Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
After an hour of scanning through the docks, she eventually found someone she recognised from the crew. "Oi!" she called over, before grabbing their shoulder and immediate attention. "Stow the knife would ye? I need to find the boss, like right now." said the thief girl, first to the sight of the biiig knife the dockhand had brought out on reflex and the second bit as he'd recognised her. "What chu gotta talk to 'er for that's all so 'igh and mighty eh?" he asked, setting her teeth on edge. "Two words. Bounty posters." explained Ikuze. The dockhand blinked before pointing further down the docks. "Saw 'er last on the pier over-looking somethin'."
Ikuze dashed off in that direction. "Best get the boys ready for visitors!" she called back, the dockhand giving a faint nod before he set about giving the word to the bouncers and the ilk. The azure haired girl ran through the crowds on the docks until she caught a sight of the tell-tale sight of the Baroness' hair and skirts. She pulled up alongside, out of breath and doubled over. As she panted, she pulled the poster from inside her blouse and offered it to Caitlin to read whilst she caught her breath and promptly sat down. Well, more like fell onto her backside. "All... over... Central..." was what she managed to get out between her breaths if asked where she'd found the poster.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Dec 30, 2013 1:36:31 GMT
Loot, loot, loot, annnnnnd ship, ship, ship... Caitlin hummed to herself as she checked off her mental checklist. Another round was ready to sail. They would make port in 3 days to sell the hot ticket items. They really needed a private island somewhere to bank all their treasures. It was getting repetitive hauling it all out to sea and sky just to keep it out of anyone else's hands. There was a commotion behind her and a paper was thrust into her hands. She looked down, examining the sheet as Ikuze rattled off some incoherent words.
"Papa is getting desperate," she mused out loud, but she wasn't amused. "Why?" was he sick? did he need an heir and was more eager than ever to wed her off to someone he actually approved of? Ever since that incident with her mother spilling black blood in his presence, the two of them were on his bad side. Mother more than Caitlin. He still held out hopes that the little girl he adopted to the title was at least a half-breed. If it wasn't for that, and the opportunity to keep the truth hidden long enough to get the title passed along, he'd probably have throw the missus out on her arse. "Something isn't right here." She read the paper over once more.
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Post by Tourin "termite" Might on Dec 30, 2013 1:47:14 GMT
Tourin wiggled his sticky fingers, "Quite right, quite right, so you wont mind if I keep this then would you?" He snatched at the paper in the commanders hands. Tipping his hat, the old merchant was already sliding his foot backward and preparing for a quick get-away with thoughts running through his brain what all he could do with the Baron's bounty. Why, he could buy himself his own clockwork doll (not that he didn't have one already, of course he did! He was a master mechanic, but who doesn't love to have more than one?) "G'day to you sir!" he called out as he turned to flee.
"G'day," Skye uttered back, but he was hardly paying attention. Let the man search, He just hoped he wouldn't see the man's name on the blotter the next day. His thoughts were already to another matter. He turned and left the Central Square behind, but he wasn't heading for the Barracks, as was obvious by his direction. His path was to find the cause of this action and that path lead him towards the Baron's estate in the higher class area of the city. There was an order to such things, and posting up wanted adds around town would only add to chaos. That was all there was too it. It had nothing to do with his interest in Caitlin.
It was true, this area was 'protected' to keep out the unwanted riff raff commonly referred to as the poor or even middle class, but he was the High Commander, and in uniform, with his rank and badge of office, no private enforcer was quite so willing to cross his blade. It was just so that he ended up at the door to the Baron's rather large estate politely requesting an audience.
"It gets worse Baroness." Ikuze said once she had caught her breath and stood up a little. "There was that Mingo's boss bloke looking at them as well, the chubby one with the weird hat, and so did the head of the police army as well. Thought I'd managed to make the seller forget about the stuff, but he saw another one as I was coming with this one. Which he then showed to the commander bloke." she said before she fidgeted a little with the hem of her blouse. "Um... Baroness... You said... your papa was involved... um... if you, if you don't mind me asking... um... Why's he sticking your face with big numbers under it?" she asked, hesitant and ready to bolt or brace herself in case she'd overstepped whatever unspoken boundaries there were between employer and employee.
Last Edit: Jan 3, 2014 12:28:29 GMT by Ikuze Storm
Marquel was quick to drop his papers and stand to his feet when the Butler hastily knocked on his study door and let himself in without waiting to be invited. The man bowed properly before announcing the guest waiting in the foyer. The baron pushed his spectacles up further on the bridge of his nose and tugged on the ends of his vest to straighten it.
