2nd adventure: Proxy War

Wearing no weapons and no armor, Konrad stands, ready to burn the first foe who shows his face. Perhaps the "merchant ship" had arrived early. Or, perhaps their visitors were pirates coming to take vengeance, or retake their prize.

"Don't let them catch you off guard."

Steve reclines in his seat. He specifically sat facing the door just in case something like this happened. If there is trouble, he'll use the table as cover and return fire. If there is not, he'll retain his comfortable position and look nonchalant about the whole thing. A win-win in his book.

He glances back at his comrade(s) ready to strike the first bastard who dares knock on the door of the house they're guests in  - "Just don't attack before you look." - then to Konrad - "And no Fire." - he speaks evenly but firmly - "Steve, Zelk, come with me. The rest of you go get armed."

Then goes for the door.

ooc:

Just after he swallows his last bite of blueberries pancake, Conan interrupts the squad members and the hunter as they get up. "There is no need to be on your guard," he tells everyone. "They won't harm you."

There's a distinct thump sound coming from the south wing, from inside one of the rooms. Pretty much everyone turns their head in that direction.

"Calm down," he continues. "We made a deal."

The man in rags looks at Konrad.

Mihai stands down and looks at Conan - "Since we're being surrounded, i'm guessing you should be the one to say hi."

Steve will shrug and sit back down to wait and see what's what.

Konrad, who had prepared the somatic component of a spell, visibly relaxes and lets his hands fall, and grins at Conan. "Of course. Everyone relax, we have guests."

He stands up to go to the entrance to the south wing to wait right there in the doorway.

Despite the reassures given by Konrad and Conan, the monks and the squad members are still on their guard. They're all standing up, looking at the doors and the two hallways. The man in rags nods at Mihai, and leaves his seat to get the door. He opens it, and a woman wearing a plain-looking shirt and pants is standing in front of it. Despite the common clothes, it's impossible to deny that she is beautiful; her long black hair that go down to the middle of her back provide a great contrast to her pale blue eyes, and her hourglass silhouette would entice any man. But the expression on her face doesn't leave any room for pleasantry. Furthermore, for some strange reason, the very sight of her leaves the monks bewildered.

"Conan," she states with a flat tone. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he replies. Then, as he looks at the rest of the group, he adds, "They've helped me gain my freedom. I've agreed that we should initiate contact, sometime in the future."

She gauges everyone present in the room.

"Come on out," she declares.

One man slides the door open from one of the room in the south wing, and appears in front of Konrad. He nods at the red mage, and gestures for him to look at the other hall, where a woman has also exited a room. She waves at everyone. The front door also opens, and another man enters the monastery, facing Mihai directly. They're all wearing common shirts and pants, with no special gear on any of them, but unlike their apparent leader, their physical appearance is quite ordinary.

"Me, Conan, and my comrades will now leave this island," she informs them. "I am sorry if we troubled you. We only wanted to protect our friend."

She bows to the group, and will stay in this position until someone speaks.

Mihai:

Steve:

Without letting his expression or demeanor be affected, Mihai evenly asks - "Conan knows our names. Can we have yours?"

The womanly leader raises her upper body, and stares at Mihai. After a few seconds, she turns to Conan, who nods at her, and returns her attention on the greatsword wielder. "My name is Faith," answers the apparent leader.

"Marcus," says the man at the south wing.

"Lone," replies the woman from the north wing.

"Mathéo," concludes the man at the front door.

This is only now that the party realizes that Faith's comrades, Conan included, all look alike in appearance. There a few differences here and there, such as the hair color, eye color, hairstyle, brow length, etc., but the similarities are nonetheless striking when you search for them.

"Mihai." - he returns, flatly.

Steve turns pale as recognition dawns on him. He doesn't really acknowledge the rest of Conan's allies, as the war between curiosity and the implications of a possible contemporary of Deremanda conversing with them leaves little room for anything else. Curiosity wins out but he'll wait for everyone else to introduce themselves before doing so himself. "I'm Steve. A pleasure to meet you. Would you like to join us for breakfast? Or maybe you'd like something to drink? Please, have a seat at least."

Konrad smiles in greeting the man who comes from the south wing, and moves aside for him and looks toward the other hallway, and as he does something catches his eye...

He turns to face the speaker now, and he does not spare any propriety as he appraises her. Well hello, sexy. However, something causes his smile to disappear.

"They are welcome, but I don't think they want to stay, mate. There is no trouble, Faith. Conan is free to leave our protection. We have no desire to cause an incident, but what say you all to the agreement he chose to make with us, to contact us at a later date? Not within an excessive interval of time, I should hope."

Faith listens intently to Steve, remaining unmoved, and then to Konrad. She appraises both of them, but in a more calculated way than the red mage's. After some time of consideration, she replies, "Just like Konrad Granger said, we do not wish to tarry any longer. We will contact you in the future to exchange information; in two years time."

Everyone else in the room look at each other with bemusement.

Mihai is unfazed - "Two years is akin to making it rain, as far as a mercenary's life expectancy goes. You're the strongest people we've met so far, but by no stretch the worst. And we'll likely be tangling with those soon enough."

Konrad gawks at her using his name, then glances toward Conan. What *are* they?

"Indeed. You'd leave us wondering, hoping, and fearing, for a long time. A lot can happen in two years."

Diplomacy
Aid Mihai

Faith turns to meet Conan's eyes, and for a few seconds, they just stare at each other without saying anything. Then she returns her attention on the party.

"You have have gone to great lengths to protect our comrade, and have thus proven yourselves worthy of our trust. However, we are bound by the restrictions of our own mission. Ordinarily, we would have you wait two full years, but we have made recent discoveries that might grant us a little more leeway. We won't be able to exchange information right away, but we will initiate contact as soon as possible."

She then focuses on Zelk Freeron.

"What government do you represent?" asks Faith.

The lieutenant hesitates, but she gives a firm answer. "The Free Feathers."

"One military unit can hardly represent the values of one whole nation, but we'll remember what you did for us, and consider making contact with your government first."

She gives the Lieutenant a short bow.

"...You're welcome," responds Zelk, a little taken aback.

Mihai squints at something about Faith and Conan, but says nothing.

Smiling kindly, Konrad replies, "We understand. Thank you. Please make contact with us as soon as you're ready, and have a safe voyage."

He makes a sweeping hand gesture at Conan, as if to say "by your leave".

Diplomacy
Improve disposition.

"Before you go Faith may I ask you something of a more personal nature? Maybe in private? I won't take up much of your time, I promise. It's selfish I know, but it will drive me crazy if I don't ask." His face is pleading, but worried she'll say no as well. He's clearly outside of his comfort zone making such a request and anyone who knows him decently well has never seen him push like this.

Mihai asks flatly - "And while he's at it, why do you look like Deremonda?"

"Oh, you recognized her too?" Steve says in shock. He never expected that from Mihai.

Mihai shrugs - "Hard not to."

Konrad raises an eyebrow at this spitting-image talk, however he notes she does have a stoic look. He makes special note of this, with less focus on humor this time as opposed to when he originally made the pun at Conan.

Just when Mihai answers Steve, Conan gives a last nod to Konrad, and walks through the back door. As for the three others, they calmly walk through the front door, and close it behind them. Only Faith remains. She peers at both Steve and Mihai, then gives her answer.

"I am not Deremonda," she reveals. "This is the only answer I can give to this question. As I said, we cannot share the information we have. Not yet." There's a pause. "Any other questions?"