Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

Sharpe sits back as the woman speaks of her tale. He watches patiently, and doesn't ask any questions until after she has paused. He'd rather not interrupt her stream of thought. Still, She had divulged so much, she must be realizing now that she might have said too much. She is likely thinking he would misuse the given information. He smiles at her.

"I see. So you sort of just fell into this whole mess inadvertently? Looks like you took upon the same journey we did, looking for this place. I honestly just thought it was cleverly camouflaged among the woodland. I never figured it would be in another realm. Now, here we are, we were looking into a kidnapping from Recudor of a young girl, about 18 years of age, or so she was described. A man using shadow magic, or protraction - you can see I'm not really all that adept with that kind of thing - showed up and snatched her away, and we all kind of came together out of crisis. We started with four, being myself, the Doc, Jian who was the man you might have been looking for, if that indeed was you at the bar when you showed me his picture, and a dear friend of mine who we sent on a mission behind the lines to see if she could find the girl. We haven't heard from her, but we found out that girl is now "Lady Dahaka", and that her original name was Clarent. She is very mysterious, and appears to know strong shadow... techniques... you get what I mean by that. In any case, I believe that this is technically the Clarent we were looking for, however something has changed... it's as if she's been possessed, which is honestly what I fear it is. What do you know of this? And what do you know of Marcus's involvement and history? I'll be honest, I went into this thinking that we'd be doing straight up combat. I jumped the gun too quickly. I thought this was going to be a Straylight run, and I thought it might have been like my old unit. Anyway, I'm sorry about you being mute, but maybe the people in Global or Teyness can help you out, since they're the two most technologically advanced cities on the continent. You're lucky Doc had that charm and quill with him, it would be a lot harder for us to work out. This apparently sketches images as well... I'd love to have one."

He stops and notices he's gone off on a tangent.

"Sorry," he apologizes, "I tend to ramble. Uh... oh yes, tell me about Marcus' history and perhaps his involvement here. again, no forcing, no interrogation. I just need a lot of intel. You can trust me that I will not reveal this to anyone outside the party, and that they will not release the information either."

Dr. Atrium frowns at Jack and shakes his head a little.

"There is no need to yell, we are all in the same room."

He walks over to wear Hitomi left his coat and puts it on. He then feels the knifes he took off the wall earlier still in his pocket. He walks back to Jack.

"First of all, I can tell you hate magic. When I was young, when I discovered my gift, my mother became scared of me and my father had the look in his eyes like you do...like they all do...My father took the smithing hammer out from his belt and held it up as if to fight me. He told me that if I didn't leave on my own now, then I would be leaving in bag that he would bury later. For years I put up with the look you have when you look at me and remember my gift. I know you hate magic, so stop lying.
Second, I am sure you are a fine teacher but the simple fact is, she isn't human. She can't even understand us or talk to us. I don't even know what she eats, from what I can tell, she is a hunter. But at the end of the day, she is in charge of her life. I was about her age when I was casted out into this world you seem to hate. The gods gave us a good world to live in, it was just the greed and power hungry ways of man that have shaped it to what you see before you. I have yet to see "monster, thieves, bandits, cults, plagues, famine, and wars" worse then what I have done!"

As he talks, his voice begins to get louder and louder until the end where he is yelling at Jack. He stops and sighs. He looks over to see Hitomi looking at Jian's out stretched hand. She doesn't do anything, just looks at the hand then at Jian with wounder. When he talks again, his voice is low and full of sorrow.

"There is no such thing as a "safe place" Jack...not in this world...sorry for yelling at you again...and no I am not mad..."

