#cakednd

Alara Angelika Hildegard von Klaus-Wagner

Alara, after a nice long bath, calm and musing to herself.

Verity/Haze The night of Day 03, Session 15.  After reading through the documents in detail, Verity sits there quietly for a while, mulling over his options and what he had done. The smell of fresh pies wafts in as Hazikeen returns from the kitchen.

"That smells so good, Haze. You're tempting me to have a late night supper." He laughs. Out of armour, Verity's demeanour is more relaxed and casual. "So, tomorrow you'll be hunting for an imp, with a hellhound, what do you think about him?"

"these are intended for tomorrow's consumption... However, if you wish to enjoy yours now, you may." *Presents pie* "Regarding the fiend, he has been cooperative." "This one is inclined to trust him""Do you have any reservations?" 

"I'll have the pie tomorrow." Verity, still sitting down while Hazikeen replies, says, "I see. Good. Then you should be fine tomorrow. Just be alert, in case of any surprises, and let me know immediately if anything goes wrong. I'm depending on you again, Haze." He gives Hazikeen a warm smile. "When I meet Factol Sarin tomorrow, I will put in a good word for you." Then, he leans on the back of the chair, not looking at Hazikeen. "How's Sigil life for you so far? I know being a Harmonium officer keeps you busy, but have you thought of any goals that you would like to achieve personally?"

"Survival here is... different from the umbral plane. This one welcomes new challenges.", Haze says, wrapping the pie in cheesecloth and storing it in his mess set."In terms of goals, this one is eager to continue training under you, the lessons that you strive to impart are complex, and this one has only been able to grasp them at a surface level."

Verity's eyes become teary, but he stops himself. He takes a deep breath to steady his voice, "I am glad." The tone is stern rather than relief. Some of the doubts he has in mind is banished. Then he clenches his fist, "The path will not be easy, Haze, but we will try our best to do what we think is right, and accept the consequences. The situation we are in right now, whatever the solution is will likely affect the Harmonium's reputation greatly."

"To this one's understanding..." Haze says, maintaining eye contact, "The Harmonium prides itself on operating based on principle... rather than reputation."

"That is true, Haze. However, it will do you well to know that having a positive reputation is key to healthy morale and socializing in general." Verity looks at Hazikeen with a bit of shrewdness in his eyes. "A faction's reputation is what brings like-minded brothers and sisters to come to discover our principles."

"hmmm.... fascinating... so the harmonium values strength over principle as well...?" "This is counter to what this one has been taught until now..."  

Verity sighs. "What I have been teaching you, is what I value, Haze. I find my alignment with the Harmonium because of the faction's principles and manifesto." "I cannot speak for every individual Harmonium members, but Harmonium as a whole is a faction, principles and reputation is equally important."

Haze finishes packing his mess kit and clean cooks utensils into his rucksack. "This one understands, now.""perhaps this is where we see the Factol's worth, which is worth more in his eyes..."

Verity nods slightly. "Which is why I have decided to hand the documents to Factol Sarin tomorrow morning." He tidies up the stack of paper, stands up and heads to bed. "Sleep well, Haze. It was nice chatting with you."

Haze nods. "This one is glad that it was able to assist in putting your mind at ease" *nests in bedroll.

Yay Art!

Haze/Verity Shortly after moving an injured Verity into Allesha's Pantry for triage. Episode 9, After K4DY-X Fight.

Haze stares at the indent that the creature's fallen arm had left, 'no signs of retrieval or detonation...' he puzzles. '7 minutes have passed. The light rain would not have masked any evidence in such a short time...'

Verity sees Haze out there. As Haze was not tended to yet, he is worried. With a slight grunt, he stands up and leaves Allesha’s pantry. As he approaches with an unsteady gait, he says, “Haze, you should get tended to- What are you looking at?”

