Osric Melkire.
Raandal Vance.
Roen shook her head as she stood just outside of the Gates of Nald, rubbing her eyes with her hand. What a mess this was turning into.
And all because she had trusted the wrong person.
Delial. She had trusted the woman at the absolute worst time. She was there when Roen had gone to Little Ala Mhigo to search for clues of her grandmother’s heritage. She was there to lend a helping and always a reassuring word when Roen was faced with hostility and plagued with doubt. Especially after the Nanawa Mines, when she and the Sultansworns had faced off with the Resistance and her Master-at-Arms, Gharen Wolfsong--when the ceruleum core had gone missing and the mines had been set to flames, resulting in a destructive explosion.
Natalie had let the Resistance go, not filing a report about it, instead letting Roen reassure her that the Resistance and Gharen had no intention of allowing any harm to come to Ul’Dah. The fact that Roen believed in Gharen without a sliver of a doubt was enough for Natalie to put the mine conflict to rest. She and Kayah instead had turned their efforts to quietly searching for The Rose, the likely culprit that got away with the core behind the curtain of chaos he had created through deception.
And now, over two months later, when she thought that the matters of the mines had been put to rest, Osric Melkire, an Immortal Flames Sergeant came for her and Gharen, seeking out the truth of the incident. A witness had come forth who stated it was a Sultansworn cover up--and Delial was that witness. Only… Roen knew full well where Delial had gotten all her information on what had passed at the mines.
"You ratted out y'own.†Osric’s words in that Drybone camp rang in her ears even now. He had removed his turban to impress upon her and Gharen the hatred and anger in his eyes regarding this matter. “The Sultanate is crumbling around our ears. Has been, since the ball. If the Syndicate gains power... if the Sultana is deposed...."
"Ser Natalie and Ser Kiryuu are being accused of foul play." Osric’s accusation had burned itself into her memory. "You swore an oath. This is how you repay their kindness? By gutting the Sultana's best line of defense?" He had pressed his finger onto her chest to punctuate his anger.
"I'm to uncover the truth o' what happened at the mines. If the 'sworn are innocent, I play knives with the Syndicate. If not... if not, it's the gaols for the Sultansworn. For the Resistance, the noose. I'm just one wheel. As I said, others will follow if I fall along the way. I'm your best shot." Those were his final words, the true reason he had sought them out. “So out with it. All of it. The whole story. Now.â€
So she had told him, all that had happened. The Rose, Cicero, even Delial’s garlean loyalties. A part of her regretted the last, for she knew if Delial was hard pressed, the woman might reveal what she knew about Roen’s own past.
Roen let out a long exhale, her eyes squinting under the desert sun and through the dust-laden winds that swirled outside the Ul’Dah gates.
Osric Melkire had already questioned Kage, and a few suns ago, the Sergeant under the guise of a Limsa Lominsan nobleman named Raandal Vance tried to bribe Natalie and got himself arrested. True to her word to the Sergeant, Roen had delivered the news of the arrest to Commander Swift with the words 'bluebird'. She heard the next morning that 'Raandal Vance' had been extradited to Limsa Lominsa with utmost efficiency, with Natalie none aware of the deception. Far as Roen knew, Natalie believed him to be a corrupt Lominsan noble looking to bribe a Sultansworn. And in arresting him she had passed Melkire's test. It was all part of the Sergeant’s investigation in trying to clear the Sultansworn’s reputation, to try and weed out corruption if any existed. He pressed upon her that he was being watched by the Syndicate, hence the need for subterfuge. For Natalie and Kage’s sake, Roen played along with the Immortal Flame, trusting in the Sergeant’s non-conventional methods.
But one thing was clear. Roen needed to clear the names of the Sultansworn, for it was her naivete that had put it in jeopardy in the first place. Her trust in Delial had given the traitorous woman the names and facts she needed to bring suspicion to the Sultana’s Elite, and also had set the Blades onto the Resistance for the ceruleum theft. She needed to keep Gharen away and out of sight from the Blades, at least until this investigation was somehow closed again.  Somehow she needed to make that happen.
It started with finding Cicero.
Her hand went to a piece of parchment she had tucked away in her belt pouch. Â She opened it, reading the address it contained.
She needed to find Cicero. Â And the Core. And put this to rest before she put any more lives in danger.
[sub]((The events of the mine can be found here.))[/sub]
Raandal Vance.