*sigh* " I can only hope you don't think I'm mentally insane for what I am about to say. You see, ever since I was an infant, I had visions of the past, far beyond recorded history. The past was a world at peace. no monsters, bandits or any other sort of chaos. A utopia of technology so advanced, you couldn't even begin to fathom even part of it. Yes, humans took a small part in bastardizing this perfect world with wars and greed, but there was a far greater force at hand. Every inch of land was flooded if not crumbled by quakes and set ablaze if not flooded. The most vast and elegant cities were swallowed whole in the mightiest of hurricanes, and more than half of those who survived were only greeted by the most harsh plagues possible. You say I haven't witnessed horror, but I've watched helplessly as an entire world was burned to the ground. All I could do was wonder what kind of being of such immense power could wreak such havoc other than the gods and why have I been damned to witness this. As an act of defiance towards the gods, I've wanted to bring that world back. I've been studying and reverse engineering their technology which is why I became a prodigy engineer. Your father hated your magic because he was blind and ignorant, cowardly afraid of what he couldn't understand. Such closed minded people disgust me, like those damn pagans. I, on the other hand, dislike magic because of the thought of being dependent on it. The people of the old world never used magic because they never needed it. Their technology was so powerful. It was as if the created their own kind of magic. I've grown to tolerate you as a sorcerer because I can see your not helpless without magic. You've shown your as swift as a dagger and even more intelligent than the average medical practitioner. On the contrary, I think I'd be leaps closer to bringing that perfect world into fruition if I could rid the world of people like Marcus or the general and replace them with people like you and Hitomi"

The discussion between the two seem to continue as Jian's in the center of the room, forced to witness all of it. He can't make out even half of it, so it doesn't really matter to him. Hitomi doesn't seem to respond to his gesture though, so he gives up shortly after trying. He hoped that she might react, hugging his arm, or poking it, anything that shows acceptance. He could use the company right now, them fighting isn't really making him too comfortable, if it even is a fight. He closes his eyes and just imagine the woman that saved him giving him a guarding hug to calm himself. Hugs calm from what he found, so that's the only thing he can come up with. Shortly after, yesterday kicks in though and it knocks him from his calming track. He's starting to realise that he attacked the doc out of massive rage. He still doesn't know much about the woman though, he just remembers the doc saying that she's not the right one.

He rolls over, pulling the blanket over himself. He hopes that thier discussion ends soon so he doesn't have to be stuck in even more fights, arguments and stress all were exposed to more than enough recently.

He wants to leave, just go and leave this place.

The woman looks at sharpe with a puzzling look.

"I don't trust you, as much as you say you can. But I trust your friend more than most people in this world, despite never having met him in person before."

She stretches a little and then continues.

"Marcus is a man who came to our guild, with no history and no name. He was a street rat like every other kid and teen we had picked up, barely older than most of them. He was a prodigy and very skilled in everything, but magic was his forte. He would often play tricks on the others. Unhealthy tricks like getting them caught just to bust them out and such things. But our mentors didn't agree with his behaviour. Despite all this, he eventually sobered up from his childish behaviour and when our leader fell sick he tried to take over the guild. He changed everything we knew about it, the way we worked and the way we viewed the world, but ultimately was forbidden of such ways. One day he simply went missing, had said the day prior that change was coming and he would play a big part in it. Said he had found someone who would change the world as we knew it for the better and up and left."

The woman then becomes a rather sad look on her face, recalling the past events. She remembers the past as she recollected it and drifts off into her memories. The quill begins to sketch out images from her view.
Doors breaking down and guards storming into the Inn. A woman beaten until she handed them a key. A hidden door discovered and the place raided. People being stabbed as the view hides in the shadows. A man that must be marcus at a younger age, walking into the place with a smug grin as if he had done something great. Then suddenly, fire. Burned corpses and charred metal.

She twitches slightly, leaving a blob of ink on the paper. Sharpe looks at the papers and puts them away, leaving her with a fresh bunch.

"My apologies." She writes, "Marcus returned and brought the guard with him. Said in order for things to work like they should he needed us to either cooperate or to dissapear, and he had clearly chosen the latter."

