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[filiusenox]

A single man, thin-set and clothed in somewhat spiky and ornamented plate over chain mail rides slowly out of the gates. A thin crimson cape flutters in the wind behind him and he seems to have a single blade strapped to his belt. A white flag flutters on a...very bloody pike, a few drips of blood color the banner.

William rides out to the meeting, apparently.

[Araph]

Mark sighed. Really great thinking there, travel to a city during the middle of a siege. Still, waiting it out wasn't really an option with his lack of money or supplies.

"Good to see you've perfected the ancient art of euphemistically detaining visitors. 'Host' and 'guest' indeed."

"As for my occupation, I can only assume that I'll be pressed into service should I prove useful?"

He examined their surroundings. Tents, soldiers milling about, siege towers some distance away; fairly usual for a siege. He shifted his armor slightly.

"Fine, then. I'm Marcus Valerius, soldier, engineer, and scientist. And what would you have me be doing?"

[thatkid]

If Laythe attempts anything return to the city immediately. If they catch up, turn around and kill them all.
Meanwhile, the Ambusher regiment moves in to surround Kathos while the negotiations are still ongoing.
William rides out to the meeting, apparently.
Mark heads down to the encampment barring the way into the city.

(4-2=2) Laythe's ambushers attempt to circle around Kathos. Of course, in broad daylight and on a flat, open field, this is very much impossible. The meeting comes to an abrupt and final end as Kathos retreats before he can be flanked.

[Skyrunner]

Eurika smiled at Mark's remark, which showed that he wasn't dead stupid. She then perked up at the words "soldier, engineer, and scientist." Or rather, "engineer."

"So it must be said, couched in good terms, rather than outright laid out, she said philosophically, before lowering her voice slightly and saying,
"Engineer, did you say? May I ask if you know how to make ... gunpowder?"

Raising her voice again,
"Also, what's a scientist? Is it like alchemy, but more rigorous?"

[Shootandrun]

Kathos rode back to the city quickly, cursing the thrice-damned red queen. He met William on the way, and recognized him easily. He stopped next to him.

"Bitch is sending her men after us. Wanted to catch me unaware. Do you think we can resume the negotiations without her trying to kill us all, or it is hopeless?"

[filiusenox]

William swears a bit, his voice muffled by the helmet before he slips it off. He hurls the javelin towards the center of the field, a savage, if pointless gesture. Aiming for anyone.

"No fugging clue, Kathos."

The meeting with  Leandros,
William rummages in his desk for a moment before pulling out a thin piece of paper with a black rose seal and rolls it up, sliding it across to Leandros.
Don't kill him or anything. Just watch him...while working for him. Don't do anything like try and kill me or Lizzy if he tells you to. Do what he says otherwise. Full report and all that."

[Shootandrun]

"Well. I offered her fair terms. She threw them at my face. Come on, we're returning inside. If Laythe Ralia wants blood, who are we to stop her?"

Return to the city

[Araph]

Mark's mouth quirked up into a half-smile at Eurika's question about science.

"Two things: first off, engineering is unrelated to the creation of gunpowder. Second..." He took a breath before speaking rapidly. "Science refers to the study of the natural world through the collection of empirical data to prove or disprove hypothesis created to explain various phenomena, or a body of reliable knowledge that can be rationally explained."

He continued at a more normal rate of speaking. "The branch of science you are thinking of involving gunpowder would be chemistry, which studies interactions between the elements, and has roots in alchemy, but uses the scientific method to collect empirical knowledge of the reactions occurring as opposed to merely determining what works or does not work."

Mark carried on talking about science's relationship with engineering. "Engineering involves the practical application of scientific data, though it does not include the collection of information, so while it would be a reasonable to mistake engineering and physics, the study of physics is actually the precursor to engineering."

Then he finally connects his blathering to the actual question, his demeanor turning from that of a teacher lecturing a student to a more serious face: "In short, yes. I know how to create gunpowder. However, I will not design explosives for this army without first appraising the quality of its commanders. Sorry."

[filiusenox]

William nods, spurring his hoarse back to the gates, but not before calling out to Laythe,

"Guess this means we ain't getting married!"