Roen shook her head as she stood just outside of the Gates of Nald, rubbing her eyes with her hand. What a mess this was turning into.
And all because she had trusted the wrong person.
Delial. She had trusted the woman at the absolute worst time. She was there when Roen had gone to Little Ala Mhigo to search for clues of her grandmother’s heritage. She was there to lend a helping and always a reassuring word when Roen was faced with hostility and plagued with doubt. Especially after the Nanawa Mines, when she and the Sultansworns had faced off with the Resistance and her Master-at-Arms, Gharen Wolfsong--when the ceruleum core had gone missing and the mines had been set to flames, resulting in a destructive explosion.
Natalie had let the Resistance go, not filing a report about it, instead letting Roen reassure her that the Resistance and Gharen had no intention of allowing any harm to come to Ul’Dah. The fact that Roen believed in Gharen without a sliver of a doubt was enough for Natalie to put the mine conflict to rest. She and Kayah instead had turned their efforts to quietly searching for The Rose, the likely culprit that got away with the core behind the curtain of chaos he had created through deception.
And now, over two months later, when she thought that the matters of the mines had been put to rest, Osric Melkire, an Immortal Flames Sergeant came for her and Gharen, seeking out the truth of the incident. A witness had come forth who stated it was a Sultansworn cover up--and Delial was that witness. Only… Roen knew full well where Delial had gotten all her information on what had passed at the mines.
"You ratted out y'own.†Osric’s words in that Drybone camp rang in her ears even now. He had removed his turban to impress upon her and Gharen the hatred and anger in his eyes regarding this matter. “The Sultanate is crumbling around our ears. Has been, since the ball. If the Syndicate gains power... if the Sultana is deposed...."
"Ser Natalie and Ser Kiryuu are being accused of foul play." Osric’s accusation had burned itself into her memory. "You swore an oath. This is how you repay their kindness? By gutting the Sultana's best line of defense?" He had pressed his finger onto her chest to punctuate his anger.
"I'm to uncover the truth o' what happened at the mines. If the 'sworn are innocent, I play knives with the Syndicate. If not... if not, it's the gaols for the Sultansworn. For the Resistance, the noose. I'm just one wheel. As I said, others will follow if I fall along the way. I'm your best shot." Those were his final words, the true reason he had sought them out. “So out with it. All of it. The whole story. Now.â€
So she had told him, all that had happened. The Rose, Cicero, even Delial’s garlean loyalties. A part of her regretted the last, for she knew if Delial was hard pressed, the woman might reveal what she knew about Roen’s own past.
Roen let out a long exhale, her eyes squinting under the desert sun and through the dust-laden winds that swirled outside the Ul’Dah gates.
Osric Melkire had already questioned Kage, and a few suns ago, the Sergeant under the guise of a Limsa Lominsan nobleman named Raandal Vance tried to bribe Natalie and got himself arrested. True to her word to the Sergeant, Roen had delivered the news of the arrest to Commander Swift with the words 'bluebird'. She heard the next morning that 'Raandal Vance' had been extradited to Limsa Lominsa with utmost efficiency, with Natalie none aware of the deception. Far as Roen knew, Natalie believed him to be a corrupt Lominsan noble looking to bribe a Sultansworn. And in arresting him she had passed Melkire's test. It was all part of the Sergeant’s investigation in trying to clear the Sultansworn’s reputation, to try and weed out corruption if any existed. He pressed upon her that he was being watched by the Syndicate, hence the need for subterfuge. For Natalie and Kage’s sake, Roen played along with the Immortal Flame, trusting in the Sergeant’s non-conventional methods.
But one thing was clear. Roen needed to clear the names of the Sultansworn, for it was her naivete that had put it in jeopardy in the first place. Her trust in Delial had given the traitorous woman the names and facts she needed to bring suspicion to the Sultana’s Elite, and also had set the Blades onto the Resistance for the ceruleum theft. She needed to keep Gharen away and out of sight from the Blades, at least until this investigation was somehow closed again.  Somehow she needed to make that happen.
It started with finding Cicero.
Her hand went to a piece of parchment she had tucked away in her belt pouch. Â She opened it, reading the address it contained.
She needed to find Cicero. Â And the Core. And put this to rest before she put any more lives in danger.
[sub]((The events of the mine can be found here.))[/sub]
