Zetaark

Flying towards the shaman, Rayne tosses two javelins while the shaman casts his magic. Unfortunately his magic could not hit the mark, while Rayne's javelins struck him down immediately. [Enemy Phase] Bandit 3 Moves to L17 and attacks Emilee Seeing a defenseless target, the bandit moves from the trees to try and strike the healer. Unfortunately, his strike completely whiffs, but the responding swing of a staff towards him doesnt seem to phase him. "So you brought friends with you hmm? Let's see how well you can protect them," the thief snarks as they move towards Belros Thief 1 Moves to N18 and attacks Belros Seeing the attack coming, Belros swiftly dodges the sword coming his way, while he responds with a hefty strike with his knife. Scavenger 1 Moves to L16 and attacks Selia Seeing an opportunity, the scavenger tries to strike the weakened nun. Unfortunately for him, he misses his strike and gets a strong blast of light magic in return. Bandit 2 Moves to M7 and attacks Cass Targeting the exposed bard, the bandit tosses an axe towards Cass. Cass doesn't respond in time, taking a hefty hit, but still standing. [Ally Phase] Helena Moves to M9 and attacks Bandit 2 with Elwind Switching to her wind magic, Helena blasts the nearby bandit with a strong gust of wind. The bandit tries to respond, but Helena sends a larger and more fierce gale his way, blowing his axe aside and completly defeating the bandit. Madante Moves to M16 and attacks Bandit 3 with Light Brand Moving to support his allies, Madante brandishes his magical sword and strikes the bandit, who takes a serious hit. As Madante regains his composure, the bandit sends an axe his way, injuring him. Turn 2 Cass Heals for 12 HP Emilee Heals for 1 HP Selia takes 5 damage from poison Belros takes 6 damage from poison Cheat Sheet:

Ritsu: Revving her chainsaw once more, Ritsu's attention turns to Lancer, who she tries to set some damage on while she is able. Bleeding Blade on Lancer for [4d4+ STR(21) +1d6] damage and drops inflicts Bleed [1d4+ STR(21) damage] for 3 turns Ritsu Stats:

Moving in, Myrdwyn's lance connects with its target, taking down the already injured thief. Cheat Sheet:

Flying in, Rayne sends a spear the way of the thief, which takes them off their feet, severely wounding them. Cheat Sheet:

Riding forward, Idei fires two shots at the shaman, who fires an orb of dark magic in return. The shaman was struck down by the arrows, while Idei managed to avoid the dark magic as he returned to his team. "I see you've found something nice, though you lack the room to carry it. Sure, I'll hold on to it for you" the man crones, appearing from seemingly nowhere, catching the ring, and disappearing into the ether before Belros even realized he was there. Cheat Sheet:

"Didn't expect to see you here 'Swift Edge'. Though I guess soon we'll see if your edge is still there," the scavenger taunts before readying himself for battle. Belros moves quickly, dealing one quick and hard blow to the scavenger, who manages to slip in a quick blow as Belros hesitates. Being hit out of his slight lapse, he finishes the scavenger with one more quick blow. "Heh, guess you're as fast as I remember. But if you slip up like that against the boss...you already know what's gonna happen to ya," he smiles at Belros before he collapses. As he falls, a ring rolls towards Belros, who picks it up. Cheat Sheet:

Moving to attack one of the closer foes, Selia's magic misses its mark, while the scavenger's retaliation barely manages to land, causing some injury and poisoning Selia. Cheat Sheet:

"I see. Well, perhaps on our travels we might hear more about it. For now though, let's set our attention to our more immediate goal," Helena replies, looking out to sea once again. --------------------------- Year 1638, 30th of Vembra A few more days of relatively calm sailing passed, until finally the group arrived at Kabumu in the morning. As they reached the docks of the island, the party would find nobody roaming the nearby town. "Well this doesn't bode well. If memory serves, the area we were to investigate is a bit further inland in one of the major towns here, Durvis. Keanna, can you keep the ship here until we return?" he asks, making sure they have a ride out once their work is done. "Of course. We'll be able to manage if any trouble shows up. Though from the looks of this place it seems abandoned. Be careful out there, all right?" "Certainly. Now then everyone, let us depart," he says as he disembarks along with the rest of the group. --------------------------- The journey to the town of Durvis wasn't a particularly long one, though the savanna-like terrain made the trip a rather hot one. As they got closer to their destination, they could find bits and pieces of miscellaneous objects. Splinters of wood, strips of metal, and scraps of food could be found here and there as they made their way closer to their destination. And when they finally made it to Durvis, the group was greeted by the sight of a ruined town, with only a handful of people left scavenging for what they could. As they got closer however, those scavengers turned their attention to the group, watching. At the main building that was once the town hall, situated on the opposite side of the group, two individuals were speaking. "Looks like we've got some trouble coming our way. What now, do we bail out or deal with them?" the robed man asks a rather imposing man. "..." the man says nothing at first, simply looking out at the incoming group. As he looks them over, he spots a single familiar face out of the bunch. "Could it be..." he whispers to himself before responding to the robed man. "Let them come. We will fight. And I will test his strength," he says, his expression stone cold. "Very well," the robed man replies before revealing a tome and moving towards the group. As he gets closer, he too recognizes a certain individual from the group and laughs. "So this is what the boss meant huh?" he whispers to himself before speaking to the party. "You all. I'm sure you've all come quite far to get here, but now you're going to have to leave. So I'll give you two options, you can leave yourselves and save us the trouble, or we'll have to force you out," the robed man taunts, readying his tome. "So this was the trouble I take it...though it seems we got here a bit late," Madante muses to himself before responding to the robed man. "I'm afraid we won't be leaving any time soon. Not until our work is done here!" "Fine. Your funeral," the robed man shrugs. "Boys! We fighting now, bosses orders, don't hold back!" "Ready yourselves everyone." WIN CONDITION: Defeat Randel LOSS CONDITION: All player units die. Turn 1 [Player Phase Start] Cheat Sheet:

