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"Given how Felencorp is fond of taking other countries' heroes for their own, it's not surprising we haven't seen much. Bursteig would have serious issues if Felencorp found out they had a hero they didn't know about. They'd have to work behind the scenes in order to remain undetected.", Carrie posits for the matriarchs, "Whether or not they do indeed have a hero and what sort of actions they're taking if so are part of what we'll be looking to figure out. There.....may also be an opportunity to try to alleviate some of the pressure on the nightwalker tribes as well if Bursteig is looking for a peaceful relationship. Synithise told me shortly after I was summoned that the adventuring guilds in the surrounding nations issue quests for the extermination of nightwalkers. This presents an opportunity to raise that issue for consideration if they truly want to forge diplomatic bonds. We really ought to think on exactly what we hope to get out of a diplomatic relationship with Bursteig and list those goals in organized fashion. Such a document could form the basis for our negotiating strategy."

While Carrie wasn't terribly well versed in negotiations, she did know how to organize her thoughts and come up with a set of objectives. She figured the same could apply to a diplomatic meeting. Carrie then turns her attention to the more operational level consideration Jasna had raised, amused that Synithise hadn't quite realized the implications yet.

"The wagon we suddenly appeared here in can teleport its passengers, cargo, and draft animals.", Carrie states plainly, watching the expressions of those present with mild amusement, "I used my blessing to turn it into a means of rapidly returning to the tunnels, but now that we're back here we could use its ability to teleport to achieve very rapid and unexpected deployment of people and assets where they best benefit our interests. We could use it to reduce the length of time to deploy scouts dramatically, as an escape route, or to deploy a team of highly skilled combatants to a target location they would otherwise be unable to access. I'm sure you can see how the ability to suddenly appear or disappear people or assets from an area of operations would be useful, not to mention a wagon doesn't exactly stand out as unusual traffic to those who see it."

Carrie takes a moment to face Jasna, pointedly agreeing with her decision to request further clarification. "Good idea, that. If there's anything we could use right now it's information. Even if they're not keen on saying much without a face to face meeting, what they are and aren't willing to tell us can reveal a great deal."

Finally, Carrie addresses the one topic that had yet to be discussed.

"With the diplomatic situation addressed as best we can for now, I think the next item on the agenda is the request or requests our new friends have for us, isn't it?", Carrie asks rhetorically, turning to 'Aliana' to give her the spotlight, prompting with a smile, "Care to fill us in on the details?"

"I have to admit, this blessing does seem to be overwhelmingly powerful.", Carrie agrees with Aliana, her expression draining slightly of color as she is reminded of the implications, "But Felencorp has multiple heroes whose abilities are completely unknown to us right now. The last thing we want to do is count our chickens before they hatch."

Carrie then listens intently as Jasna relays what her scouts have learned, thinking carefully about the implications. When her gaze focuses in the present once more, her tone has changed to a somewhat mischievous one.

"I figured they were our best bet for an ally shortly after I arrived.", Carrie recounts for the benefit of the two who hadn't been present, "To think they'd reach out to us with an offer of aid before we could even act.... Well, that tells us a few things. First and foremost, it tells us that something within their country has changed for them to reach out now. It also tells us they have a specific reason for it. Their stated goal is obviously something Felencorp won't like. They can only run roughshod over us while we're not united."

Carrie pauses as she further considers the data she had taken in before continuing.

"They're seeking to discreetly make a move that they have to know Felencorp would oppose if they made it openly. They also have to know that Felencorp is unlikely to sit idly by when it comes to light. Is their stated goal really the truth? Could their leadership really be that naive to think Felencorp won't figure this ploy out?"

Carrie's line of thought stops cold as a sudden realization dawns on her.

"They just might if they're new to the political situation in this world. That would explain their piss-poor tact where the implications of a human annexation of Darmona are concerned. If I'm right, then it's likely there's a hero at the helm of Bursteig. A hero at the helm is a game-changer."

Carrie meets the gaze of each of those present in turn before she continues, "Diplomatic relations with Bursteig would be an ideal outcome, though perhaps not as they've offered. If they do have a hero of their own, working with them could be a real path forward. On the other hand, we've got no information on that point, though to be fair, they don't even know I exist. We still have the advantage of surprise on that front at least should things go south."

Carrie then turns to Jasna, though addressing everyone in the room, "By all means, send your people in to get us some intel. But bear in mind that you don't need my approval to do what you think is best. I've been here less than a week. This is your country. I'm not going to be that person who just shows up and tells you how to run the place. I only have that authority which is granted to me. If I were to behave otherwise, I'd be no different from Felencorp."

Carrie takes a few moments to allow the meaning of what she had said to sink in before she continues.