"Thank you Judd, you may show him in." The butler bowed once more then stepped back out to retrieve the High Commander. Marquel made haste to straighten the pile of papers on his desk, all but one which he failed to notice flutter off the edge and land half tucked under the guest wingback chair. It was another of the posters of his estranged daughter. He was both eager and fearful of what news the Commander might be bringing. On the one hand maybe the man had word of his daughter and where to retrieve her... then again if such were so he'd most likely have done the task already. More probable was the worst of his fears, that the news of Caitlin was anything but good, and they sent a lawman to share it.
Skye tugged at the jacket of his dress greens. It didn't need to be straitened, but the action helped to cement the choice he was making by coming here. The resolve was still there, but the plush surroundings he'd been escorted through by the butler had shown him just how high in society this man was. "Thank you for seeing me Baron," he stated calmly before offering a slight bow. It wasn't anywhere as subservient as the butler's, for one he didn't take his eyes off the older man, but it was the gesture that was important.
"I understand your time must be precious," he began before seeing one of the offending flyers just at the foot of the wingback chair. He bent down to pick it up before continuing, "I'll be brief. I'm here about these flyers you've had posted all over town. I have to ask, do you wish your daughter returned to you in one piece, or is this some underhanded way to remove her from the picture? For the moment I will give you the courtesy of assuming the former and assume your position has somewhat shielded you from life in the poorer areas of the city, as these flyers of yours have stirred up a hotbed of criminals and cutthroats looking for an easy payday."
He hadn't meant to be quite so direct and to the point, but finding one of these flyers just lying on the floor had brought back the infuriating feelings that had brought him all the way up here. Still, he gave himself credit in the fact that his tone had been even and without a hint of malice, even if his words had been somewhat sarcastic.
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Jan 17, 2014 4:22:18 GMT
"Why indeed.." Caitlin murmured in reply to Ikuze curiosity. She was just as much befuddled by it all. He was so dutiful in upholding the strictest of social etiquette that the wanted signs seemed very out of character. She would have expected him to run to the authorities before pulling such a rash and underhanded move as this. "I think perhaps, I might need to get out of town, or else go deep into hiding within it." She handed the poster back to the other woman.
"Find as many of these as you can, and destroy them, would you? Get the others to help if you can. The fewer of these that exists the better."
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Ikuze nodded at Caitlins orders. "Got it boss. I already spread the word to possibly expect company in case anyone turns up from this when I was coming to you. I'll grab what sneaks are about to grab the rest of 'em." she said, turning to depart before a thought crossed her head. "Umm... just one thought... What if we were to take you to your papa, collect the reward, and then help you slip back out afterwards?" asked the thief, the possibility of swindling one of the nobility appealing to her very much.
The baron fidgeted under the direct scrutiny. Most men either didn't have enough status to challenge him outright, or were just gentlemen enough to do so covertly and with the proper social etiquette. However now that the questions were out there, he had nothing to do but answer them.
"Please understand, her mother is gravely ill, and I know she would not forgive I nor herself if she did not see her again before it is too late. I thought this wuld be the quickest and most effective means of bringing her home before... well." Before his wife passed. He didn't care for her himself, not knowing what he did now, but he cared for her child, the one he still claimed as his only heir and would need her to make a suitable match and pass on the title. He didn't mention that the roughians and briggans were probably the only sort who could manage to bring the high spirited back at all. She could evade, fight, or outwit the fairer minded search parties.
To ellaborate further on the truth why his wife was dying would likewise be difficult if pressed. He himself did not know the why exactly, but he could neither get her treatment without revealing to the world that the Baroness was full blooded Andersweltler. And he would not have that heart to subject his half-blooded child (or so he hoped she was, since he was not her biological father and had never met the man who was) to the dishonor and segregation that would result from such common knowledge. The High Commander of the EIRALs was the last person he wanted to learn the truth. Not only would the title be disgraced and their bloodline ruined, Caitlin would lose what slender chance she had left of making a good marriage. It wasn't like she had made it easy for him to arrange such a thing as they stood to date - what with her continued absence from decent society.
"Perhaps, if you trusted the military to do their job and informed us of this development your daughter would already have been notified." Skye began, he was trying to remain even tempered, but the fact that this man had started a manhunt because he wished to keep his wife's health a secret rubbed him the wrong way. What was it with nobles? Would her condition cause a loss of status for him or even some for of support he had established. Either way, what was done was done, but that didn't stop him from rubbing the man's mistake in his face.