"The creature..." Haze says, just loud enough for Verity to hear through the rain. "This one is unable to find any remainss..."Haze tilts his head up to the sky"By dawn, the only evidence remaining will be the destruction in its wake..."Haze turns to Verity and sniffs the air, assessing his injuries. "Perhaps it would be prudent to first attend to our injuries..."

“I’ve spoken to Lady Allesha, she said she had buried a piece of the Kadyx that Sir Quroq managed to bring with him after his previous encounter with it.” Verity takes a careful look at Haze’s injuries. Even if the lizard has tough scales, the Kadyx’s attacks were powerful and deadly. Verity feels pained, not the same kind from his own injuries. “Haze, you did very well.” He smiles sadly, but it is hidden behind the helmet. “I don’t know how we could have done it without you. Great work.” He takes off his right hand gauntlet, and pets Haze’s head in the rain. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you when you need it and you're always the one looking out for me."

"This one is appreciative of your concern, Goldmane." Haze says, barely noticing the pats. "This one will continue to perform as expected." Haze continues, walking with Verity back to the pantry. "This one is still concerned however, about the strange one from the prison. This one was not able to detect him after arriving here. That one's motivations remain unclear."

Verity puts his gauntlet back on and nods slightly as he walks with Haze. "He is strange indeed. But his words were true- that the outsiders needed help. Perhaps we can find a chance to speak with him properly the next time we see him."

Haze opens the door to the pantry and enters after Verity. "yess... for now we can report to the jussstices, and rest. The creature was strong. The evidence saved by the pantrychef will be required for... further investigation." Haze looks towards the ship crew, "Perhaps the odd one is aligned with the lost ones... but they did not seem to recognise him."

Rose/Adam Before breakfast, Basement of Allesha's Pantry - Session 10 

After Verity had left for upstairs, Rose turned around to regard Adam who was still buried in his writings. "Hey, Adam," she called out, walking up to him. 

Adam deeply focused on his writings, without stopping or turning around, answered her. "Morning!"

"Alara and I are planning to follow Verity back to the First Garrison after breakfast," Rose asked, leaning down (a little) in front of him. "Do you want to come along?"

Adam puts his hand to his head. Scratches it a little bit. "Yeah, sure! Um...", he trails off as his thoughts don't seem to be all there. You can hear a faint mumbling under his breath, but at that distance, it's hard to make out. He quickly shoots up from being hunched over his book and shouts "OH!". He then continues writing in his small book.

//(What distance, she's right in front of you, leaning down xD wacchu mumble!)//

Rose yelped and fell backwards when Adam stood up suddenly. "W.. what the hell, Adam?! What was that for??" She cried as she sat back up

//(He mumbled How much of that was real again...? Ahhh I should've done the kiss idea. That would've covered a couple of bases. Now what happened again....)//

"Oh? OH! I'm sorry!" Adam says wide-eyed at first looking at you, only now taking in his surroundings. He looks you up and down to see if he hurt you. "Oh really sorry about that rose. Hahaha. I just get too engrossed in writing in my book sometimes. It's a... a bad habit of mine." He smiles a little as he rubs the back of his head saying this.

Rose fumed a little, glaring at him from the floor. "What are you so busy writing anyway?"

"Oh, I just don't want to forget," Adam replied and extended his arm to help rose up. Seeing rose get up herself he quickly pulls it back and goes back to his book. "What happened last night was amazing, and whether or not you were really you or not, I need to make sure I don't forget what it felt like. So I'm writing everything down." You can see him go back hunched into his book as he continues writing while he says this.

Rose frowns a little, trying not to let her curiosity get the best of her but failed. "What... what did you remember from yesterday?"

Adam quickly looks up, wide-eyed, a smile on his lips. "So my suspicions were right?! It wasn't a dream?" He stands up faster than rose expected as he's now closed the gap between the two. "You were there! This is intriguing. I remember everything! Or at the very least, I'm trying to remember everything. Which is why I'm writing as fast as I can."

