VIGIL 4: Swordfights!!! on Air

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet another Lesson]

Koshal thinks about this.
"Well yeah. Flesh can't usually break steel but it can bend it. A sword isn't good if its rigid." is his answer.

[Morty]

[Yet another Lesson]

Wenomir smiles.

"That's one way to look at it. My own epiphany was different, but maybe not too much. Flesh can't mark steel, but it makes steel. Without flesh, it's just an inert lump of metal ore. I thought the Riddle was about casting the limitations of flesh aside, and becoming more like steel. It was limited, and made me little different from all the wizards and mad scientists, always trying to eke out a little more power by leaving everything else behind. But we're martial artists, and we walk another path." He paused. "That said... I used to think magic and technology were obstacles to the Riddle. I'm not so sure now. Rejecting them has been my path, and that won't change. But someone else might use them, and still walk their path with purpose. I don't know yet."

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal nods, more or less understanding.
"Well I hope so Sir. Faye is magic and I'd never give her up." he says, hugging his dog close.

[Morty]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Wenomir chuckles.

"What kind of heartless brigand would I have to be, to separate a boy and his dog? Like I said, there are many paths to the Riddle. If you want to seek it, I can help guide you along whichever one you take. If that's your choice."

[5a Violista]

[Vigil Skybase: Upper Village]
In the dead of night

Awen leaves her single room, finally. She's actually been in there for a couple of days, without even opening that door. Without even turning any of the lights on, she peers around the corner, out the door.

...
Nobody's there. She exits her room, and holds the door open for her fox. After she's sure her fox has left the room, she slowly closes the door as quietly as she can.

She creeps through the hallway and the village, finding her way towards the center. She's actually rather hungry and is trying to get into the mess hall without anybody noticing.

[Recaiden]

There's a(t least one) light on in the mess hall, and the sound of someone typing, click-click-click. If one peeks into the window, they could see the centauress Alice (no longer the newest VIGIL member, thanks Anika!) at one of the taller tables working at a laptop computer. She seems rather distracted; maybe one could steal past and get some food without even being noticed. Maybe.

The laundromat is also in use, with the hum of tumbling dryers audible as one passes by.

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal looks up with happy eyes.
"Of course I'd like your guidance, Mister Wenomir. You're one of the best people I know at that sort of thing." the minotaur says sincerely.

[5a Violista]

[Vigil Skybase: Upper Village]
In the dead of night

Awen, noticing that there's a light on in the mess hall, stops outside the window. Just before peering in, she checks to make sure her headscarf is on correctly. From what she can tell, the lights in there, such as from the laptop could really illuminate her. She has a spell that can solve this, which could coat all the lights in a thick black dust. In preparation of casting it, she cuts a gash in one of her hands with a finger.

But...
Casting a spell like that would immediately draw attention to herself. The lights suddenly going black would immediately make the centauress suspicious that there's someone around. So, instead, she just squeezes her hand to put pressure on the bleeding.

She walks into the door as quietly as she can. There's a quiet hissing sound, then Awen ducks so as much of her as possible is below the table and chair line. Moving as quietly as possible (and as quickly as possible without making a lot of noise), she makes her way past the centauress and toward the kitchen. She, of course, can't really see what the centauress is doing, seeing how Awen is averting her eyes from the lit area.

Shortly following her is the light padding sound of a fox's paws.

[Recaiden]

In the dead of night

A moment after the hissing sound, Alice looks up. Luckily Awen is safely behind a table by then.
"Is that, you, Sir Mu-oh, no, it's a fox?"
She shifts away from her computer to get a closer look, but not moving too fast, lest she scare the thing.
"Hello. Where did you come from?"

[5a Violista]

In the dead of night

Awen does not reach the kitchen. Upon hearing Alice's voice, she stops moving: now that the centaur's attention has been grabbed by the fox, it sounds like it would be pretty easy for her to notice Awen, also. She looks back towards her fox and slowly backs away.

The fox Reynard also freezes when spoken to. It looks at the centauress. Then looks over Awen, who is gesticulating something along the lines of "no! Look back, don't come this way". Nonono, don't give away where I am. That's what she wants to say.

Then, the fox looks back at Alice. Its front paws hop backwards away from her, then it stares. It doesn't respond, because it's a fox.

[Recaiden]

In the dead of night

"You're Awen's fox, right? Or someone new? Are you hungry?" Alice briefly wonders whether she should feed animals that wander in. Probably yes. She turns and goes to look for something a fox might like. After a few moments, she comes up with mouse from out of the refrigerator and will toss it over to Reynard. But during that time, plenty could happen. If someone were quick.

