Post by Deleted on May 21, 2020 13:37:20 GMT
After the investigation at Ramos Sails in K'ul Goran, Arkadius used the opportunity to stay behind there after the others departed. He spent all day and the evening looking around Z'ot Goran, watching and waiting. Through the day, he follows several leads that inevitably lead to nowhere, but he was on Kassandra's tail and he would find her. As the case would develop, it would be the opposite.
On the third night of his stay at the tavern down the road from Girelle's ambassadorial quarters, Arkadius was lying on the bed, reading a history book he had acquired a few months prior, from Babis Farstep. Suddenly, his thoughts are interrupted by a light tapping at the window. He'd been remiss at setting up his Alarm ritual that night, so he was caught entirely unaware. His face remained truly emotionless as he looks to see Kassandra's face hanging from the roof above, looking in at him. "I hear you've been looking for me."
Arkadius leaps from the bed to the window, opening it up immediately to invite her in. "I have. I wanted to check in with you, given everything is coming to a head. Find out how things were going, see if there was anything you needed help with?" He smiles, trying to put her at ease. "You're a hard person to track down, I admire your skill."
She smiled half-heartedly back at him, swinging down into the room softly. "And I your tenacity. It's a dangerous time to be rooting around K'ul Goran. I... " she sighs and sits down on a chair. "I used to be funny. Haven't cracked a joke in weeks now. This fucking cult - my best friend lied to me his whole life and betrayed the country we fought for. I'm sorry for not believing you. Anyway right now I think all the big players are going into hiding. That means theyre getting ready for something big, and the small fish are stirring up every bit of trouble they can. Did you hear that Raksus - the guy we all say runs the Errant Guard - vanished from the party in Jarvenol? I knew he was dodgy."
Arkadius nodded calmly as she spoke, "It is dangerous, but... that's apparently the times we live in. I understand why you didn't believe us when we reported back, as I said in my letter. I've been there, I know how it feels, and I don't blame you. And I don't think you need to apologise at all."
When Kassandra mentions Raksus and the 'massacre', his face dropped. "That is... well, that is a surprise to me. I didn't think Raksus would be that way. Hmm...", he scratched his goatee for a moment with his hand thoughtfully. "Did they perhaps take him prisoner? I can say that it didn't feel like a setup where they'd take prisoners, it felt like they were there to kill and just kill. You were with them, or not getting out of there alive. I don't want to believe Raksus is working with them, otherwise... Need to come up with a new solution to the Errant Guard's leadership. And make sure there are no others in the ranks. And as I said... I'm here to help."
She nodded. "I appreciate that. You and Laurel have shown more thoughtfulness towards me than some of my own people and I won't forget that.
Don't worry about the Errant Guard - I'm working my way through them trying to find any more traitors in our midst. We never needed leadership in the first place - we're independent, like you - we just respected Raksus enough to listen.
As for what you can do - honestly you Dawnlanders have been more disruptive to their plans than I have. They've been planning for centuries - they had no way to predict a group like you would show up at the last minute."
"People respect you too, Kassandra. You're a good person, remember that. You deserve people giving you thought, and attention. And... I'm glad you still have your fighting spirit, and I'm glad you're working your way through the Guard to clear the members. That's good. With how things are going, I think it'll be needed very soon. Very, very soon. And we Dawnlanders will be here, right by your side, when everything culminates. I will make sure of that, as will Girelle. You know that as well as I do," he replied with a smile. "I won't keep you for too long. You're busy, and I just wanted to check-in and make sure you were well and coping, and... well, remind you you're still a good person, really. We'll surely be in touch again in the near future. Let me know if anything crops up that you think might need our special touch. Girelle has ways and means, I'm sure you can piggy-back on them, rather than using the ships like before."
"I may get in touch with the ambassador soon then - haven't spoken to him since the war," Kassandra stood up as she spoke, stepping up into the windowframe - barely large enough to contain her full minotaur body, and turned around to face Arkadius, crouching. "Thank you, Arkadius. Barring horrendous betrayal on your part, you'll always have a friend in Kassandra Farcleaver."