"That said, we should bear in mind that we have a means of paying Bursteig's leadership a surprise visit now, not to mention a great way to rapidly deploy a team of scouts or other assets."

Carrie nods as Aliana mentions an artifact capable of detecting lies.

"I figured there might be need for a lie detector once the situation was stabilized.", Carrie informs the group, "I programmed my dog-tags for just such a purpose shortly after I came to. That should help us figure out who's on the level and who might be an issue."

Carrie pauses before changing to a different, yet loosely related topic, addressing both Kisisha and Synithise.

"Speaking of blessings that can turn the tide of a war,....", Carrie begins, acknowledging Kisisha's statement by way of demonstration as she looks to Synithise, "It turns out your idea concerning magic items and my blessing was correct. Not long after I woke, I used said blessing to transfer the enchantment from one of the caravan leader's daggers to my own knife. If taken to the next logical step, I can see a way to potentially duplicate enchantments. I'll be wanting an opportunity to experiment with the idea a bit later on, among others. I'd appreciate it if a few materials could be gathered to facilitate the process, specifically a few short, stout sticks or dowels, and a few sheets of easily rolled fabric of varying sizes."

Carrie then directs her attention toward Jasna and Eveleen to inquire about the primary subject of the meeting in question.

"Those two points aside, I hear we have new intel out of the city and several requests from our new friends.", Carrie prompts, "For starters, are events in the city good news or bad news for us?"

As Carrie enters the meeting room, she returns Kisisha's nod before taking a seat next to Synithise. Upon hearing the first words spoken, Carrie's assessment of Kisisha as a leader was proven correct. 'The buck stops here despite it being Misophe's mess huh?', Carrie thinks to herself, 'We're off to a good start.'

Carrie then responds to the introduction and Kisisha's request directly.

"We've met once before, though without the pleasure of a proper introduction.", Carrie explains for the benefit of the others in the room, "As for your request, Kisisha, I know that I can trust you given your assistance during the crisis, but the rest of the warriors are another story. I'll certainly defer to your judgement with respect to anyone you can personally vouch for, but recent events have called into question which side of the coming conflict they're on. Until we can be sure of the allegiance of those involved, we need to consider them a security risk."

Carrie pauses for a moment to allow the weight of her statements to sink in before continuing with a more conciliatory tone.

"That being said, regardless of the degree of involvement, I'm not about to offer Misophe's subordinates any worse than she got. It wouldn't be just if they caught it worse than the one most responsible. I'm sure there are even some whose entire involvement was guarding an entrance or a room and had no idea what Misophe was up to. I can't exactly begrudge them standing a watch."

"Well, that would explain why you're so effective with a small blade.", Carrie replies with a smile, then turns to look at Viviana as she once more calls Apulia a bandit.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if you actually believe what you keep saying.", Carrie comments on Viviana's constant mantra regarding Apulia with mild amusement, "I mean, you're sitting right next to her. If you actually believe that she's a violent brigand, is going out of your way to irritate her entirely wise?"

Carrie pauses momentarily, looking like she was going to turn to someone else before turning back and adding, with a hint of mischief, "Then again, she hasn't exactly given you any reason for concern has she?"

Carrie then turns her attention back to the harpy, nodding at her assessment.

"As safe as it can be anyway.", she qualifies the statement, referencing recent events as she advises, "If you're comfortable with it, it'll probably be best to lead with that topic, especially if there's a possibility we'll wind up collaborating long-term."

As Carrie is led onward by Synithise, she can't help but smile in response to her infectious jovial demeanor.

"You're right, let's get this thing underway. It sounds like we've got a lot to cover."

If Carrie's uniform can be washed by the time she's out of the bath then she'll stick with that.

As Carrie approaches and recognizes the two batfolk she had seen the last time she had been in the meeting room, she returns their nod and greets the assembled group as well.

"I'm glad to see everyone is well. The last thing I remember before passing out was you chasing after a fleeing beast, so it's a relief to see you aren't missing from the group.", Carrie admits while looking in Apulia's direction before turning to address 'Aliana'.

"No worries. I was out like a light until about an hour ago so there wasn't much of an opportunity. Setting that wagon up to teleport took more out of me than I had expected. In any case, there's much to discuss so we had better get the ball rolling. As for the topic in question, are you comfortable discussing it during the meeting?"

Regardless of 'Aliana''s answer, Carrie will abide by it and continue into the meeting.

Level 40: [blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 72, total 72[/blockquote]

"I'm glad I have a safe place to return to.", Carrie responds to Eveleen with a smile before turning to wake Synithise.
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Carrie grins at Synithise's exuberant expression and despite initially flinching in pain with a brief "Ooff" at the tight hug given her injuries from the previous day, returns the embrace.