[5a Violista]

In the dead of night

Awen's heart-rate and her breathing rate (as soon as she dares to take a breath) keep up with her spike of adrenaline.

As Alice goes into the refrigerator, Awen practically crawls towards the kitchen area. Not towards the door, but towards the counter that they always have between kitchens and the eating area of mess halls. She waits until the centaur-woman starts to come back from the refrigerator. Trying to get the timing right, she lifts herself up and over the counter, into the kitchen.

She only knocks over a couple things, meaning she was incredibly stealthy. She manages to catch most of them before they hit the ground, but one slips just out of her grasp, clattering on the floor. Awen immediately reaches out to mute the bouncing cup, so it doesn't echo too much.

Reynard, on the other hand, warily watches Alice come back. Noticing the mouse, he starts to run around the room really quickly, darting under chairs and legs until his pent-up energy brings him to the mouse. He makes this sound that sounds like a cross between a meow and panting. Y'know, normal fox noises. He crouches...and springs at the mouse! Master hunter that he is, he catches the refrigerated mouse.

Reynard then mercilessly betrays Awen by running away towards a random table in the corner of the mess hall, and starts playing with and eating the mouse under the table.

[Recaiden]

In the dead of night

Alice looks over at the sound of the clattering cup, but Awen is already over the counter by then, out of easy sight.

"Hmm."

When Reynard catches the mouse with such an expert leap, she has to congratulate him.
"Good work!"

The night-time visitor dealt with, she really should get back to-
No, on second thought, she should probably go see what that noise was. From the kitchen, wasn't it? Had she really been so clumsy as to knock something down on the way back, without even feeling it? That would be embarrassing, at least only Reynard would have noticed, at most. And it didn't sound like anything broke. Probably she just needs to put a bowl back on the counter, or stand a bottle back up.

So she trots over to look around.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Hangar]

"Perhaps," says Kalya, though she sounds somewhat doubtful. "I can only make the dead speak what they knew."

Kalya walks around the landing pad as she explains, stopping at regular intervals to extend a hand, letting a rune flow down her arm into the floor. Calling the dead is easy - making them give up information they might not be entirely willing to volunteer requires some degree of... strenuous... persuasion. "And if the pilot knew he would be coming into death, and if I can force him to say the words to incriminate his superiors - I cannot make those you wish to persuade believe those words."

[Hangar]

"I know," Wenomir admits, with a sigh. "But it is the best chance we have right now. If it fails, we'd need to infiltrate their facilities."

[Hangar]

That's not as... confident... as Kalya was hoping for.

Using Necromancy for this purpose is something she would consider to unethical. Immoral, even. But in times of great necessity... "This is your command,
then?"

One attempts to dodge responsibility and pass it on to a higher up. >.>

[Morty]

[Hangar]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"Summon him, but don't force him to do anything. We'll just need to try normal negotiation and see how it works."

[5a Violista]

In the dead of night

Reynard now takes the mouse on top of a chair and continues to eat it there.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen area, Awen's mind races. What should she do? Should she hide in a cabinet? Should she cast the spell that puts out the lights? Should she try to make the centaur fall asleep with her magic? Should she run? Should she use some other magic?

Paralyzed in indecision, the girl is still crouched there when Alice reenters the kitchen. There's one plastic cup on the floor, a piece of cutlery in one of her hands, and a lot of her long black hair sticks forward out of her headscarf at odd angles, holding various different things you'd find on a kitchen counter.

Looking up at Alice, Awen opens her mouth. She tries to speak, but only a squeak comes out: apparently that happens to people who haven't tried speaking for so long?

[Morty]

[The Next Lesson]

((I'm skipping Halae here for now, since she can't post. Wenomir will have trained each student individually, while the other does drills and exercises.))

"The exercise I prepared might be unusual," Wenomir tells Mia, as he leads her towards a chair and a stack of... booklets? "These are logical and mathematical puzzles. They'll be easy for you, I'm sure, but they will require that you concentrate on them. While you solve them, I will do things that will require your attention. When I throw a ball at you, you will have to dodge it or catch it. When I ring a gong, you'll have to stand up, get your sword and assume a defensive stance. When I ring a bell, you have to make a parry and a counter-attack, in any direction you want."

[Recaiden]

In the dead of night

Alice looks across the disheveled counter and then, quickly enough, down at Awen.
"..."
This is peculiar. Should she help clean up? Just leave? Is she looking for the fox? Is it looking for her?
"What are you doing?"

