2nd adventure: Proxy War

"No, we'll meet again. I'm pretty sure of that. Seems to be the going rate for us, anyway." - he muses, with no particular joy behind his tone.

"Either way, we can go into all this when we don't have work to do. Soon as we're done here, we should probably see about scouting for sign of the ship." - he then turns to the fairy - "Breeze, you really don't know anything about what happened to it after the Kraken? All the rest of us were whisked off before we hit the water."

"Come on silly," answers Breeze. "The Barracuda is going to be here tomorrow at noon. The master said so himself."

The squad members all blink at the nonchalant fairy, who've just finished healing Fredrick, and continue on with Konrad.

Mihai just stares blankly for a second. Then - "Ok, you're gonna have to tell me that one from the top. What happened after the Kraken?"

"Uh?" replies Breeze. "I've gone back to the Barracuda, and we tried looking for you! Edward dropped me off on this island, but you weren't at the monastery yet, so I stayed while the others went to scout the shoreline of the island south of here."

She looks up at Mihai with big eyes.

"Sorry, I thought it was obvious."

Mihai's expression stays frozen for a few seconds more, blinks a few times, then finally picks up his jaw. Then shrugs.

"Well, forget about going to look for it."

"Ah, the 'merchant' ship, eh? Good one, Edward." Looks like we're back on top. Kira's dead, I still have a ship, and our mission was a...partial success. I'll take it. Hmm, Snicker followed Kira's ship...but who was he following?

"Has anyone seen Conan?"

Just like Mihai, the squad members can only blink at the revelation of where the ship is right now. The fairy is oblivious to said reaction.

"He's helping the monks," replies Fredrick to Konrad's question. He looks at another path leading into the forest. "They... carried the bodies of their friends into a clearing, somewhere over there."

Breeze's mood darkens, just as everyone else.

"Our own job still isn't over," adds Naomi. "There are a few bodies left. I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

Adam nods. "Me too."

"Let's get to it, then." - Mihai proceeds with the task.

"Of course, let's see what these suckers got on 'em and get to burning."

OOC
Since I'm not getting paid for this job, I should at least get first crack at all the mundane items before we divide the magical stuff.

It takes another hour for the group to bring all the bodies to the spot chosen by Adam. Once the looting is over, Fredrick brings out a few flasks of oil that he found in the shed behind the monastery, and sprays the liquid over the pile of corpses. Combined with the logs of wood the group has added to ensure that nothing but ashes would be left, it will take another two hours before the blaze finally starts to diminish.

Loot:

Three of the monks, the Master included, have returned to the monastery and begun to clean this whole mess. They've removed part of the tatami floors that were smeared with blood, or were burned, and replaced them with new planks they brought from the shed. The hole in the wall however would need some more work, and two of the stoic disciples focused their attention on that. Conan requested that he be the one to carry the materials necessary for the repairs, and a glance at him is enough to see he doesn't need any help. It will take two more hours to return the dinner area to a near similar appearance of what it used to be, but the burned ceiling will have to wait another day. The monks are in a bleak mood, and they barely talk to anyone else except when spoken to. The squad members insisted that the monks let them help with the repairs, which the master acquiesced to. Fedler left to check on Zelk.

Valor, the woman who had been sent by the master to look after the children, exited the shed with Volwind and a little girl in her arms; another monk explained that a secret cellar had been built under there. While she murmured gentle words to the girl, Valor made sure she didn't see the blood on the floor, and brought both children to a room in the north wing. Breeze quickly followed them, and disappeared for the next few hours.

Once all of this work was completed, the master ordered his disciples to go back to their room in the north wing, and rest for as long as they needed. This caught them off-guard, and their shoulders slumped, as they finally realized what befell them. In silence, they proceeded to their rooms. As for Avalon, he told the group they could use their kitchen if they felt hungry, and that he would be in the forest if they needed to talk to him; "Follow the right path outside of the monastery, and go left at the fork."

The monastery was now quiet again.

The squad members, left with no orders to follow, sat around one of the tables and began to talk in low voice. They wanted to speak to Zelk, but Fedler told them she had fallen asleep and that she needed the rest. The hunter then walked out of the room through the back door, leaving her bow against the wall. As for Conan, no one was sure where he was at the moment, but Fredrick remembers seeing him outside. "It's not like any of us can leave this island," he muttered.

It is now around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

OOC:

Mihai doesn't want any of the loot either. He leaves the room through the back door and tries to catch up to Fedler.

Steve hasn't moved from his spot. He's completely exhausted but refuses to leave Zelk's side. He's been dozing in and out for the last hour and will remain there until she wakes up or someone insists on relieving him.

