Zetaark

"Well...yes and no. The boats are operating as normal. The problem is the schedules for them on this end are apparently inconsistent. Apparently some thieves broke in and took the master copy of the ship schedule. Normally there are secondary copies present in the place in case something like that happens, but the thieves apparently messed them all up by messing with the times and locations. Basically, the boats come in on their original times, but nobody knows what the scheduled times are anymore or where the boats are actually going. To top it off, none of the workers can figure out why this happened," Madante explains, clearly frustrated.

Going over to the east side of the port, Cadence searches around the area. After a bit of blind searching, she finds the information station for boats and finds Madante sitting nearby it with an obviously displeased look on his face.

Clarisse leads Rayne over to a shop that contains a variety of materials, ranging from leathers to metals to sewing equipment and fabrics. The shopkeeper is again pleased to see people visiting his shop.

"Not really sure. When I first came around here I heard that some thieves showed up out of nowhere not too long ago and started taking some stuff. Apparently most of what was stolen was some random food and weapons and such. I also heard something about one of the boat schedules getting taken, but I don't know much about what goes on in the eastern part of the port. That's where all the boats are docked. That's all I know about it really, hope you find the info useful," the man finishes.

"Alright then. Enjoy your knives and keep on the lookout. I heard something or other about some theives that came by here about a week ago. Don't know much about them, but I've heard there trouble. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for you I take it, but I figured I'd give you a heads up," the shopkeeper said before taking the money and handing Cadence her knife.

"One knife eh? Normally be 400 but uhh, since you had to sit through that little mess I'll drop it to 350 and call it a day. Sound good to you?" he asks with a slight grin, embarrassed about the scene he caused earlier.

Going through the tavern, Rayne notices that the bar seems to be in quite a state of disorder, with a few broken tables around the the place. Some of the other people in the bar are layed out on the floor, though it seems to be more due to injuries than the alcohol. Looking about, Rayne notices two women sitting at the pub that doesn't appear to be too suspect, though the two seem to be glaring at each other.

Listening to the background music for a while, Idei looks around and notices a man with a guitar, likely the one who was playing the music. ---------------------- The wyvern looks up at Karik and doesn't seem to mind the petting much. At the same time, Rayne, who had ended up getting lost, found her way to the doors of the bar. --------------------- "The knife and the lockpicks will run you 1050 vespers. And what about you girl? What were you coming in here to get again?" the man asks.

"I thank you. And do not be concerned about not seeing me coming. My profession requires that I be unnoticed to the world. It takes quite a bit of training, but that's another story. At any rate, I shall depart for now," he says, vanishing into the crowd. --------------------------------- "I don't need much in the way of patching up at the moment. When I fumbled my way into town, one of the resident healers helped me out. She works at one of the shops around here. She's also the reason me and a few others got some work around here. But that's neither here nor there. Now you gonna buy something or not?" he grunts, not quite as hostile as before. -------------------------------- Outside, Karik notices that the bar that he passed by before had a wyvern sitting in front of it. The wyvern's blue scales shimmer in the sun, and the wyvern appears to be tired.

After the whistle, there was a brief pause. Suddenly, a man came by to the side of Rayne. "You called for me I see. Have things to drop off?" the man asks.

"No problem at all. I'll be around to help," Ecquis responds to her thanks at his arrival. Upon hearing her then speak about Anna, he decides to mention what he overheard earlier. "Well I can tell you now that Saffron is going to be having a talk with her later. She was none too pleased with how things went either. She decided to spare Anna from a public scolding, but a scolding is to come nonetheless," he informed her.

"Very well. If that's all, then the total will be 800 vespers." the shopkeeper tells Rayne, before chuckling a bit. "You know, I also space out from time to time as well. Did it once a few days ago, though I probably could have picked a better time and place. Try not to space out too much, ok?"

"Hmm, normally we don't tend to bundle our staffs, but we have made exceptions in the past. And for you, I think I'm willing to make a bit of an exception. Is 1400 vespers for the both of them acceptable?" the shopkeeper asks Emilee in a sweet voice. ------------------------------------ "Guild? I dunno anything about whatever guild you're from, nor am I part of one. Well not anymore anyways. You saw to that when you were throwing knives at me a few days ago. Remember now?" the man barks, his tone getting a bit angrier than before. He then remembers that another customer was present. "Excuse me one moment, I'll get back to you once I finish dealing with the man over here, alright?" he says in a calmer voice before looking back to Belros. "As for you, I'm willing to sell to you, since it's job now, but I expect you to watch yourself. Got it?" ------------------------------------ Making his way into the archery store, Idei finds an array of bows of all types, including a few crossbows. The man behind the counter greets Idei. "Welcome. What can I getcha?" Price List: ------------------------------------ "Umm, excuse me, do you want to buy that lance?" the shopkeeper, who was a young lady, asked Rayne who had appeared to space out. -------------------------------------------------- "Sir, could you please refrain from waving that axe around in the store? It's a little...a little..." the man trails off as he notices the emblem present on the axe. He goes to a back room as if to check something, then comes out again, albeit a bit nervous. "Y-you wanted a lower cost? Certainly certainly. I m-must say, I wasn't quite expecting someone like you to come around, but I'm g-glad you found something you like," the man stutters out.

"Them? I'm not entirely sure what "them" is referring to. But let me give you something to hopefully jog your memory. See these knives? Where do you think I got some of them. Go on, take a wild guess." the man snarls.