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase/the Academy

The door opens forth as a man walks in, but this (like pretty much everyone else) is no ordinary man.

He wears a dark green robe and cowl, the cowl actually covers most of his face with the only feature outside is the red skin and toothy smile. He wears a chain shirt over his robe which clinks at every step. Six horns rip through the fabric of his cowl at the top of the man's head, each one lined like a ram's horns. Upon the belt of this man, though why he needed a belt in the first place is ludicrous he's wearing a robe, was a scabbard, and laying inside the scabbard is a sword with a great yellow cat's eye. The cat's eye dashes from person to person for each movement, deciding whether the action is intended for malice.

HEEELLO vigil people! My name is Xavouir, and I have come here to join! I have heard of your organization, and its tendency to thwart the forces of "not good", and these cooincide with my intentions as well! Where do I sign up! No, no Kitty I do not consider you a person, you don't even have legs. I don't care if you are an intelligent sword, I... Fine. Where do we sign up? asks Xavouir Markard.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Hangar]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"Summon him, but don't force him to do anything. We'll just need to try normal negotiation and see how it works."

[Hangar]

Kalya nods.

Time to summon some dead dude.

[Morty]

[Yet Another Lesson]

"Very well, then," Wenomir says. "Like sir Dobigniew did to me once, I will lead you on the first step towards the Riddle. Let us begin. Tell me, what do you know of steel? How is it made? What do you need to forge it?"

[Celticbear]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

[Yet Another Lesson]

"Very well, then," Wenomir says. "Like sir Dobigniew did to me once, I will lead you on the first step towards the Riddle. Let us begin. Tell me, what do you know of steel? How is it made? What do you need to forge it?"

Is this to me, or someone else? Unspecific location tag is kinda unspecific

[Shadowcaller]

Vigil Skybase/the Academy

A, judging by the ridiculously long ears and eyebrows, elven woman looks up from her reverie. "Oh, hello yourself, wanderer, uh, wanders." As much as a sword can wander... or at least she thought he was talking to the sword. Hopefully he was talking to the sword. "I think you just need to... yeah, I think I can sign you up. I'm Anika." She offers her hand to shake, smiling.

[Celticbear]

A fine welcome to yourself says Xavouir as a six fingered red hand comes from the billows of the robe.

[Shadowcaller]

Vigil Skybase/the Academy

Anika shakes his hand then. "So, you a warrior... or warlock?" She tilts her head to the side. "I mean, not like it is a issue, we take in all kinds of people here. They dragged me in after all." She smiles.

[Celticbear]

I am a barkeep, but my soul is bound to this sword here until the universe converges on itself and a new one is born. We have traveled the many planes of existence, and vanquished many an evil together. Well,
Kitty here does all the work, I just sit around and watch. I am Xavouir by the way, and- what do you mean holy mission? I'm just doing this so I don't wind up in... you know what? Let's not rehash this argument again. We've had it too many times.

Sorry for that, Kitty here likes to bring up the whole "You're helping the people against the forces of evil". I can do minor magic though. Nothing to much.

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal thinks for a moment. Faye barks, and he manages to spit up some infgormation from a textbook.
"Steel is made from iron. You start with the ore, and a forge hot enough to melt it because you need to refine the metal and remove impurities, and get...the right amount of carbon?" he says, unsure of his words. There was definitely something about carbon.

[Shadowcaller]

Vigil Skybase/the Academy

"Right." Anika lets go of his hand and looks him, and the sword, over. "So what can the sword do then? Sounds like some ashbringer-level of weaponry right there." She gestures towards 'Kitty'.

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase/ The Academy

Watch this says Xavouir.

Without a moment's Paise, Kitty leaps from Xavouir's dashboard and issues a brilliant screech that seems like a banshee on steroids. Xavouir's tosses a rock proclaimed from his pocket into the air, and Kitty flashes for a moment, and the rock comes down again. Picking it up and breathing Kitty, Xavouir presents Anika with a near perfect representation of her likeness where a round rock should have been.

Kitty's not that fast in battle, but she is just as accurate.

[Shadowcaller]

Vigil Skybase/ The Academy

Anika has to cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut as Kitty screeches. Her ears were more sensitive to sounds than humans, and that was just a bit much.
Therefore, she actually misses the moment where Xavouir tosses up the rock into the air, but she does see when the sword flashes and her gaze follows the rock falling down again.
"Wow!" She exclaims as she see the figure, it was tiny, but that made it all the more impressive. How did you cut something that small as a sword?
She holds out her hand. "Let me take a closer look, can he cut larger stones like that too?"