Mithar Keep & Frescot House IV: Magic babble lies within

[Shadowcaller]

[Family Room]

"They did it as a warning to VIGIL apparently, signaling that they can strike where it hurts the most." Cessie explains in a subdued voice. "I do suspect that they aren't acting as a single unit, their actions seem random, even stupid, at times. So it makes sense that we're looking at one one, but several actors taking actions independently." She pauses, "Perhaps we should continue this line of discussion in my office?"

[Reinholdt]

[Family Room]

"More proof they all need to go," Ilpholin mutters with a scowl.

"Yes, of course. Lead the way." The nymph will fall in line behind Cessie and follow her to the office! Sadly, it probably has less toys and hiding children than the family room did. A necessary loss.

[UncleWolf]

Weekend Morning

"That's a rather specific question." Jezebel's lack of subtly reminded her of Harnel in a way, but Jezebel seemed far more... composed. She knew exactly what she was doing all the time, there was nothing unintentional in the way she acted or spoke. Every little gesture exactly calculated. It felt strange to be with a person like that, or rather, it felt strange to have a person like that actually being in love with her. Those were usually the kind of people Cessie were used to opposing.
"I could tell you what the traditional methods are, but I'm afraid that I'm not in the traditional camp. So you might just have to surprise me on that one if we're doing this."

Weekend Morning

"I very much doubt I'd have ever called you a traditionalist." Jezebel says with a small smile before shrugging. "Even so, while I know some about your world, the social customs would be interesting to know about. You saw how people court one another back at my home after all but I doubt you'd do anything but giggle if I showed up with an army of retainers while I was on horseback with flowers." She points out. "By The Warp, I doubt I would be able to do anything but laugh while doing it."

[Shadowcaller]

[Family Room==> Office]

Cessie gets up and elegantly gestures for Ilpholin to follow her as she ascends the staircase up the the next floor and then to the locked door leading into the sorceress office. She didn't allow any children in here as evidenced by how clean and proper everything was. Few children had set their foot inside these four walls.
Cessie takes a seat behind her desk which has numerous books laying wide open across it, providing a contrast to the otherwise well-kept room. Cessie gestures into the air and the books scoots over into two piles as she places her hands on the table. "So have you heard about the destruction of VIGIL's old base yet? The demons destroyed it after our teleportation wards got deactivated."

Weekend Morning

"You don't have to make it into a big thing, Jezebel. I told you I wanted to take this slowly. Besides, most Hestopian customs are rather subtle, it's all about the small gestures." At least in public. "Just try and relax." She reaches out to take Jezebel's hand, not sure what the reaction to it would be.

[UncleWolf]

Weekend Morning Walk

It takes a few moments for Jezebel to register the gesture, but when she does she lightly clasps Cessie's fingers in her own as she holds her other hand behind her back. The pose is a little formal, but she wears it with ease. "As you know, I am not used to small and subtle gestures, but I believe I can learn." She admits with slight amusement towards herself. As they walk through the outdoors, she closes her eyes, allowing her other senses to guide her as she lets Cessie take the lead. "As I said, my first time in such an open world horrified me, but at the same time I could not help but be fascinated." She explains. "I had always known that there were such places and that the galaxy had been vast, but it was far different seeing it with my own eyes. Despite being scared, it was a...release for me. Made me realize that there was far more out there than just a single Hive."

[Murkus]

[Sunny Afternoon]

"He thinks it's funny," Wenomir says, letting Laela takes his hand. "Your dad likes to make people laugh, doesn't he?"

[Sunny Afternoon]

"Hehe, yeah!" Laela exclaims, her diminutive size all the more apparent as she peers up toward the towering warrior. She grins, and Wenomir will find it looks conspicuously like the stag's own foolish smile. "Sometimes, he'll say somethin' funny, and mommy just goes n' hits him. I think he likes it when she laughs best, though. He tries extra hard." She glances down. "Then she goes like this!" The little girl nudges her elbow into Wenomir's leg.

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

"The watchtower's gone?" Ilpholin asks quietly after taking a seat across from Cessie, eyes darting back and forth in thought. "Is that why the name changed?" Holding a Vigil for the fallen Watchtower. How romantic.

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

Cessie shakes her head. "The name change was supposed to mark a unification with HALO actually. Watchtower and HALO were to become VIGIL together. But then Tobias changed his mind, he didn't consider VIGIL good enough, so the unification never happened. The few members that actually joined VIGIL died when the demons attacked the old watchtower. HALO did send some aid, but it wasn't nearly enough. The demons swarmed the tower and Wenomir was forced to destroy it to prevent it from falling into the demons hands." She explains.

Weekend Morning Walk

It takes a few moments for Jezebel to register the gesture, but when she does she lightly clasps Cessie's fingers in her own as she holds her other hand behind her back. The pose is a little formal, but she wears it with ease. "As you know, I am not used to small and subtle gestures, but I believe I can learn." She admits with slight amusement towards herself. As they walk through the outdoors, she closes her eyes, allowing her other senses to guide her as she lets Cessie take the lead. "As I said, my first time in such an open world horrified me, but at the same time I could not help but be fascinated." She explains. "I had always known that there were such places and that the galaxy had been vast, but it was far different seeing it with my own eyes. Despite being scared, it was a...release for me. Made me realize that there was far more out there than just a single Hive."