Rose instinctively took a step back and was about to take the second one before catching herself and firmly standing her ground. She looked up at him with a pair of firm yellow eyes. "Well, you haven't answered my question. What did you remember? What did we fight after.... after we'd gone to sleep?"

Adam ponders for a moment as he checks his notes. "It felt similar to the Kadyx no? But... A lot more terrifying." He laughs a little. "But rose, you were equally terrifying I'd say." He continues to laugh at himself.

Rose sighs and relaxes a little. "No, I only knew how to hide and snipe. I could barely stand under its gaze." She looks back up to Adam. "Also, i don't think it was similar to the Kadyx, I think it was supposed to be the Kadyx. Particularly what Quroq had to stand up to alone," she said, throwing a glance to the now blind champion. "Even though he lost his eyes, I can't believe that he had stood up to that. He is a real champion..."

Adam starts laughing joyfully. "He is indeed a champion! Turukmal's champion." He says the last word solemnly. Thoughts swirl his head about the night where Quroq said very adamantly. "Turukmal needs a champion." He thought to himself out loud. "Well rose, I do think you're right. That... thing was definitely a lot more terrifying, and hurt a lot more.  So it could very possibly be, the Kadyx that Quroq fought. I've always known he was strong, but I didn't know he was THAT strong."

Rose studies Adam quietly for a moment before speaking again. "Are you going to be Turukmal's new champion... Adam?"

Adam smiles softly. "I've... I've never thought of myself as the champion of Turukmal. I'm definitely leagues above them in terms of what you folk take for granted like reading and writing, but as a champion? I've never won a fight against Fira before. What does that tell you?" He lets the last part hang in the air uncomfortably.

"But you'll be alright, won't you? You have that other you who's very... strong," Rose pointed out hesitantly."I mean it's not like we can 100% trust him," she blurted back out immediately. "I mean, he couldn't give me his word. Well, as long as you're here I guess he can't go anywhere else... right?"

There is a long, pause. Longer than comfortable anyway. Adam looks at the ceiling clutching his chest and then sits his ass on the floor. He opens his scarf to look in and gazes at the sleeping newt. "Yeah... He's... A lot stronger than I am. He beat Fira to earn the right to travel on this voyage. Huh." He chuckles. "And yet Alara was going on about how he's 'unregistered'." His eyes flare up a bright red. "But I mean what would a kid like me know right?" He chuckles and shrugs.

Rose stared at Adam for a while. She herself had gotten a place on board the ship over others who had legitimately completed the test. For a while she had forgotten how it was only by the grace of her connections did she get to board the Messenger. But the Master Wanderer's words made her lips tighten again and Rose knelt down in front of Adam. She placed a hand on Adam's knee and spoke quietly. "If you feel that you don't deserve to be here.... you're not alone. But remember that no one on our ship boarded by accident." "None of the ambassadors would've allowed for such fickle decisions," she continued. "So it is on us to prove that they were right... right?"

Adam smiles brightly. "Well, we're all here for different reasons right? It's not like it's anything new that people like power over, well.... me. Hahaha" He laughs. "So don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Adam smiles as he places his hand on Rose's and smiles.

Rose's face turns slightly redder as she slips her hand away in a hurry. "Well... well that's good to know," she nodded as she quickly stood up. "Hopefully we'll all be fine and back on the ship without leaving anyone or anything behind. So we should probably get moving now, I mean we have a lot to do, after all, there's the garrison, and Quroq's eyes and money, we need money, I mean... " Rose bit her lip to stop from talking as she waves her hand at Adam a few times. "Please take care of yourself- and your girlfriend- so I don't have to worry about you two!"

"I will rose. I most certainly will! If ever need help with anything just ask alright? You sound like you have so much on your plate." Adam says as he continues to bury himself in his book.

Brave New World Campaign Verity the Aasimar Paladin In Full Armor

When Verity first met the group from Ark.