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[RangerCado]

"N-no... we were saving it..." Runa looks really worried now. Would the land begin to die without the Fire Emblem to assist them?

[SeriousConcentrate]

Noel looked over at Daethwin.

"Not necessarily. The Fire Emblem was doing that for this land, but now it's been shattered and possibly tainted. For all we know, it might be making the areas it ended up in worse off than they were before. Either way, we should try to recover the pieces and then figure out what to do once we have them."

[Rolepgeek]

Daethwin brushed a lock of hair out of his face, shaking his head.

"I hope you're right..."

The bard sighed internally. She didn't like seeing people get hurt, but these Verosians would probably be worse off without the Emblem than anyone else. They hadn't had to deal with the sorts of things everyone else did, after all. They could probably stand to toughen up some, for that matter...but they'd have to now, wouldn't they? Maybe if they did manage to recover it, and it wasn't useless from being shattered and all, the Verosians would have learned something about how to survive without it, and the countries could pass it around or something. Daeth snorted at the thought. Right, because nobody would try to just keep it for themselves...speaking of which...

"Eh...excuse me, Mrs. Princess? So, uh, why didn't you guys just extend that Emblem's protection to the whole continent?"

[birdy51]

: _"What..."

Rubbing his bleary eyes, Barthus attempted to wrap his head around this whole "Emblem" business. So... According to the princess, the whole country was being held together by some kind of magic stone? And now that the stone is gone, everything will go to pieces? What a silly notion. No, he wasn't quite wrapping his head around this business at all. Elmdenn after all wasn't fairing too poorly, and as far as Barthus knew, they never had such a twinkly dinky stone that's very presence ensured the welfare of the nation. Really, if any nation relied solely on a magic artifact for health, they really kind of had it coming if things started turning up kaput. He shook his head, his beard swaying back and forth.

: "No sir... None of this quite makes sense. Forgive me lords, but I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my heads around this business. Is this "Fire Emblem" really so important?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Lady Elvira believes it to be so. Considering that it's been in the royal family for a very long time and Veros has been prosperous for a similarly long time - in addition to there being many fascinating, as yet unexplored avenues of the working of magicks - I would say she has a high probability of being correct. Whether she's right or wrong matters little to me; as long as I'm her employ, it's my responsibility to help her recover the artifact. Even if I wasn't currently working for her, I do have a debt to repay her."

"Regardless, you are all mercenaries, are you not? I'm sure you'll be paid for helping the princess recover a national treasure. It should be no concern of yours - worry instead about doing the job and getting paid."

[Swordstar]

Elvira shook her head at Daethwin.

"It's not that simple. The Fire Emblem for years has been suspected to have unlimited potential, but no one has been able to use it or really even understand it. It was found by the founder of Veros back in the days of the continent wide wars. After he found it, he and his armies were blessed, not losing a single battle when they held the Emblem. At first it was thought the be superstition or coincidence but then one day the Emblem was stolen from them. Until they recovered it, they were facing the same fate that had fallen those who opposed them: defeat. Once they recovered it, they were able to carve out an area of land and defend it against all comers. What we today know as Veros. Mages have studied it and have only begun to realize the potential it may have but... Never in the history of Veros is there record of a famine, a drought, we have never lost a war fought on our land. This Emblem... It's not so much that I fear for what will happen to Veros without it. We are a strong country and we will survive with or without it. What I fear is the plans of those who would have corrupted it. I fear the only way we can defeat them is by using the Emblem somehow."

She sighed and continued.

"But it is as Noel says. You will be well paid if you will join me in this venture. And of course, I will help outfit you before we leave. The armory is down the hall. Once we have settled on a decision of where to go, you may all go and outfit yourself with a weapon of your choice from there. We will take today to rest and prepare, but tomorrow we will ride. I fear that the longer we delay, the more we risk a great tragedy."

[Rolepgeek]

Daethwin's eyes narrowed at Noel. Then she straightened, arms crossing. When he spoke, his words held an unexpected bite.