"I figured you might say that.", Carrie teases the Lamia matriarch, continuing, "And I've got just the recipe! We've got a meeting to attend to in an hour though. Apparently, there's news to discuss beyond just the recent rescue mission. Before then, I'd very much like to make myself at least somewhat presentable. It won't do for me to appear disheveled and covered in blood and filth. Problem is,... I don't have another uniform to wear and this one has definitely seen better days."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carrie is looking to accomplish two basic things before the meeting. A bath, and acquiring a replacement outfit for the damaged and bloodied uniform. She'll also swap the partially loaded magazines in her weapons for full magazines before she leaves her room.

"I'm just glad it's not as grave as the last one.", Carrie replies, the pun clearly intended for Donovan, pausing so that Eveleen could convey the pun before explaining, "As for those 3,000 hours, they're hours of community service. Misophe's surrender was secured with a conditional suspended sentence. As I'm sure you've surmised, one of those conditions was ceding her authority to her second in command. The other two were that community service and forfeiture of the right to bear arms unless specifically authorized to do so by either myself of Synithise. As for Misophe's group, I suppose their fate will depend on just how much they knew about what Misophe was planning. Even if they were just following orders, that defense only goes so far. Aside from interrogating the prisoners, it couldn't hurt to ask our new friends to tell us their stories either. From what I heard on the road, it's likely that more than one can give us some new information."

Carrie pauses, testing her K-Bar's edge on a bit of left-over bandage to see how it performs after the programming and grins at the success.

"In any case, if we've got information coming in that merits a meeting, I had best rouse Synithise.", She resumes, then looks at her uniform as the bandages remind her of the current state of her appearance and can't help but chuckle darkly, as a way of coping with the present reminder of the last time her uniform had been stained with her own blood, "Damn. I look like death warmed over. Technically, I am..."

With a sigh, Carrie does her best to banish the unpleasant memories from her mind and gives Synithise a gentle shake to bring her to consciousness.

"Rise and shine~! We've got places to be and people to see!"

As Carrie reassesses the items she had acquired from the caravan's leader, she comments to herself quietly, "Well, I can certainly see why he had this on him as well as the cloak. This cloak will be a significant boon. To hell with this armor though.... Can't make heads or tails of it... These daggers will be useful, though,....... I'll have to test that theory. I didn't expect to be able to so soon though."

Carrie sighs as she considers the red hand gripped sword and dagger, commenting, "It's a shame these two are so conspicuous. They're practically a dead give-away if the wrong person is seen with them. Maybe if the theory is sound I can break them down and put them to use somehow..."

It is then that Carrie moves on to the vials she had obtained, realizing all too quickly what they were. She recalled from Eveleen's memories that they carried a knockout toxin and the instant she realizes just how close she came to being captured herself in her attempt to rescue Synithise, Carrie's blood turns to ice in her veins.

"Shit! So this is what was on the blade!", Carrie curses, a little louder than she had intended, and looks back toward Synithise hoping she hadn't woken her as she takes a moment to compose herself again.

Carrie then takes a moment to review the status screen as it appears in front of her, noting the changes as well as realizing that her HP had recovered some and that she had clearly been tended to by someone with medical knowledge.

Carrie once more looks over at Synithise with a smile, knowing she was likely the responsible party, before returning to the matters she was currently considering. There were two things Carrie needed to do first and foremost. One was to figure out a way to put the gear she had acquired to use without sacrificing the technological advantages she currently had. Two was figuring out exactly what the current situation now looked like after Synithise had returned to the tunnels. Carrie decided to test the theory she had before addressing the second issue and began to program once more.

"Program, condition, now. Statement, transfer enchantment to target object. Save." Carrie's test was simple and concise. She would attempt to transfer the basic enhancement borne by one of the daggers to her Ka-Bar. Regardless of the result, Carrie would then address the second matter while she drew her Ka-Bar in order to experiment with it and confirm the success or lack thereof of transferring an enchantment.

"Carrie to Eveleen. I'm awake and apparently safe in my room again, but beyond that I've got no idea what the situation is. I'm sure you've got plenty of questions yourself, not to mention we need to bring Jasna up to speed on the situation, so the sooner we can de-brief this impromptu rescue operation, the better. We've also got prisoners to interview at some point. Oh, right. There was someone in that caravan Felencorp considered a VIP prisoner sufficient to justify sending such a powerful agent to escort them back to their territory. Man, are they gonna be pissed when they realize they lost her. I never thought I'd find myself saying this about Synithise being kidnapped, but the way things have turned out, there appears to be a silver lining to the situation."