"Yes, the first bit is correct. Pira and Arduin both established their churches in their home regions and things went from there. I'm not entirely sure what the reason for the two main branches was, but it's been relatively fine up until recently," she says with a sigh. "However, I've heard that the Arcadia branch has been looking into the Luceria branch. I'm not a clergy member so I can't say anything for certain, but the rumors that floated around when I was there studying light magic was that something has gone wrong somewhere and that the old teachings have been warped. Unfortunately that was all I could really get out of things, and I can't claim to know what they mean by the old teachings being warped, but I figured you might know something," she finishes.

"Well that's a bit...extreme. Though I guess that puts some substance into the rumors I've been hearing about. Tell me something. How familiar are you with the origins of the established churches here? Do you know the founding heads for them and their primary objectives?" she asks, interested in finding out just how much Cadence knows.

"Albus? Hmm...I may have heard the name mentioned once or twice when I spent some time researching light magic a bit. They're based in Luceria if I remember correctly," Helena says before pausing to collect her thoughts. "I'm not sure if you can answer, but is it true that some of the church heads have been clashing as of late? I've heard that there were some disagreements on magic practices within the last few years, but I'd not been able to find out much more since?" she explains, looking at Cadence expectantly.

"I'd be willing to bet that there are a few ruins still untouched here or there. Some places make it very hard to reveal the secrets they hold," Helena laughs before listening intently on the last bit. "You know, Darius told me he found some book on dark magic tucked away somewhere in the Avalon libraries. I found it a little curious that the church would have a book like that within reach of a civilian, but maybe their branch is closer to the one in Arcadia than the one in Luceria. Not like I personally know anyone from either area so I couldn't check much. How about you? From what I can gather, you seem to be familiar with some of the church activities, so do you know people from those two places?

"Fair enough. Your family situation sounds like it's quite the mess, but I hope one day you'll manage to resolve, or at the very least come to terms with things. Just make sure your temper doesn't flare too much in such a situation, lest any nearby establishments find themselves needing emergency repairs," she says with a hint of a smile on her face. "Now then, to move away from that topic for a bit, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to search for lost knowledge. What would the first place you visit for that goal be if I may ask?" she says with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"I'm not entirely sure what response I was expecting from you, but this is something else. Who said anything about fighting them? Is your family situation truly that bad that any attempt of talks would just degrade into all-out combat?" she asks, mildly surprised. "Though I guess that's not something you would open up about too much to someone you've barely spoken to. I guess I should rephrase my question. If you were to be brought face to face with your family under the pretense that no combat would or could come about, what would you say to them? What would you most want to say to each member of your family if given the chance?" she asks in a serious tone.

"Stumbling into Wild Magic? I suppose the situation described could do it, but it's still not too common. Oh well," she shrugs before listening on. As Cadence continues speaking, Helena's expression slowly begins to soften, and once she finishes, she speaks with a bit of a smile. "And here I was concerned that you were just entirely fueled by rage or resentment. But it seems like you still do have a heart, albeit a jaded one," Helena chuckles a bit. "It also seems that you and I have a bit more in common than I would have thought. The reason I asked that last question was to see what your motivations for magic were. If it were motivated by revenge for your family or something similar, I'd probably end up lecturing you in some annoying fashion about the dangers of using magic to fuel revenge or some such. But it seems that there's no need for that," she finishes with a nod. "Still though, I am a bit curious on one thing. In the event that you do run into your family by sheer chance while on the Guard, what will you do?" she asks out of the blue.