"You're right. I'm just a mercenary. I don't care about people, whether they're the ones I work with or the ones I work for. I only care about money."

After Elvira spoke, the bard nodded respectfully.

"I can certainly understand that, then, Princess. If it's as powerful as you say...I think it would be safer in your hands than in anyone else's."

"Don't worry about money, at least for me. I wouldn't miss an adventure like this for the world."

Every bard needed to be able to tell stories, and if it was one they'd experienced themselves, well, all the better!

Daethwin looked back at Noel, and her smile faded. She turned on her heel and walked away, to keep him -no, Elvira, or the others, everyone, not just him; who cared what he thought?- from seeing the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Noel rubbed his temple.

"I didn't mean any disrespect. I meant only that speculating about whether or not this artifact really has any power is pointless and is wasting time we could be using to discuss where we should go; we should be focused on our next step in getting it back. That's all. We can hypothesize all we want once we're moving."

Daethwin was already walking away, and he sighed.

"I suppose we'll have to figure it out without him. Violet and I say we go to the prince. What do the rest of you think?"

[Sirus]

As Violet turned to leave, thoughts troubled, she bumped into someone wearing what felt like solid metal bricks.
: "Oh! Excuse me." The person seemed familiar somehow, perhaps the way the armor clanked together, and something seemed to click in her mind.
: "Forgive me, but have we met before?"

[Tiruin]

"You're right. I'm just a mercenary. I don't care about people, whether they're the ones I work with or the ones I work for. I only care about money."

Josephine approached the young bard and tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, let's not go with labels here. Even mercenaries can have the kindest of hearts." she said as she smiled towards him, then glanced at Runa, "Especially if your profession doesn't expect it from you.

"I saw how you stayed behind until you got everyone up here. I mean...I'm as surprised as you to hear undead (and that I didn't see them too..mmph, cursed corners) but if there was a fight, you made sure we all got here! That's caring, isn't it?"

She looked at Elvira, "Is the Fire Emblem really...broken? I mean, for such a powerful object--and by this I mean no offense in my curiosity--it could be easily...separated by a person?" ...Why is magic so strong? "Because if it did break by hand, then he must've stolen a fake, right?"

[Swordstar]

Elvira shook her head in frustration.

"No. That was the real deal. You didn't see it from around the corner, but he used some sort of dark magic to shatter it. Dark magic unique enough that Noel didn't recognize it and strong enough to shatter the Emblem. What's worse is he was trying to corrupt it. No, this is a shard from the Emblem all right. Here, hold it for a second. You can feel the power from it."

She handed over the rose colored gem shard to allow Josephine to feel the power in it.

"We're going to find the other pieces. And then we'll find a way to fix it. We need to. We need to stop that man, whoever he was."

[Tiruin]

Josephine held the shard for but a moment (before giving it back) and felt...very much on the power. It was hard to describe by word, that was for sure. Exhilirating? Exulting?

"And we need to bring the shard with us--fashion it into a necklace perhaps? I'm with you all the way Elvira and-...um, what'll become of the capital with this news?"
Why is it so hard to squish in a Thanks Elvira for the everything...ngh!

[darkpaladin109]

"Dammit!"
Garran sighs.
"Looks like I failed in my duty. Might as well make the best of this situation, I suppose."
Garran goes around the corner and picks up a helmet and armor off a dead guard.
"So, what are we going to do now."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"That's what we're deciding. Do we call upon Elvira's fiance for aid - which is my preferred choice - or do we go to Elmdden to talk to their spy network? What is your vote, Garran?"

[Tiruin]

"So, what are we going to do now."

Josephine blinked.
"Don't those things come with matching insignia anymore? I swear that they were all red...last time. Or-did that belong to the former g-guard?"

"That's what we're deciding. Do we call upon Elvira's fiance for aid - which is my preferred choice - or do we go to Elmdden to talk to their spy network? What is your vote, Garran?"

Elvira has a fiance?