She pauses for a moment and takes some time to look out the window. "Marcus is a very blunt and ruthless man. He's seeking some sort of change and nobody knows what it might bring with it. All I've managed to gather on it is that he's linked behind the recent kidnappings and abductions. In fact, from what I can tell most men and women who were taken came from their own free will." She then stares at sharpe and looks him in the eye with a sudden intense and grim expression. "There is a hidden door in the dining room. I managed to open it and saw them there. So many people... But I must have set off some chemical reaction and one of the tanks exploded which left me running as to not be discovered. The rest of it you know already I'm sure."

Moments pass and the woman continues to stare at him as he reads the text, when he is done she writes; "They're building something. What... I do not know."

Sharpe sits back and crosses his arms, putting one hand to his chin. So, they're building something...

"That door you mentioned, was it behind a banner or tapestry? Because If that is so, Janette, the more sinister of the maids commented that it was for storage, left it at that. Were these bodies dead or rotted? Or simply hollow shells? I will say, its rather disturbing that those people might have been people like us..." he shivers. Very disturbing indeed.

"Additionally, do you know anything about this 'Lady Dahaka'? Perhaps how Marcus came in contact with her? Or do you not know that bit?"

Dr. Atrium thinks about what Jack has said.

"I don't think I quite be leave you, but I do feel as you aren't lying. Let me think on it for a bit."

He looks over at Jian and sees him moving. He sits on the edge of the bed and rubs his arm.

"It's ok Jian, everything is going to end up ok, I promise. I not angry at you if that is what you are thinking. I also am not leaving your side until you are back on your feet. I am sure you are feeling the medicine I gave you. You should be remembering what you don't recall. Give it five more minutes and you should sRt feeling like your old self."

After a bit of silence he decides to heR what Jian thinks about what him and Jack have been talking about.

"We have been trying to decide if we should take Hitomi with us when we leave, even if she doesn't want to. What do you think?"

"I guess I really don't have any evidence to convince him, but I shouldn't be pondering on that while Jian's in such a condition. Heh, caring for the man who stabbed him after a psychotic episode, I don't regret a word I said about the doctor. hhhmm, poor bloke, Jian looks as dazed and confused as the local drunk."

"He looks more awake than when I walked in here. Although, he still looks very off. I'm not even sure if he can hear us. Doctor, is there anyways to wake him up faster?"

Jian's memories now are pretty much back, his senses though, no chance, still out of themselves. He tries to roll over but the sudden pain in his leg prevents him from doing so. He covers it up by just pulling up his blanket even more, that way they might not notice this little failed attempt of his. He would get up and look at the woman that looked exactly like the right hand of the emperor, but I guess that won't happen for a while. He just wants to find out who that "imposter" is.

In the meantime the two seemed to calm down, which is good. But both seem to look down on him, which kicks in some more nervousness. The doc rubs his arm, so it can't be nothing too bad. His body feels a bit numb from the medication he got, but it seems to do it's magic, as everything sorts itself more and more as the time passes.

Airgetlam wakes up in her bed, and she feels something larger putting weight on a side of the bed. She starts to move about and rubs her eyes, and looks up to see Mai sitting against the head of the bed. It looks like he might have nodded off, might not have. She reasons he might be sleeping with his eyes open, and she maneuvers out of bed. She looks down to see she slept in her dress, but without any of her gear, nor boots. At least she had the common sense to not sleep with her gear on.

She grabs her knife and straps it to her leg under her dress and fiddles with it to make sure it's properly concealed. She walks out into the hall still rubbing her eyes, barefoot at the same time. She looks up and down and walks to the turn of the hall, to the door which seems to have a light coming from it, natural light. She knocks on the door, saying nothing and leans against the wall. She yawns a bit, and as soon as she does hears an unfamiliar voice coming from another room.

Maigoyume wakes up and notices a distinct lack of a presence on the other side of the bed. Instantly becoming alert, he immediately searches for signs of struggle or any attack that may have occurred. Finding none, he concludes that Airgetlam has left the room and decided to separate for some unknown reason. Noticing the gear missing, he leaves the room and looks around for a bit. In the hallway, he fhears a yawn and some voices down at the other end. Deciding to check out the activity down there, he silently moves over and sees Airgetlam before realizing that there is someone inside the room she is standing outside of.

