The Wrong Guys IC II

[Savannah]

Audric

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At his last words, Rana pulls away, her eyes going hard, "And just what are you planning on doing instead?"

[Strawberries]

Rana

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There is a brief flicker of pain in Audric's expression "I am not "planning" anything. I..I am not going to put any of you in danger, if that is what you are worried about."

[Savannah]

Audric

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She nods slowly. "Good. I-I don't want to have to fight you."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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He frowns "Fight me?" He looks genuinely confused "We are allies. You saved my life. Of course I am not about to fight you. Where did that idea come from?"

[Savannah]

Audric

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"You expressed interest in not doing what you are currently doing and possibly following more closely the teachings of the paladins. If you follow the teachings of the paladins, you would be required to kill me."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Oh. He can see where she is coming from now. "Rana, you and the others are safe with me. I promised I would not let you come to harm, didn't I?" If nothing else, he can still keep his promises "And I have...I have never killed anyone that wasn't a direct threat to me or to innocent people. I have no intention to start now."

[Savannah]

Audric

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She looks mildly skeptical, but doesn't say anything.

[Strawberries]

Rana

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I don't think she trusts me. And I'm not sure if she ever will. Audric bites his lip and tries to avoid showing how hurt he is by that realization. Instead, he aims to regain a tone of voice that doesn't betray how lost he still feels. He is only partially successful "I will need a bit of time to think about what happened. But...but you are right, we need to stop the witch and the other spirits" He hesitates And what is stopping me to do so by going back to the Temple and join my brethren in the fight? But on a level, he knows exactly what. She is hurting people. Mages, too. If I go back...those become people I won't be able to protect.

Audric takes a deep breath and shakes his head to drive away those thoughts. "I think...I think we need to go back and see how badly I have managed to s-screw up the talks." he says, with a strained smile.

[Savannah]

Audric

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Rana looks at him for a long moment, then suddenly reaches out and gives him a quick hug. Looking rather surprised at herself, she nods, "Yes, we should go back and see what they have been talking about."

[Strawberries]

Rana

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Audric stiffens in surprise for just a second, but he quickly returns the hug "Thank you." he says, sincerely, with the first genuine smile he made after exiting the room. He gestures for her to precede him up the stairs, and follows her back to the others.

[Savannah]

Rana opens the door and steps back into the room, closely followed by Shadow.

[Jallorn]

It's been a long hard few days for all of us, Antal supplies, Too be honest, I'm rather impressed any of us are keeping it together, that Paladin most of all.

[Ajadea]

"If the paladin running out of the room and being chased by your silent companion and her dog is what you... consider... to be the behavior of someone who is 'holding it together well', then I do not want to meet one who you consider to be undergoing a breakdown," Kurag replies, smirking. At some point, he's moved back to sit on the table once again.

Sandra has frozen up in the corner again. Connor wriggles out of her embrace and walks over to Audric and Rana. "What scared you?" he asks. "Nuthin' changed. But you ran away. Why did you run away?"

[Strawberries]

When Audric enters the room, he seems still quite tense, but at least he is breathing normally and isn't as pale as before. He crouches down to be at eye level with Connor "I apologize. I was a...a bit upset. It is nothing any of you did." he says, and smiles to the child "You don't have to worry."

[Ajadea]

Connor nods, seemingly appeased by this answer. He reaches out towards Shadow, then seems to remember something and pulls back as if stung. "Can I pet the dog?" he asks, looking over at Shadow.

[Savannah]

Rana hesitates and looks at Shadow herself. "Behave." She looks back at Conner, "Hold out your hand for him to sniff and he'll decide if you may pet him."

[Ajadea]

Connor nods and reaches out again, more cautiously this time, to let Shadow sniff his hand.

[Savannah]

Shadow gives Rana a dark look, but consents to being rubbed under his chin.

[Strawberries]

The paladin gets back upright, still smiling slightly at Connor petting the wolf. On an impulse, he checks the child's aura again, to see if the angry, terrified vibe he got before is still there or has somehow calmed down now that Connor feels safer, then he looks towards Morten and Arheilt.