Goes back with Kathos.

[Skyrunner]

Oh, good.

"Would you work for an individual? Someone who is not formally part of this or any army? A hypothetical individual who would require you to direct other engineers to create gunpowder?"

[Araph]

"Given how I just said that I would need to appraise the commanders of an army before working for them, what do you think I'm going to say about working for an individual?"

[Taricus]

"Right, they're back in. Ready the troops, we attack at once. And William, That's only not going to happen if you're on their side!"

Assault the walls. If the enemy shows signs of sallying out, cancel the attack, and let the enemy come onto our blades.

Ligorian military troops are to preferencially be spared, Kathos' guard are to be exterminated. Troops are to keep a consistant formation, let no enemy split them off.

[Shootandrun]

She was attacking. The bitch was attacking her own city.

He had a hard time believing it. This would end in blood.

The ligorian army was divided in two. Whoever won would only control a fragment of its ancient strength. The nation's economy would take an hit that would take years to repair. And all this for what? The right to rule.

And here I stand fighting for that. The right to rule. I guess that would be funny, to an outside observer.

The siege towers were rolling. Slowly. They still had at the very least fifteen minutes before the battle arrived to the gates. He thought about his options. He could fight, of course. And if he lost, he would die, and the men loyal to him would die.The city would drown in blood, and Laythe's new reign would begin with war. He might win, of course. Laythe was a mediocre commander and Alaria was used to lead cavalry, not sieges. He knew that if he brought the fight to them, he might be able to break their lines.

Is that what the generals who faced me, in my earlier years, thought? "If I bring the fight to him, we might break his lines"?

He was tired. Tired of ruling. Tired of wars. Tired of battle. Tired of all these choices. He had come to Ligoria to find a quiet place. A place to live quietly and die quietly, hopefully in a small castle by the sea. This is how it ended.

He had killed the pink archer. He had lead a revolution. He had murdered Nikephoros. He had nearly sent assassins after Laythe. Did his honor still matter?

I've lead enough good men to their death. The bodies in front of the palace on the revolution day lay there because of me, not Laythe. This nation has seen enough blood.

He opened his mouth. No sounds came out. This had never happened to him before. Usually, words flowed easily. He was good with words. He turned towards the soldiers, hesitantly.

"Men of Ligoria! This city has seen enough blood. The men outside the walls are your brothers. Our brothers. Ligorians who believe in their queen, ligorians who are simply obeying orders. If we go to battle against them, no matter who wins, blood will flow freely on the fields, and it will be the blood of our nation. I will not force you to fight the men you know and have trained with. Ligoria has suffered enough. This ends without any more bloodshed. I will talk to the queen. I will talk of peace. If not in the name of Laythe Ralia of Ligoria, then in the name of Ligoria itself. For our nation, and our city. Open the gates."

And as the gates opened, he turned towards William. This time he spoke again, quietly.

"I know you are thinking about doing something stupid. Do not do it. It will ruin everything. Laythe will see it as an act of war, the walls will be assaulted, and ligorians will die by the thousands. If I could forget my honor and my pride for a few minutes in the name of innocents, then you can, too. I am tired of death."

And with that, he left the walls once again, this time walking and carrying a white flag. The gates remained open behind him. He planted the white flag in the ground, then he took his sword and deposed it on the ground. With that he waited, as he saw officers shouting in the charging army, ordering them to stop.

[Skyrunner]

"One wise man once said, 'knock, and you shall receive,'" said Eurika while shrugging, and put Mark into the tent.

"Well, I suppose the army is going to move out soon, so with luck you won't be here much longer." She leaves the tent and loiters around near it.

[Araph]

Mark contemplated his available actions in silence before muttering to himself.

"I thought the quote was ask and you shall receive."

He shook his head. Turning around, he walked out of the tent to find Eurika.

"Given how I can't exactly go to the city without being entirely distrusted by both sides of this conflict, I would request that I be allowed to leave back the way I came."

That request was almost certainly going to be ignored in favor of short-sighted insistence on him being conscripted into creating gunpowder, but it couldn't hurt to ask.