Becoming wary once more, he stops at a fair distance away and ponders whether to approach or not. Unsure of himself, he stands at the ready and watches silently.

In sharpes room, the woman merely writes "No Intel" on the paper but is interrupted by knocking on the door. She looks over to the door with slight worry and then back at the window. Her training dictates should anything happen she could easily break through it and escape, even with her body not in shape. She looks back at the door and waits.

Meanwhile in Jians room, Hitomi rolls around on the bed, wrappingherself in the blanket and then plummeting off the bed. The blanket lands with a thud and lays there immobile for a moment- but then wiggles around and hitomi's head pops out upside down. She stares at the people in the room and dissapears back under the blankets and continues to play.

Sharpe's attention darts to the knocking at his door, and wonders what it is. He looks back to the woman and the scrawlings on the paper. He gives a small nod, and sees her eyeing the window.

"Just so you know, from what I've heard there's nothing beyond the castle. You'd need to find the main gate, and find out how that opens. One moment please." he says, and gets up. He walks to the door and turns the knob slowly and walks out in to the hallway and turns his head.

"You're ok..." He says and hugs Airgetlam tightly. "You had me worried, you know. There's more to this castle than we know. Please, love, do come in! We sort of have a guest, but she's not who you think she is, i'll say that." He says as well and beckons her inside. He pulls up a chair for her and sits down in the one he was in.

He turns to the woman again with a big smile.

"Don't worry, she's one of us. This is my closest friend, Airgetlam. We've known each other since birth practically. I sent her out on a mission to go find Clarent, before we found her... the way she was in the dining hall. It'll be good to have her debrief and to exchange info between the three of us."

For once, Sharpe can't stop smiling. Even with the uncanny goings-on that hangs about in the castle, he just can't help but be happy that she's back.

Dr. Atrium thinks a moment about what Jack said. As he does so, he watches Hitomi wrap herself in the blanket and fall to the floor playing. He laughs a bit. He is so happy that she is not scared and to herself anymore. It warms his heart to see her just playing and having a good time, though she sure can make a mess. He then gets an idea and goes to his bag and pulls out a small bottle. He unscrews the top of it and waves it under Jian's nose.

"Well if he is awake but not all together, this should do it. The smell of this is so bad that it wakes your whole system up. Ammonia, not only is it good for cleaning but it will wake most people who are out of it."

"Bloody hell, that stuff smells almost as bad as that bloody corpse. Bullocks, I think I'm gonna be sick if I inhale that for too long"

"Uh, I'm going to check up on Sharpe and the lady. Tell me if Jian gets better"

Just as Jack leaves, he spots a mysterious figure

"That's definitely not one of the servants or guests. One could imagine whoever that chap is, he's up to no good. His entire body is completely covered up. Only reason for that would probably be a bandit hiding their identity one could assume. Enough pondering, I must apprehend him."

Jack pulls out his gun with a clear shot of the mysterious shadowy figure

"OI, STOP RIGHT THERE! I'M WARNING YOU, THIS IS A PROTRACTION WEAVE! EITHER TELL ME WHAT YOUR DOING HERE OR I WILL PAINT THE WALLS RED WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

The gun gave off an aura glow as it was fully charged with energy. Jack put a slight amount of pressure on the trigger as he prepared to fire

The smell fills his nose and he chokes about. He closes his eyes as it burns inside his nose. Rolling left and right, he interrupts the motion with occasional gagging over the corners of the bed. What the hell is this? It makes him feel terribly sick. His fingers dig into one side of the bed and he coughes several times, making a dismissive motion with his right hand.

"Get that shit away, what the hell! What were you trying to achieve with this!?"

He coughes a bit more, seeing Jack leaving the room. His vision significally clearer now. He feels more awake aswell, but that's not his concern.

"Seriously, doc, what the hell? What was this all about? Were you trying to make this room turn into a mess? I barely ate anything anyway!"

