Lair of the Phoenix Pirates [Request]

[Tyriont]

The Setting

 

Timeline-wise, this takes place directly after the events contained within the thread "Arrival at the Bismarck". I have separated it out since the thread has started to split into separate directions, for the aim of keeping the various conversations and actions clear and separate. These events take place in a safehouse operated by the Phoenix Pirates, overlooking the Octant.

 

The Plot

 

Following the brawl which ended with a fire at the Bismarck, two members of the Phoenix Pirates - Croix Reinard, the First Mate and Wandering Lion, the Quartermaster are making their way to the nearest safehouse in the company of two women Croix met at the restaurant. Ryelle, a well-dressed woman and her companion, an Elezen ranger who is accompanied by her hawk, neither of whom have shared their names with the pirates as of yet. The fifth person thus far involved is a strange old man who gave Wandering Lion a playing card with the request that it be delivered to the Captain of the Phoenix Pirates - Tyriont Gaidal.

 

The Purpose

 

My primary purpose of this is to begin to introduce the various NPC characters that will make up the Phoenix Pirates, likely to be involved fairly heavily with events within The Spectral Wardens. The character I will be using in game will be Tyriont himself, although I have yet to decide if he'll actually show up in the thread...all depends on how the story develops, I suppose. At this point I am quite open to the idea of developing any of the individual characters as they go, so should anyone wish to determine a specific relationship with any of them, or the group as a whole, this is an opportunity to do so. The only ones with any history that has been published are Croix and his sister Epilleve (as well as Tyriont himself, of course). While I have general ideas of histories and familial ties for the rest of the crew, nothing is set in stone and I'd happily consider any suggestions.

 

Rules of Participation

 

Beyond the standard RP rules (no god-mode, no metagaming, no general jackassery), try to remain reasonably active - by which I mean, try not to leave things hanging for more than 48 hours whenever possible. Following is a list of posters who are currently welcome to participate - anyone else who is interested in participating, just shoot me a PM with your character info and preferably a line or two about what you plan to do.

 

Tyriont

Elysia

GaelicWarlord

Nanapariri

Renaise

Vana Durga

Castiel

 

Admin edit! Added my name for you Tyr since I didn't want anyone thinking I just barged in without permission :lol:

[Tyriont]

Croix lead the woman on his arm through a maze of back alleys, checking over his shoulder to ensure that Wandering Lion and the hawk-ranger were still following him. He tried to check for the strange man who had given his crewmate the card, but the streets were small and Wandering Lion's hulking frame obscured the view beyond him. Eventually the din of the commotion outside the Bismarck gave way to the soothing sound of waves and light music. Coming across a set of steps, Croix lead the way up until they ended at a door tucked into an alcove, he halted and removed a key from the chain which hung around his neck. He gave a sequence of raps on the door - soft-hard-soft, soft-soft-hard, hard-hard, soft-soft, soft-soft-soft, hard-hard-soft, hard-hard-hard, hard-hard-hard, hard-soft-soft. Once the complicated sequence was complete, he unlocked the door and entered, indicating for the others to follow.

 

The inside was surprisingly well-lit and home to a wide assortment of crates and bottle racks, most of which seemed to contain bottles labelled with various varieties of rum. There was a decently sized window in one wall which afforded a devent view of the Octant below. The walls were covered with all manner of supplies from fishing nets to sailmaking items to weaponry. Locked chests were scattered all over the room and there was a large pile of empty bottles in the corner nearest the door. The far wall had a pirate flag stretched over it - a flaming bird with wings outstretched over two crossed bones, recognizable to all familiar with it as the flag of the Phoenix Pirates. There were five others in the room already. Once his three companions were safely inside, Croix locked the door behind them and addressed the room.

 

"These two are here under our protection. There was a bit of trouble at the Bismarck tonight and they both held their own admirably...they'll be joining us here until things blow over." He turned to the two woman and gave a slight smile, starting his way towards the first occupant of the room. "I apologize, but I'll be unable to present our Captain at this point. For now, please allow me to introduce some of our other members." He placed a hand on the shoulder of a slender blonde Elezen woman who was lounging on a crate and staring dreamily out of the window. "This is my younger sister, Epilleve. You wouldn't know it to look at her, but she's quite the skill with an axe." Epilleve snapped out of her trance-like gaze and beamed a huge smile at the two newcomers.

 

"Hi! Pleased to meet you both! I hope Croix wasn't, like, too grouchy and stuff. He can be a total downer when he gets all focused." Croix gave a weary smile.