Idei finds a store that appears to have a variety of various materials, from leather, to some raw metals, to patches of fabrics and other materials. The shopkeeper is a midde-aged man who seems rather pleased to see customers. ---------------------------------------- Rayne ended up finding the lance shop, which seemed to have quite an assortment of spears and halberds present. Inside the shop are quite a few customers, with the shopkeeper behind the counter checking out a customer. The prices of the lances are present on a board behind the counter. Price List: ---------------------------------------- Belros enters the pawn shop as well, finding the shopkeeper and Cadence inside. The shopkeeper looks up to greet the new customer. "Welcome, how can I he-" he stops for a moment, looking at the person who just entered. His expression then changes from a smile to a frown. "Oh. It's you again. What do you want?"

Entering the pawn shop, Cadence finds an assortment of knives and other items. The man behind the counter looks at Cadence for a moment, then smiles a bit. "Welcome to the pawn shop. Here to buy or here to sell?" the man ask. In the display case, certain items and their prices could be seen. Price List:

Inside of the shop is a cheery lady behind the counter. "Welcome to the SSSS, where we handle all of your healing needs. What can I get you miss?" the lady asks in a polite tone. Behind her, the list of items and prices can be found. Price List: -------------------------------- "Thank you for your business," the shopkeeper replied, taking the money. The woman in the shop glanced over to the shaman once again before speaking. "Dark magic? Using it for research?" the woman asks.

Karik finds a general purpose clothing store, which has an assortment of clothes for both men and women. The shop itself only has a few people present, and the shopkeeper is behind the counter chatting with one of the customers. ----------- Darius enters the magic shop, and finds a collection of tomes throughout the store. Near the cashier table, the list of prices for available tomes is present. Price List: Besides the cashier, there is another women in the shop, dressed in what seems to be noble attire. She looks at the newcomer with a bit of interest, but says nothing.

Chapter 2: Chance Meetings Year 1638, 21th of Vembra Having rested up after the skirmish with the bandits, the party continued traveling towards Gateon Port. It took them an additional day, but they eventually got to the port town. The sea breeze had started to blow in, and the markets around the area all had some form of traffic. At the center of the market plaza, a fountain was present, along with many street performers. One could also hear what sounded like a guitar playing as well, but it was hard to tell with all the chatter present in the area. "I must say, I didn't expect such a busy marketplace all the way out here. Though I guess it makes sense since this is a port town. At any rate, I'm going to look into where some of the outgoing ships are going. With any luck, one of them should be going towards our original destination. In the meantime, I think it would be a fine idea for you all to check out the town and markets. Perhaps they have some useful equipment or some other goods we may need later," Madante says before giving the party some money. ((All player units receive 1500 vespers!)) "Once you've finished your business, we can meet up at the fountain, then head towards the boat that will take us closer to our objective. Until then, enjoy!" Madante cheers as he runs off in search of information on the boat schedules. Looking around, the party can see a bar, and a pawn shop nearby it. Some clothing shops can also be seen, along with a set of shops that contains an assortment of weapons. Closer to the fountain, a shop labeled "SSSS" can be seen, with what appears to be staffs and other healing items. Elsewhere, a general magics store can be seen.

"Very well then," Ecquis replies as he takes Maya onto the wyvern and begins to fly up. Not wanting to stray too far, he directs Morgan in a circular path around where the group had set up camp. "I always do enjoy a nice joyride. Gives me a nice space to think about things. How are you feeling right now Maya?"

"Heh, I recall saying something similar to you. No matter, it still makes me happy," Ecquis says. Ecquis then hears a bit of rustling, then notices that Morgan was present in the trees. It appeared that she had followed the pair into the forest. It would be Morgan if anyone, Ecquis thought to himself. "Well it looks like Morgan decided to follow us here. I can't say I'm too surprised. At any rate, seeing as how she's come all this way, care for another flight?"

"If you'll allow it, I'd like to be very close to you," Ecquis says, taking Maya into an embrace. "I wouldn't mind being there for you when you need someone, nor would I mind you being there for me when I need someone. I've already lived a life of loneliness, and I don't particularly care to return to it. So if you'll allow it...lets take care of each other."

"If I didn't care about her, I wouldn't have bothered coming around here to see all of this. Of course I'll keep her safe,"Ecquis replies, reaching out to the outstretched ethereal hand. He then turned towards Maya. "That being said, I trust you'll look out for me as well. You've been a valuable asset to our group, and more importantly you've been willing to listen to my ramblings half the time. It's been a long time since I've had someone I could talk to like that. So in exchange for me keeping you safe, would it be too much to ask for you to continue staying nearby?" he asks Maya.

"I see. That explains the mentions of that curse of yours. I can't imagine how something like that could affect you. On that note..." Ecquis pauses and looks towards the phantom of Maya's brother. "What do you have to say about this...Freyl if I recall? Did you ever consider how your actions affected Maya's state of mind. And more importantly, what would you have done if things got out of hand. Do you have an answer for this," Ecquis states in a rather flat tone, staring directly at Freyl.

"Well. That's certainly something. And no, I've not come across any phantoms in my time. Though if this particular phantom is your brother..." Ecquis paused a bit, his hand on his chin pondering what he is seeing. "I feel like there's a few things missing here regarding your brother and why he's a phantom. And about things that he's done. Care to tell?" Ecquis asked.