His rant is interrupted by yells in the hallway. Rubbing his face with one hand, he looks towards the room's exit.

"Sh... Should we check out what's going on? ... I wanted to check out who that woman is anyway..."

He feels a bit uneasy with the yelling, what is it about?

She gets hugged extremely tightly and starts gasping for air, but puts a hand on Sharpe's back and pats it.

"H-Hey, Sharpie, glad you're ok too! C-could you uh... bleh... not hug me so tightly?"

He doesn't hear her and he lets go, leading her inside his room. She look down at the bed and sees a woman... in pants, boots, and a purple... tanktop...

"Uh..." she starts, but she figures Sharpe has a legitimate reason for having her here. She notices she looks different - more pretty.

"Um.. you are you a doppelganger or something? I don't know." She gives Sharpe a worried look while sitting down on the other chair he brought up for her.

Maiogyume is thrown out of his musing by a sudden shout. Turning, he sees a man leveling an oddly shiny pistol at him and reacts instantly. Ducking and leaping to the side, he bellows at the man both to unnerve him and warn Airgetlam of the danger before leaping diagonally to a wall and pushing off at an angle. Moving targets are very difficult to hit on a good day with a pistol like that, and he'd love to see a person try to hit someone moving this fast.

"Tch." His vision begins to gray out as his directional change was too great as he experiences mild whiplash. Ducking under where his movement could be predicted, he hears the man shout something about protraction before a streak of something shoots past. Maigoyume can feel the heat scorch his skin slightly as he twists over it, leaving a sunburned feeling and he lands, swinging a leg around and attempting a leg sweep.

Maigoyume successfully manages to bring Jack to the ground, making him fall to the side as his legs are swooped out from underneeth him. He lands with a grunt and gets right back into pose, trying to back away and get up as both their attention is claimed by something transpiring down the hall.

The sudden shot sends a shock through everyone's system in Sharpe and Jian's room. The woman in the bed gets up quickly, jumping into a crouched ready position and holding her hand behind her back, as if to grab a concealed weapon, but notices there is nothing there. The device in Sharpe's pocket suddenly begins to vibrate, making a small sharp sound. He gets up from his chair and hastily pulls it out, looking at its surface. Several red dots suddenly emerge on the screen as he hears a door slams shut and muffled footsteps echo down the hall.

Meanwhile in the hallway, Maigoyume and Jack are distracted by four servants who have suddenly appeared out of no-where and are standing a little whiles before them, witnessing the event. They all carry the same beat expression and from behind them the head-maid Janette emerges. She Stands there, raising an eyebrow at the scene before her. "Good morning." She says, her expression no where near as happy and cheerful as usual, making her sharp features seem rather eerie and dominant. She curtsies before them and then looks up with a sudden grin on her face. "Sir Jackson, was it? And... You, creature." She says in a stern voice, "I don't mean to interrupt your curious choice of past time but breakfast is nearly ready should you desire." She gets up from her modest bow and steps aside, presenting her servants. "Each of your rooms will be given a servant. The dining hall is sadly out of commission for now so you may ask each of your servants for a meal and they will send for it. Anything you need, just ask them." She says and folds her arms behind her back, making gestures with her fingers.

The Servants begin moving to the rooms, knocking and then opening the doors without waiting for an answer and step inside each room, placing themselves in a corner and awaiting orders.

Janette bows again and says; "If you need me, send the servants, I'll be dealing with my duties."
And with that she turns and walks off, leaving her servants with the group.

Sharpe pokes his head outside his room and witnesses Janette's uncanny habit of appearing out of nowhere. A servant walks into his room, as with the others. He shoots Janette a stern look and hauls Jack up to his feet.

"I wouldn't go and shoot if you haven't been attacked, despite not knowing what the intentions of your target are. Better just play it safe. On another note, was that a protraction, weapon? I have yet to see one so close in person. Then again by other accounts I have witnessed first-hand they're pretty valuable and rare. He looks over at the newcomer.