"For instance, if I had known of this situation I could have delivered the message to your daughter when I met her two days ago. Of Course, since I had no idea at the time that she was missing or that her mother was ill, I simply let her pass on her way." Which wasn't completely accurate. He had stopped the two thugs that had tired to chase after her, but again, without knowing the entire situation what else could he have done. Now he was going to have to track her himself. If only to figure out exactly what was going on. A lot of this didn't sit right with him. There was more going on than either he, or his daughter, had admitted and if it was up to him he'd drop the old man in an interrogation room until he got to the bottom of it. Sadly, such tactics, while sound during wartime, were not so sound during a truce if one wanted to keep their career.
"As it stands, I am not looking to get the EIRAL wrapped up in a conflict with the upper class, Sir. We are here to serve and protect you as much as we are here to keep the lower and middle class safe from harm. Yet we cannot do our job if we are left in the dark. If you desire our assistance in this, we will give it freely, and if not, well, I have already been forced to put out extra patrols in order to keep the streets safe from ruffians attempting to kidnap any girl with blonde hair and a slender frame."
Post by Caitlin Cockfoster on Jan 19, 2014 17:19:01 GMT
Caitlin took a deep breath, then turned her full attention to Ikuze. With a sort of firm sadness she answered. "Although I may not like the baron, I do love and respect him. I know I forgot to mention this when we brought you into the guild but, there is one noble we don't swindle, and that would be Marquel." She wasn't reprimanding her for the idea, it was the most logical sort and Caitlin did appreciate clever thinking. But in this instance, it was a no go on all accounts.
Still.... she did wonder what drove the strict and structured man to such levels of desperation. "Perhaps we could..." Caitlin thought out loud, "have a tiny bit of a stake out, on the barons grounds. We wont take anything but-- we could see what all this nonsense is stemming from."
She sat her glass down next to the decanter and leaned back. This was nice... like falling into a vat of marshmallow fluff. Calm, muffled, the rest of the world blocked out by the closed door to his cabin, and here they were safe inside. Safe from reality, safe from their own complicated lives. Safe from duty. Safe from context. Just. Safe. --Caitlin
Ikuze sighed before she nodded. "Alright... no pinching from your papa." she said before she gave a faux curtsey. "I'll get started on destroying the posters. Then we can go sneak around your papa's place." said the thief as she went around the ship and the docks grabbing every sneak she could get her hands on to accomplish this mission. Lodan is a big place, and this was gonna need all the manpower they could assemble. The bruisers were on high alert since the announcement of the price on their Baroness' head, and had formed an invisible cordon around the docks and the ship.
The baron puffed up his chest and his hand went subconsciously across his middle in a very proud genteel fashion.
"There are no others like Caitlin and no blonde haired thin waist wasp of a girl could be mistaken for the Baroness. No matter how long her tresses, or how blue her eyes. My daughter cannot be imitated by mere commoners." As insulting as it sounded he meant it in the most sensible way. There was an aire of nobility that Caitlin was raised with every day of her young life, a kind of charm and grace, and the level of pampering that could not be replicated in common households that made her radiate the way she did, her hair shine the way that it could all the way down to the ends of her braid where other women's would be limp, split, and faded.
"That aside, yes... yes we would appreciate the military's assistance in this matter. It is terribly important she comes home, quickly now."
He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the display of superiority that the Baron was putting on. The man really was disconnected from the masses of society that surrounded him. "I agree, Barron. There is not another the like of your daughter," there was a hint of actual agreement and not the placation he'd meant the statement to be. Where was that coming from? "However, that distinction is not shared by those who do not know her. We are both men who use our eyes to see what is truly before us, but the commoners, as you put it, do not share that trait. They will see a pay day, a means to get rich quick or even just a chance to feed their families. Consider it like a lottery. If they grab any girl that somewhat meets the description, perhaps they will get lucky and she will be the right one. I tell you, be prepared for men at your door who seek such a thing but bare the wrong prize."
He bowed his head as he prepared to leave. He had said all he meant to say. whether those words had gained him an enemy or a friend, he did not care. He was doing his duty, whatever the cost of that might be. "For now, you shall have not just the military's assistance, but my own personal assistance as well, now that I am personally invested in this case." Invested? He'd meant to say interested, why then had he said invested. He suppressed the urge to shake his own head as his actions in case such a thing might be misconstrued.
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