While he doesn't know about the loot yet, he'll definitely take a share. He's got bills to pay and if selling their stuff mitigates that even a little bit he's not too proud to do so.

OOC: Fine with me Rory. The only thing I want to keep is the ring that increases the power of my minor power. Did you want the belt that increases AC by 1 and we'll sell the rest?

Fedler hears unknown footsteps coming from behind her, and she turns her head to ascertain who it is. She waits for him to catch up, and with a tired smile, she says, "Hey chap."

She resumes her walk, which will lead her at the end of the pier.

__________________

Steve hears the window behind him slowly slide open. When he looks around, he sees Breeze (still wearing the monk clothes) flying over to sit at his side.

"Hey, Snowstorm. She doing okay?"

[You sure, K? You may want to read this in case you change your mind.]
[I have decided I want to be a bit more generous with the spoils.]

Konrad will help. Now and again he'll look at the fire to make sure it's burning, and will see to it that everything they want to burn is ash by the end of the fire's life.

Konrad will take the leather belt (+1 AC) and offer Mihai the woven belt (+2 AC). Between the two of them, one of them gets up close and personal far more often than the other.

Splitting loot:

Next I will seek out Conan to talk about several things. Privately.

Konrad

Mihai will consider it for a moment, but then thank Konrad and take his woven belt.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Fedler

"Hey." - he replies.

Mihai walks with Fedler to the pier, before saying what he's been meaning to. Fedler sits down at the end of it. Mihai does the same. He takes a moment to collect himself before speaking up.

"The deal's been dissolved. I'm free." - he speaks wearily, despite delivering good news - "You don't have to worry anymore."

[GM said hold the gold. He wants to do a thing, so no one gets to add any of the 319 Gold from the loot to their character sheets right now. No one lays a finger on the gold before the adventure is over.]

Konrad takes the 319 Gold and shoves it into his empty sack, which he will place inside his bag of holding, claiming that the group can divvy it up when they return to the Free Feathers.

When Mihai tells her about Snicker, she glances at him for a few seconds, and then returns her eyes on the horizon. A salty breeze moves a lock of hair on her face, which she brushes back with her hand. She sighs.

"It was playing with us," she whispers. She closes her eyes. "I'm just glad it's all over."

__________________

Konrad has to explore the surroundings for a few minutes before he catches sight of Conan; he's sitting on the beach, a hundred meter north of the monastery. When the red mage reaches him, the man in rags gives him a brief glance.

"Something wrong?" he asks.

His wound has healed.

Splitting Loot:

Steve jolts awake, momentarily disoriented. His eyes are very heavy and it takes him a moment to reorient himself. "Oh, hi Breeze. She's stable, but she lost a lot of blood. She needs rest more than anything right now...and some soup when she wakes up."

His stomach growls in protest at the mention of food. "Looks like my stomach agrees on the soup."

"Just..." - he starts, embarrassed - "...you don't have to say anything to this, but i have to tell someone. When i first met it, the name Snicker popped into my mind. It ran with it. That's where it comes from. That's it, i won't talk about it again."

He shuts up for a moment. - "All i want to think about now are puppets."

"We should go make some soup!" blurts out Breeze, who immediately puts two hands on mouth. "Sorry," she whispers. "I shouldn't wake her up. But yeah, we should make some soup. Everyone is sad. Good soup makes people less sad."

____________

Fedler peers at Mihai with disconcert. Without saying a word, she swiftly moves to his side, holds his hand, and leans her head on his shoulder.

Mihai gives her hand a light squeeze, reassuringly.

Okay, but Konrad will Scan the key (clarification: it's one key, singular) first.

Scan 3 results
- Konrad now knows what specific runes are used on the key.
- He could replicate it, if he had the weaving skill, or tell someone else how to do it.
- It's been a long time since it was weaved. At least a few months. It's in good shape.
The rest is irrelevant.

OOC
If you wanna buy a lock to go with the key and have the same runes on the key weaved into the lock, we may be able to use it for...something.

Splitting Loot:

Konrad sits down next to Conan. Konrad seems much more relaxed. He breathes calmly, and deeply. Relatively speaking, as he just trekked 100 meters to where Conan is sitting. "I just had a few questions. One for knowledge I think we can all benefit from, and a few things you wouldn't mind telling me about your...people. Some advice, if you will."

Fedler stays in this position for another five minutes, in a serene silence. She then lifts her head to meet his eyes, and asks softly, "Feel better?"

________________

"There's not much I can tell you," replies Conan, his gaze fixated on the Dome. "But ask away."

"Yeah..." - he replies - "I'm fine."

He's still holding her hand.

"Good," she adds, as she returns her eyes on the horizon. "Even though I feel bad for Avalon and his friends, I can't wait to leave this island."