[Escort] Book 1 - Chapter 2: Planning for the Worst

[Mysticsage]

Location - Warden's Office
Day 5 - Afternoon

A few days after the fight with the frogs, Selphie sent word to Kerrick and Virgil to meet at the warden's office to discuss the route they were planning to take towards Orario with Thalia. Using the Warden's office which is connected to the single jail cell is a bit odd given the imagery. That being said, as the two men enter the office, at the appointed time, Selphie is in the office already scanning over a map to the region. On the Garron's desk sits the drop crystal from the battle, which sparkles in the sun from the shuttered windows. When she saw the two of them enter she looks up from her work and smiles.

"I'm glad you two could make it," Nodding towards the door before continuing, "Garron already gave me the go-ahead to use his office as long as we need, so close the door and then we can go over the plan."

However, as both men look around, Thalia and none of the others in the escort team are anywhere to be seen.

[Schnizzer]

Virgil grabbed his hat and tipped it while nodding towards Selphie. Seemingly a bit confused about no one else being around he asked, "Ma'am, what's this all about? What's that?" He motioned to the crystal on the desk.

[Kerrick]

its a crystal from the dungeon it looks like the one from the frogs out in the wilderness that we fought kerrick closes the door as he says this to Virgil alright Selphie what can we do for you today

[Mysticsage]

Selphie waited a moment while looking out a window at the village going about daily life before responding, "That rock is known as a drop crystal, Virgil, like Kerrick said. They are almost unheard of outside of the cities with dungeons. That's why it didn't even cross my mind till Kerrick said something. And that crystal is a bad omen, thus the private meeting."

She turns to look at the crystal leaning her full weight against the desk as she lets out a heavy sigh. "This thing has been nothing but a headache for me the last day and a half, and I needed to share my concerns with someone who is good at identifying all kinds of threats."

Selphie waves at the other papers piled high around the rock to emphasize what has absorbed her waking hours since the fight she continued, "Kerrick, you were able to identify this thing at a glance, and while it may not be familiar grounds, your knowledge of monsters may be key to this mess. Virgil, you on the other hand, given your background, are familiar with identifying more subtle 'monsters'. Garron and I have the responsibility to travel with the rest of the village to keep them safe. Therefore, my problems have become your problems."


Sitting down at the desk before looking at Virgil she continued, "To fill you in on the details for the last few days since the mudslide closed off the western road I began to hear rumors of monsters attacking travelers who attempted to make the detour. On it's own I thought nothing was out of the ordinary, only the main roads are regularly patrolled after all. If a merchant was not prepared for the risk there are any number of threats that could cause them harm. But these were different, I could never pin down anything or anyone directly related to these attacks outside of the rumors.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to send out a hunting team when we got to the area however there were no signs of the attacks or signs of the creature. Again not unusual if it had a nest, but this creature was different it seemed almost intelligent while it waited for us. The giant frog had the ability to turn invisible and fly. I haven't seen anything like it in the area before, to make matters even stranger when we hit it ruins appeared across  its skin."

"Then, it dropped this thing when we killed it," she said as she tapped the crystal. "From all my research only creatures born in a dungeon drop them," she finished watching the men for their response.

[Schnizzer]

Virgil chewed on his hay as he scratcheed the scruff around his scars. He looked between Selphie and Kerrick with a bit of confusion on his face. "I don't know nothin' 'bout the dungeon or what's in it. If these are only found there than maybe someone's capturing 'em and bringing 'em out?" He thought a bit more to himself. He wasn't sure why anyone would bring dungeon monsters out here. "As far as the trip, I reckon I can keep an eye out for... unfavorables."

[Kerrick]

your right Selphie according to my training these are dungeon monsters being let loose into the area, I could only think they would do this to confuse someone on the actual challenge of the creature they see. I believe and correct me if i'm wrong but the creatures in the dungeon are tougher than the regular outside creatures such as some simple frogs. he looks at the woman we need to be very careful how we proceed from here we are litteraly traveling blind they could have released anything.

[Mysticsage]

"I think you'll need to keep your eye out for more than that, Virgil," Selphie says looking at the crystal.

As Kerrick talks Selphie nods, "I suppose someone could be trying to train with this thing, but then I would think we would have seen evidence of them fighting. I also would think there are areas closer to the dungeon where they could fight than all the way out here."

She stands up and shows the two men the map on the wall by putting a finger on it. She pointed out Orario and then the general region that Thalia village was located.