"Well then, so that's the reason," Helena mutters to herself before looking at Cadence. "To some extent, I can understand your frustration about your lack of proper training. To know you have the potential and to be unable to truly utilize it to its full potential would be maddening to myself or my family. But..." she pauses before speaking again. "Your frustration seems to be affecting you in more ways than you think. I'm not sure who told you about wild magic, but either they didn't tell you much or you didn't care about the consequences. Though, I think you've figured it out by now. What happens if you overuse that power," she stops and looks out to sea. "I have a question for you. Suppose you got the power to fully utilize your magical potential right now. How would you use it? And perhaps more importantly, would you be willing to accept any and all consequences from using it the way you want?" she asks.

"I see," Helena sighs after hearing that Cadence never got the chance to learn from her father. As she continued with her explanation however, Helena's expression changed slightly. "You have no choice you say? Says who exactly? Your magic potential isn't gone I can certainly tell you that much. And unless Madante was drilling you on swordsmanship, which I personally doubt for a few reasons, whoever your sword instructor is isn't here to keep you set on the sword either. And as for the teaching process, I've seen people much older than you take their first steps into learning magic, and some of them have managed to make something of it. Sure it may take some time, but it certainly isn't out of your reach. Forgive me if I'm stepping out of line, but I just need to know. What's keeping you from learning magic now?" she asks in a serious, expectant tone.

"This? Just some research papers on magic I brought with me on my travels. I'm reading over them again to see how they compare with actual usage," she pauses before speaking again. "I've been meaning to ask this for some time now, but are you actually a student of magic? I've admittedly not seen much in the way of your combat style until recently, but it seems you're more trained with swords than anything else. Yet, I can sense quite a bit of magical potential from you. Is it personal preference, you trying to learn some mixed style, or some other less spectacular reason?" she asks, looking at Cadence intently.

Closing her book to look upwards at the voice, Helena gives Cadence an inquisitive look before speaking. "Helena is my name. And yes, our first meeting did...go up in flames, so to speak," she replies, holding back a small chuckle. "So, is there anything you need from me, or did you just want to talk?" she asks in a more neutral tone.

"Hmm, I never really considered it quite like fighting. I've always found the process to involve a more intense focus. Maybe it's just me though. As for learning, I'm not exactly an expert, and I certainly don't know when I'd get a chance to show you, but I could try and teach you someday if you'd like. How does that sound?" he asks in an easygoing voice.

Move to B11, Jav at ready

"Heh, thanks. Nobody's really put it in those terms. I suppose I am doing what needs to be done in my own way," Madante nods to himself before thinking about Myrdwyn's question. "Honestly? I'm not really sure. I wasn't like my little brother who just fell in love with shipbuilding. I never latched onto any particular field of work, though I did mess around with a few things. Blacksmithing, gardening, carpentry, I tried all of them out at some point or other. I also was a sort of local handyman at times, but that was mostly for just menial requests and the like. Out of curiosity though, which of those jobs do you think I'd be best suited at? And be honest," Madante requests, seeking an outside opinion.

"Is it bad that I'm seriously considering the prospect of you attempting to knock some sense into them?" Madante asks in a manner suggesting that an answer wasn't necessary. "Honestly I don't feel like much of a captain half of the time. Most of the work I actually end up doing is just menial stuff and the like. When it comes to actual combat, you all seem to have things covered most of the time. As for the other business...honestly if I could ask for one thing, its for my parents to actually take responsibility for their screw ups, but we're 5 years past that being an option," Madante groans. "That debt is honestly the only reason I'm even in the guard. Not to say I don't enjoy the work now, but this wasn't what I expected to be doing at this point in my life."

"My family? Well I should have seen this coming," Madante sighs before he leans against one of the walls. "Where do I even begin with them? Well for starters, they were from a lineage of...lesser nobility I guess? I'm not sure what to call them, but they were both from well off families. I've got two brothers, one older and one younger. The younger one found some interest in ship building for whatever reason, so as soon as he was able he started helping out at one of the Versidian shipyards. My older brother...lets not talk about him right now," he pauses, catching his breath before speaking again. "Anywho, my parents were well enough as long as they had their money and their wine, which was fine and all. Well, until the family money ran dry anyhow. My parents weren't the best at managing money. Honestly I'm sure your wyvern could do a better job at finances, and that's me being entirely serious. It wasn't long before they started taking out whatever loans they could to support their old lifestyle. After a series of rather unfair events in my opinion, I ended up having to take care of the family finances," he sighs before realizing how long he had spoken. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble for as long as I did. It's just that when I think about my family situation...there's a lot to say. That's all," Madante finishes, looking down at the deck.

"Nothing in particular, for both things to hear about and things to beat up. I mostly just came down to talk to you really," Madante says with a shrug. "Though, I guess I'm a little curious; what was your family like? Were they also guardsman, or did they have some other profession?" Madante decides to ask.