baron’s mind raced timetables, levy times, and meeting locations.  The rain hid the otherwise impressive snap of his organized, professional troops into march column after he and his knights passed by, but they did not hide his levies from his gaze.Drenched, already tired, and woefully equipped, most of those former and soon-to-be peasants looked at their lord, passing by in all his finery, with little more than anger.  Anger at having been dragged from their fields during the height of the planting season, anger at having been forced into a war, and finally, anger at being forced to stand out in this rain with little more than leathers on.In the Baron’s mind, he had prepared a powerful and moving oratory, detailing the crimes of the Imperial family against him and these very peasants... many of whom could not even spell their name.   He rightly judged that now, in the midst of this driving storm, would be the worst time to lecture them.  With a nod, he issued the orders to get them moving... mostly to find some drier campgrounds up the road.Hardly an auspicious beginning to my quest, his mind darkly thought.  Perhaps, should Tarantor and the gods smile on me, this shall be the only ill in my campaign to restore to my family what is theirs...</blockquote>

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