Weekend Morning Walk

Suddenly Cessie wasn't sure why she had taken Jezebel's hand now, but here she were, holding the ex-daemons hand...
Better to focus on something else. "I'm not sure I wanted you to relax that much." She muses as she sees Jezebel closing her eyes. "Are you too afraid of these spaces to enjoy them? I mainly go on these walks to see the sights, wile the nexus can be chaotic, it is also beautiful with new wonders to see nearly every day."

[Morty]

[Sunny Afternoon]

"Aaaaach." Wenomir makes a big show of his leg buckling under Laela's terrible blow. "I hope your mom doesn't hit him as hard. Unless your dad is made of tougher stuff than I thought."

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

Ilpholin looks down at the floor for a moment, processing the information. "You'll forgive me if I have mixed feelings about all of that." She looks back up at Cessie. "Did Harnel fall in that battle? Your security only hinted."

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

Cessie is silent for a moment. "He wasn't even in it, Ilpholin. I divorced Harnel a while after you left, I think he was unhappy and that made me unhappy as well. But he's still alive though, that hasn't changed."

[Murkus]

[Sunny Afternoon]

"Aaaaach." Wenomir makes a big show of his leg buckling under Laela's terrible blow. "I hope your mom doesn't hit him as hard. Unless your dad is made of tougher stuff than I thought."

[Sunny Afternoon]

Laela, either sensing Wenomir's playfulness or enjoying the depths of her ability to inflict pain, gives out with a heart-stealing giggle. "Uh-huh! Daddy's tuff! He's incin-- invisi-- invinciple!" Laela corrects, still incorrectly. It doesn't even slow her down though. "He says mommy is lots tougher though."

[Morty]

[Sunny Afternoon]

"You have to be tough, to have so many kids," Wenomir says with a solemn nod. "I'm pretty tough to, but maybe not as much as your mom and dad."

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

"Oh I see. I'm sorry," Ilpholin replies in a somber tone. Theoretically that was better than death in glorious battle with demons, but it sure didn't feel that way.

Then the nymph smirks and suddenly leans forward towards the desk, propping her elbows upon it and holding her chin up with the back of her hands as her eyes gaze at Cessie with a sudden burst of passion. "I take it this means you're finally available then?"

Maybe she's just trying to lighten the mood?

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

The sorceress blinks, she had forgotten how Ilpholin ran hot and cold like this. One moment she was sorry, and the next she was flirting. "I'm going to take that as flattery, Ilpholin. But I think we both now that you're out of my league if I would have had those preferences." She replies with a faint smile.

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

"Not anymore..." Ilpholin grumbles slightly, eyes darting off to one side as her smile briefly falters. It returns with gusto as she lowers one hand to the desk to idly trace circles with a slender finger. "You should take it that way. And I'll take your statement for what it seems... not a no." She grins with obvious anticipation of possibilities to come before leaning back into her seat.

"Do you know of any plans in place to take the fight to the demons?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

Cessie chooses not to comment on Ilpholin's plans, she was smart to realize the futility of it, and if she wouldn't she would just have to ask her not to. "We are trying to find out as much about them as possible right now, and so far our best bet is to take out their leaders. This might be more difficult than just killing them however as they are supposedly immortal spirits. But I think our next step should be to attack one of their temples and perhaps find out more about their leaders weaknesses. Those who have allied with us claim that they can find out more if we bring them the metal bodies these leaders inhabit." She explains.

[UncleWolf]

Weekend Morning Walk

Suddenly Cessie wasn't sure why she had taken Jezebel's hand now, but here she were, holding the ex-daemons hand...
Better to focus on something else. "I'm not sure I wanted you to relax that much." She muses as she sees Jezebel closing her eyes. "Are you too afraid of these spaces to enjoy them? I mainly go on these walks to see the sights, wile the nexus can be chaotic, it is also beautiful with new wonders to see nearly every day."

Weekend Morning Walk

"I wouldn't say I am afraid of them any longer, but they do make me tense. So much to look at and try to figure out all at once. I understand there are patterns to it, but I am simply used to the monotony of steel or brick." She explains, smiling a bit before finally opening her eyes. "I can enjoy these walks, though I would prefer not to be alone during them. Having another with me makes it easier to ignore my uneasiness." Jezebel adds as she reaches out to let a few leaves run through the fingers of her unoccupied hand. "I do admit, it is marvelous seeing some of these colors naturally instead of artificially made. Were there any natural trees in your homeland that were special?"

[Shadowcaller]

Weekend Morning Walk

"Special? I'm afraid you have to be more specific, Jezebel." Cessie replies with a smile. "All fauna have some special properties if you know how to use it. It can be used for all sort of treatments if you know how to apply it, if you don't, you're far more likely poisoning yourself. Or do you mean something else? There are some pretty fantastic looking plants out there."