"While I don't quite take to people attacking my party, I'll say you have skill. Who are you?" Sharpe asks of the hooded man.

Dr. Atrium laughs as Jian coughs and gags. He puts the top back on the bottle and puts it back into his bag. His laughing is cut off though when he hears the commotion outside the room.
What the heck is going on out there? How is it that Jack seems to have a nack for getting into a fight with everyone he meets?He thinks to himself. He helps Jian out of bed. Jian limps pretty hard, almost falling to the ground when he puts his weight on his wounded leg. He walks over to the bed post and with a few good pulls, he rips the siding off of the head of the bed. He gives the now decorated leg to Jian.

"Here, use this as a cane to lean on. I think we should see what is going on out there. I also want to see my sister so I can give her weapons back. It isn't safe to have something to protect yourself with in this place."

He gets his bag, then he walks over and grabs Hitomi's hand then helps Jian get out of the room and into the halls. He shocked to see another batch of servants at everyone's door just like the night before. He needs to be carful and not kill this one. He leave Jian in the hall in case he wishes to talk to everyone out in the hall but he heads to the room with the lady in it. He sees Air and smiles wide, its good to have her back. He walks into the room and sees the lady in a fighting pose. He lets Hitomi go so she can wounder around the room like she likes to.

"relax, everything is ok for now. I thought I would come in and give these back to you. You are going to need them. You can also keep the charm and quill. you need it more then I do."

He walks over and hands her the bundle that he wrapped all her weapons in.

"By the way, what is your name?"

"Bloody hell, how does someone move that fast? He's definitely not ordinary"

"We know your not a guest or a servant, so unless your an assailant, take of that mask and tell us who you are and what your doing here"

Jack's hands were strategically positioned to grab his knife from his coat pocket and strike in one fatal swoop just as they were when he first met Sharpe. Knowing of the shadowy creature's immense speed, Jack did not want to do anything rash, but he wanted to stand vigilant and prepared.

Jian's slowly following the Doc, seeing all kinds of people being gathered in the hallway, including an unknown person... Or well it doesn't look like a person at all actually. He can't really tell what it is, but being here, he barely is surprised by anything crossing the way. Jack seems worked up and it looks a bit like him and that... he doesn't know what so far, had a little issue going on.

"Well hey now, what's happening here? I just got back out of my little trauma and then everybody starts fighting instead. May I ask who this unknown man here is though? And why was there an issue? We should just keep it low and talk it out normally."

Saying that is kind of hypocritcal, he didn't solve things peacefully aswell. Saying that felt very awkward to him, he even feels a bit bad about it, but he's right in this case, his own rage didn't get people far, so it had to be said.

"We could talk in one of the rooms maybe? It's not too good to stand here in the hallway now, is it?"

He directs everyone into the room that doc went in with a gesture, hoping they would comply.

Airgetlam jogs out of Sharpe's room, smiling back at Doc as well as drawing her shortsword.

"He's with me, helped me get through the dungeon areas. He doesn't mean harm to friends of mine." she turns and nods to Mai as she solidifies her stance.

"His name is Maigoyume, and he's a very capable fighter, perhaps an assassin; I'm somewhat unsure. He could probably give Sharpe a run for his money, so I'd suggest we back down, and go into a room like Jian suggested." she winks and smiles at him.

"But hold on, who do we have here with the protraction weave?" she calls out the strange man. She walks forward slowly and looks the man in the eye, pushing the tip of her blade into his chest, but not so much as to pierce the man's tunic.

"Who are you, sir?

Maigoyume growls softly as more unfamiliar people enter the hall. Moving away slightly, he relaxes as he sees Airgetlam come out, and speaks with another man. Narrowing his eyes once more at the man who had so graciously tested his combat skills, he lets Airgetlam do the talking. Oh, how he wishes he could just chill on the ceiling and watch in relative peace.

As he sees Airgetlam accost the man with a shortsword, he moves behind her towards the room that both she and another man has suggested. Waiting silently, he leans against a wall.