"Tell him to do as I said." he states, quietly, before turning his gaze to include Felix and Kurag. He takes a deep breath, visibly forcing himself to stay focused on the matter at hand "Now. I believe we were discussing what to do next. But before we talk about the witch...we had come here looking for Ranias. The bard girl. Do you have any idea what may have happened to her?"

[Ajadea]

"Little pale girl, all skin and bones, 'bout... Rana, was it? Her height. Bit taller than that, probably. Dressed all in rags, blood down her front, looked like she'd seen the Dark Lady herself. Quiet as a mouse. Flinched if you talked too loud, or snuck up on her. That sound about like this bard you're looking for?" Felix says, a frown creasing his brow.

Audric

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Connor's aura looks more relaxed, though it's still just as wild and tangled as before.

[Strawberries]

Audric nods, worry plain in his eyes. "Yes. Do you know anything?"

[Ajadea]

"Showed up a few days back, left a couple hours later, came back with something or other, stayed the night, left maybe 'round noon or so. Haven't seen her since. Spoke all of two words to me, and they aren't exactly suited for pleasant company."

[Strawberries]

"Damnit." Audric whispers to himself "None of you have any idea where she could have gone, do you?" He seems to think for a moment, then turns to his allies and Paral "I am worried for her, but I honestly don't know what we could do. If she went away of her own will, she probably doesn't want to be found." He looks at Felix again "Why was she angry with you? Do you know?"

[Ajadea]

"I didn't even know her name until now," Felix says with a shrug. "Just figured if you were looking for a strange girl, the one that showed a few days back might have been the one. Don't think she likes the idea of a revolution much. Bit like Veltaros, in that way. Miserable little thing, though. Might be better off like this, in the long run."

[Strawberries]

"A bit like me, too, then." Audric answers, voice going a little harder "And you have no idea of what she has been through, so I would be grateful if you did not speak of her that way."

“I guess we’d just have to hope she is not in danger.” Or putting anyone in danger, for that matter. He sighs and passes an hand through his hair, turning to look at Rana, Llaars and Antal. The thought of leaving Ranias to fend for hersef makes him uncomfortable, but on the other hand… “I really do not know where to start looking for her, and, unfortunately, we have the witch to consider.”

[Savannah]

Rana sighs. "I hate to leave her without knowing she's alright, but she did indicate that she wanted to be left alone and, as you said, we do have the witch to ...deal with. I don't think we can do anything but leave Ranias to fend for herself."

[Strawberries]

It's very evident that Audric doesn't like that course of action, but he nods all the same "The witch, then." he says "At the moment, we just know she is headed towards the mountains. We do not know which one. But wa know also that she is looking for the spirit of one of her companions that was slain there. So, I guess it would be a matter of finding out where exactly in the mountains there was a big battle held between Tavetiir's army and one of the most powerful sorcerers of Kallean.".

He sighs. As much as he doesn't want to say it, this is the sort of thing the Order's resources would be perfect for. There is just the little problem that he doesn't exactly feel stable enough to go back to the Temple, asking for ancient history tales like nothing happened. "I don't...ah, I don't suppose any of you here has any knowledge of old history?"

[Savannah]

Rana shakes her head, looking like she had hoped Audric would overrule her suggestion.

[Ajadea]

"What sort of old?" Mortren asks. "My kind lives longer than yours. I've seen a hundred years and then some go by. My granddam went to Kallean before it crumbled to shreds and her granddad helped build that accursed palace, up in the east, yet your kind looks at those years as if they were shrouded in some sort of unbreakable veil of mystery." He snorts. "Not that old."

[Strawberries]

Audric launches a look at Rana, taking note of her expression, before answering Morten. He nods a bit apologetically at his words: disregarding the different lifespan of the two races is an error he often makes even with the other dwarves in the Order "Five hundred years, more or less. It would have been in...what? Your grandfather's time?"