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

"What allies do you mean? And where are these temples?" Details!

[Murkus]

[Sunny Afternoon]

"You have to be tough, to have so many kids," Wenomir says with a solemn nod. "I'm pretty tough to, but maybe not as much as your mom and dad."

[Sunny Afternoon]

Laela ponders her response to that for a long moment. "How comes it's so tough to have kids?"

[Morty]

[Sunny Afternoon]

Wenomir shakes his head with a sad expression.

"I don't know, Laela. I don't have any kids myself, remember? All I know is that all the moms and dads I've known had to be tough to raise their kids. Your parents, your aunt Cessie, my brother and other moms and dads where I grew up."

[Murkus]

[Sunny Afternoon]

Laela's face scrunches up in thought and... disapproval? Yes, it's a tiny frown! Which disappears, as she has the very best idea! "Well, why don'tcha have some!" She pokes his leg. "It'll make you tough-er! So you can kill the bad guys!"

She grins at him, probably thinking just how much of a genius she is. "Then I can play with them, too! Would they look like... you?" Laela narrows her eyes at Wenomir, imagining a tiny baby covered in those odd marks, with grumpy eyes... Sounds like a handsome baby!

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

"What allies do you mean? And where are these temples?" Details!

[Office]

"To answer your first question, they call themselves 'the burning light' and have their base in Eastside, I can't say I know too much about them but they appear to be 'demons' who renounced their kin and now work against them. We've been in contact with them before, they seem trustworthy enough considering they have been around in the nexus for quite a bit." Cessie explains. "As for the temples, there are more than one, we know that much. One was performing some strange planar experiment in Outside last we heard from it, but it's operations were shut down by us and the demons fled. Not sure where. Yet the latest update we have on the demons is that a second temple was spotted flying towards AMEN, coming over GloG. To find it is our first priority now, this is not the first time these demons have gotten involved with AMEN one way or the other, as I'm sure you can tell me."

[Morty]

[Sunny Afternoon]

Wenomir rubs the back of his head to cover his sudden embarrassment. Why did she have to bring that up?

"Well, I hope any kids I'd have would take their looks from their mom. I'd hate for them to be ugly like I am. But I don't have anyone to me my kid's mom. I'd need to find someone."

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

"I've met them once a long time ago." 'Trustworthy' demon. The only trustworthy demon is a dead demon. To think such corruption managed to seduce Cessie and blind her to the truth. Formidable foes indeed.

She'll have to go check this Outside temple though. Make sure it's still vacant and remains that way. Maybe get some insight into the layout of other temples.

"Ah yes. AMEN. I suppose I have to ask sooner or later... What have they done in my absence?" Ilpholin nibbles her lip, for a moment looking genuinely nervous.

[Shadowcaller]

[Office]

Cessie shakes her head. "Nothing that I'm aware of. Since you and Magtok left the nexus they've lost all means of leadership. I don't even know whose leading them at this point, assuming the organization hasn't disbanded entirely. We've just been so busy with the demons we haven't checked as they've been a non-issue. AMEN isn't the kind of organization that holds back like this, if they were active, we would probably know by now. The demons might change that though."

[Murkus]

[Sunny Afternoon]

Wenomir rubs the back of his head to cover his sudden embarrassment. Why did she have to bring that up?

"Well, I hope any kids I'd have would take their looks from their mom. I'd hate for them to be ugly like I am. But I don't have anyone to me my kid's mom. I'd need to find someone."

[Sunny Afternoon]

"You're not ugly!" Laela squeaks at him obnoxiously, absolutely adamant. She walks around in front of him and looks up at the warrior's face. Her lips pout together in thought. "Defin-et-ely not ugly. Uh-uh." She swivels her head from side to side.

[Reinholdt]

[Office]

Ilpholin closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh of relief, inflating contrary to the direction of the air, as if a weight has been lifted. "Then it wasn't all in vain."

She opens her eyes and smiles at Cessie. "If the watchtower's gone, where's Vigil located now? I'd like to talk to Wenomir and KR, if I can avoid her father. I should probably say hello to the Frescots too while I'm already here, huh? The adult ones. I mean, that one kid of theirs wasn't bad, I just feel our conversation topics would be limited."

[UncleWolf]

Weekend Morning Walk

"Special? I'm afraid you have to be more specific, Jezebel." Cessie replies with a smile. "All fauna have some special properties if you know how to use it. It can be used for all sort of treatments if you know how to apply it, if you don't, you're far more likely poisoning yourself. Or do you mean something else? There are some pretty fantastic looking plants out there."

Weekend Morning Walk

"Visually special is what I meant, but also any particular kinds of fruit that are good." She explains as they walk. "I am always searching for new kinds to try and put into The Gardens. Something small that can easily grow there would be preferred, although any new kind of spice no matter the size of the plant is welcome too." She adds as an afterthought.