"We are weeks away from Orario, which is the closest dungeon. Even if an animal could just escape from the city security, why would it come all the way out here to make its nest? It doesn't make sense, and there were no obvious signs of a struggle. Therefore, someone brought it all the way out here without causing a scene that attracted attention until now. Even if this was meant for training purposes it causes a number of concerns. The only way I know to do that is with magic, and that comes from the gods. If this was sanctioned I would think that they wouldn't just let it attack people like it did us. On the other hand, if they released it on purpose-" She says letting the words hang in the air.

[Kerrick]

yeah what are the chances one of the other gods doesn't want Thalia to come to orario

[Schnizzer]

Virgil walked up to the map and took a look. His eyes squinted as he studied it. "There's a lot of miles of dangerous road between us and the city." He turned and looked down at Selphie, tilting his hat up, " ow be honest with me, would anyone wanna keep her from making it to the city?"

[Mysticsage]

Selphie sighed in frustration as if this too was something weighing heavily on her.

"Thalia has been around for much longer than most people would think, and of all the stories she likes to tell her own is not one of them. Anything from before coming to the town is almost impossible to pin down with her nature. To make things more complicated when she does talk about her past she is just as likely to tell you a lie as the truth.

You two know how carefree she seems, but we also know she has a mind like a trap and as a result could talk circles around a judge to end up buying someone's freedom. Getting a reliable straight answer out of her is almost impossible. I brought this up to her and she said that she was on good terms with all the gods, and that if it was them it was probably just a prank."

[Kerrick]

hmm that does seem concerning to lie about your past as a god, I wonder if she would write a play loosely based on her past so we could try to figure this out, we all know how she loves a good play, or hmm kerrick really racks his brain does she have anyone she truly trusts as a friend perhaps we need to work on our relationship with Thalia and then she would tell us, she must be worried she's going to let us down hmm

[Schnizzer]

"Well, this don't feel like no prank. Maybe if we convinced her how dangerous it could be? I ain't sure what else to do if she don't help. I've never been to the city so I don't much about the dungeon." Virgil leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. "Did y'all find anything else that might be another clue?"

[Mysticsage]

"I agree with you that it isn't a prank, but without more information, there is little we can do. When we were fighting the frogs I was attempting to keep everyone alive and then someone got swallowed by the winged beast. By the time the thing was killed everyone was too exhausted to actually register that we should hunt for clues.

As a result, it took me this long to actually get a handle on the problem in the first place, and with the prep to transport the whole village and the festival if this was on purpose they could not have picked a better time to do this. That being said, if they were to actually attack her their best bet to do it would be on the road. The gods have rules about waring with each other, but those only apply when they get caught. When you are all on the road they can blame anything happening to you on the wilds of traveling.

If they are based in Orario we will have many other problems, but at least we will have a solid set of rules to work from." She paused as she looked back at the map on the wall again.

"That being said, the more information we have the more we can plan and try to avert the worst of the danger. I think Kerrick just hit the nail on the head, I think Thalia is too worried about us to ever let her guard down knowingly, but whenever she is having fun her masks slips. When she is performing in plays or causing trouble more of her true personality comes out and she lets things slip. We don't have time to manufacture a reason for her to write a whole new play. But while on the road she will be so excited about the future that all it would take to get something useful was to play along with her games, not only play along but point out chances and egg her on." Selphie smiled.

"She'll want to explore, want to cause trouble it's in her nature, and I want you too to play along, become her cohorts with the others and make scenarios where she gets talking. If our guess is right, putting her in the open won't change much, but if we can push our luck and take just the right amount of risks we should be able to protect her and not be caught with our pants down. I know I'm asking you to purposefully throw yourselves into a storm and egg it on in the process but it's really the best thing I can think of with so little time to prep. The road may not protect us but it also leaves those who might have other goals out in the open as well. The laws that will protect us in the city will also be a hindrance if they can get a legal reason to cause us problems. We need to be prepared for as much as we can."

[Kerrick]

I agree this sounds like the plan then moving forward

[Schnizzer]

"Well, I s'pose I ain't got nothing else to do on the trip. Maybe 'cept making some things." He stood there thinking about the request, almost as if he had other options. He knew what he was getting himself into when he took the offer a year ago, or so he told himself. He finally nodded and sighed. "Sure, I can play along. Also give me a chance to see if someone one else's causing trouble.