As Carrie comes to and realizes that she and Synithise are back in the tunnels beneath Thura Forest, hearing her friend dream about chicken that Carrie surmises she must have cooked in that dream, she arrives at the conclusion that the program she had employed on the wagon had taken effect, and that despite having passed out due to lack of mana again somebody had been able to figure out what she had in mind.

"Well, guess it's pollo asado for dinner then.", Carrie comments quietly with a relieved smile as Synithise rests with her head in Carrie's lap, then grabs the pillow from beneath her head and attempts to stealthily slip out of bed without waking Synithise and place the pillows beneath the matriarch's head as she vacates the space in a very Raiders of the Lost Ark fashion, grinning at the similarity of the two situations.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+19 : 18 + 19, total 37[/blockquote] Stealth (Subtract 5 if Carrie's still in her armor. She will also quietly remove it if she is.)

Carrie then takes this time to examine the kit of the assassin she had killed earlier again, now that she's not under pressure, in the hopes that she'll be able to get a better understanding of the magic the items bear.

Shortsword (1001) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 12 + 8, total 20[/blockquote]
Cloak (1002) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 20 + 8, total 28[/blockquote]
Leather Armor (1003) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 1 + 8, total 9[/blockquote]
5 daggers (1004) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 18 + 8, total 26[/blockquote]
Dagger (1005) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 13 + 8, total 21[/blockquote]
10 Vials (1006) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+8 : 20 + 8, total 28[/blockquote]

While Carrie is examining the items in question, she will make a point of seeing if any of them glow with spirit as they do with mana. This will also prompt a realization on Carrie's part that she hasn't checked on her status window after the combat with the Hyaenadons. She seeks to correct that by quietly uttering the word "Status.", still seeking to avoid waking Synithise. While she goes about all of this, Carrie realizes that for the first time since coming to this new world, she hasn't had a nightmare while asleep. While she isn't sure if it was a side effect of the lack of mana or Synithise's presence, Carrie finds herself grateful for the reprieve. She hopes it was the latter rather than the former. As Carrie further examines the items in front of her and her status window, she thinks back to the events that led to her coming into possession of these items and realizes that a great deal of subterfuge and deceipt was most likely involved. She decides that she needs a way to detect such with absolute certainty and despite still being drowsy from having low mana, she creates a new program, hopefully inexpensive, attached to her dog tags.

"Program, Condition: A lie is told in the wearer's vicinity. Statement: Apply a static shock to the wearer. Save."

It is Carrie's hope that this new program

Hearing Grus thank her, Carrie finishes dressing the wound and pats the Minotaur on the shoulder, expressing relief, "Good job taking that one out. I was worried I was going to lose someone when I missed the target."

Carrie then takes a look around to evaluate the situation and sees no immediate threats, but can't help face-palming as Apulia chases down the one surviving Hyaenadon that had turned to flee.

"That's it. We're getting the hell out of this savannah.", Carrie declares with great irritation, then whistles loudly in order to get Apulia's attention before shouting, "Regroup! We're leaving!"

She then turns toward the cart and selects it for programming.

"Program, condition: As desired by citizens of Darmona, Statement: teleport cart Statement: teleport draft animal(s). Condition: As desired by citizens of Darmona Statement: teleport cart contents Condition: Cart is captured by one or more entities hostile to Darmona Statement: delete program. Save."

"Everyone climb aboard!", Carrie directs as she moves toward the front of the wagon and prepares to assist Donovan in getting his horse into the harness attached to the vehicle. She then takes a moment to contact Eveleen.

"Eveleen, Carrie. We've been ambushed by Hyaenadons out on the savannah. We've got casualties, but thankfully no fatalities. This place is going to be too dangerous for us to camp out the rest of the night at this rate, so I'll be bringing everyone to you shortly. The mismatched climate has the wildlife out here trying to eat anything that moves!"

Burning a hero point to re-roll Treat injury. [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+3 : 17 + 3, total 20[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 4d6+72 : 6, 6, 1, 5 + 72, total 90[/blockquote] (Continued roll)

"Shit.", Carrie swore under her breath, seeing her most crucial shot miss and Grus take another bite, this time on the neck. Realizing that the horse-sized creature had likely punctured the internal carotid with its bite based on the volume of blood pouring from the minotaur's neck, Carrie immediately changed direction and headed toward Grus in order to bring her medical kit to assist.

If Carrie is able to reach Grus with a move action, she'll attempt to stabilize him. If not, she'll fire a round at the hyaenadon threatening the critically wounded priestess.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+3 : 8 + 3, total 11[/blockquote] Stabilize Grus

OR

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+17 : 20 + 17, total 37[/blockquote] Attack Hyaenadon, Damage:[blockquote]Rolled 20d6 : 4, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 2, 4, 2, 5, 6, 5, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 6, 2, 1, total 72[/blockquote] (roll continued in next post)