She leapt backwards, hands catching onto the lip of the roof above, and remained hanging there still looking in. "Oh, and you were wrong about one thing," she added, "I'm not a good person." As she climbed up onto the roof and began to head off into the night, Kassandra's voice echoes back into the room. "I'm fucking great."
On the third night of his stay at the tavern down the road from Girelle's ambassadorial quarters, Arkadius was lying on the bed, reading a history book he had acquired a few months prior, from Babis Farstep. Suddenly, his thoughts are interrupted by a light tapping at the window. He'd been remiss at setting up his Alarm ritual that night, so he was caught entirely unaware. His face remained truly emotionless as he looks to see Kassandra's face hanging from the roof above, looking in at him. "I hear you've been looking for me."
Arkadius leaps from the bed to the window, opening it up immediately to invite her in. "I have. I wanted to check in with you, given everything is coming to a head. Find out how things were going, see if there was anything you needed help with?" He smiles, trying to put her at ease. "You're a hard person to track down, I admire your skill."
She smiled half-heartedly back at him, swinging down into the room softly. "And I your tenacity. It's a dangerous time to be rooting around K'ul Goran. I... " she sighs and sits down on a chair. "I used to be funny. Haven't cracked a joke in weeks now. This fucking cult - my best friend lied to me his whole life and betrayed the country we fought for. I'm sorry for not believing you. Anyway right now I think all the big players are going into hiding. That means theyre getting ready for something big, and the small fish are stirring up every bit of trouble they can. Did you hear that Raksus - the guy we all say runs the Errant Guard - vanished from the party in Jarvenol? I knew he was dodgy."
Arkadius nodded calmly as she spoke, "It is dangerous, but... that's apparently the times we live in. I understand why you didn't believe us when we reported back, as I said in my letter. I've been there, I know how it feels, and I don't blame you. And I don't think you need to apologise at all."
When Kassandra mentions Raksus and the 'massacre', his face dropped. "That is... well, that is a surprise to me. I didn't think Raksus would be that way. Hmm...", he scratched his goatee for a moment with his hand thoughtfully. "Did they perhaps take him prisoner? I can say that it didn't feel like a setup where they'd take prisoners, it felt like they were there to kill and just kill. You were with them, or not getting out of there alive. I don't want to believe Raksus is working with them, otherwise... Need to come up with a new solution to the Errant Guard's leadership. And make sure there are no others in the ranks. And as I said... I'm here to help."
She nodded. "I appreciate that. You and Laurel have shown more thoughtfulness towards me than some of my own people and I won't forget that.
Don't worry about the Errant Guard - I'm working my way through them trying to find any more traitors in our midst. We never needed leadership in the first place - we're independent, like you - we just respected Raksus enough to listen.
As for what you can do - honestly you Dawnlanders have been more disruptive to their plans than I have. They've been planning for centuries - they had no way to predict a group like you would show up at the last minute."
"People respect you too, Kassandra. You're a good person, remember that. You deserve people giving you thought, and attention. And... I'm glad you still have your fighting spirit, and I'm glad you're working your way through the Guard to clear the members. That's good. With how things are going, I think it'll be needed very soon. Very, very soon. And we Dawnlanders will be here, right by your side, when everything culminates. I will make sure of that, as will Girelle. You know that as well as I do," he replied with a smile. "I won't keep you for too long. You're busy, and I just wanted to check-in and make sure you were well and coping, and... well, remind you you're still a good person, really. We'll surely be in touch again in the near future. Let me know if anything crops up that you think might need our special touch. Girelle has ways and means, I'm sure you can piggy-back on them, rather than using the ships like before."
"I may get in touch with the ambassador soon then - haven't spoken to him since the war," Kassandra stood up as she spoke, stepping up into the windowframe - barely large enough to contain her full minotaur body, and turned around to face Arkadius, crouching. "Thank you, Arkadius. Barring horrendous betrayal on your part, you'll always have a friend in Kassandra Farcleaver."
She leapt backwards, hands catching onto the lip of the roof above, and remained hanging there still looking in. "Oh, and you were wrong about one thing," she added, "I'm not a good person." As she climbed up onto the roof and began to head off into the night, Kassandra's voice echoes back into the room. "I'm fucking great."