 

"I was quite pleasant, I assure you. Next we have our ship's cook, Hana." He indicated a flame-haired Lalafell, with the appearance of one of the dunesfolk. She was wielding a large kitchen knife and working on chopping a variety of vegetables. She looked up long enough to smile and nod at the two women before returning to her work. "This," Croix said as he moved over to the far corner of the room which contained a short Hyur midlander with shoulder-length chestnut hair who was busying herself sewing repairs into a linen shirt "is Terajima, Tera for short. She works as our sailmistress, but also can turn her talents to clothing as you can see. Next..." Croix was interrupted by Wandering Lion, who had made his way over to the racks and uncorked the first bottle he could grab. Having taken a few swigs, he had evidently decided it was his turn.

 

"Right lad, enough o' ye! I'll be 'andlin' the rest. This fella 'ere be Felix. Just a kid, but 'e been 'oldin' 'is own well enough, ain't ye lad?" Wandering Lion let out a bellowing laugh and slapped a young, blonde Hyur on the back sending the boy stumblind forwards. Felix picked himself up from the floor and smiled nervously at the two women.

 

"A...a pleasure." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he spoke, unable to look Ryelle in the eye.

 

"An' this lil' 'un be Chichiri! 'e ain't much good in a fight, but bein' small as 'e be, ye can slip in'na right useful places." Wandering Lion indicated a tiny, frightened looking Lalafell with short-cropped pale gray-blue hair. His eyes indicated he was one of the plainsfolk. Rather than introducing himself, he dashed behind the nearest crate and peered around it. "Well, that be it fer now! There be more o' us fer sure, but most 'o 'em be out doin' whate'er the kid asked 'em ta." He tossed an unopened bottle to the women. "Make yeselves a'ome, lasses! Drink up!"

[Renaise]

"Chichiri" Doc smiled a comforting smile Chichiri's way, "That's a nice name. No need to be nervous, we wont bite." Doc looked around at the slightly confused looking group. "Hmm... you're wondering how I got in? Well, I made a quick detour but was able to catch up just in time to see you all dart inside here." Doc wandered the room picking up an empty bottle checking the heft of it in his hand. "Hmm... this seems fine." he said to himself as usual fairly loudly. "Oh yes the door... " Doc swung around in one motion to face everyone again." It was locked wasn't it, Umm... well lets just say, there are keys, and there are keys." Doc smiled again, this time a beaming smile of pride.

 

"Anyway, the question is, what exactly do these ladies need protection from hmm? As far as I see, they have leapt from the fire and into the pirate's den, doesn't exactly scream safety to a young woman does it?" Doc reached into the bag he was carrying and revealed a small paper bag, stuck two fingers into the bag and produced a small piece of candy that he quickly popped into his mouth. "He offered the bag around. "Jelly Cactuar? They are rather good."

[Tyriont]

Wandering Lion scratched the top of his head while taking in the newcomer. "Don't be judgin' us too fast there, mate. Pirates we may be, bu' we ain't as bad a' most o'ers. Fire like tha'un, I reckon the lasses be' safer 'ere wi' us than mos' o'er places. 'sides, best ta avoid questions a'er a blaze like tha'un, eh?" Croix stepped forwards, standing directly in front of the man.

 

"Quite. These ladies are quite safe here with us. The Captain wouldn't have it any other way. Speaking of questions, that begs one of you...who are you and what business do you have with Captain Gaidal? Playing cards don't make for the most...conventional of messages." As Croix spoke, Chichiri gingerly made his way out of his hiding place and crept towards the man with twinkling eyes on the bag of Jelly Cactuars. Reaching a hand inside the offered bag, he dug around until he found a yellow one and smiled happily before popping it into his mouth with a gleeful squeak.

[Camille]

(Just a quick note Tyr, you're with Ryelle, not Elysia.)

 

Ryelle looked over the group with a faint smile, curiosity sparking slightly in her eyes. She swept a graceful curtsy and then passed the unopened bottle to the ranger.

 

"Thank you, Mister Reinard and crew, for your gracious hospitality. I'm Ryelle Lathal and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She went past them all to the window, giving Felix an coy smirk and wink as she swept past him, to look out over the octant with her arms crossed. She glanced over her shoulder at the unnamed interloper.

 

"As Mister Reinard said, after the unfortunate events at the Bismarck, questions would be inconvenient and probably lead to further misfortune." She frowned for a moment at the view, giving her head a small shake before turning back to the others and leaning against the window where she could watch over the harbor. "As for leaping into a nest of pirates being dangerous, I'm not a naive lass, nor is my associate and this crew does have a reputation worthy of some respect for their clemency. They also have an excellent view of everything, so a safe place to wait seems rather wise."

[Menoe Valkyria]

The Ranger took the bottle from Ryelle but left it unopened, and set it down on a nearby table.

"Vana Durga."nodding her head politely. "I thank you for your assistance back at the tavern and for your hospitality. Surely things will calm down quickly enough and I'm sure we will not trespass on it for too long. The uproar should die down soon enough..."

She gently stroked the back feathers of her hawk who examined every new face in the room and studied them intensely.

[Tyriont]

[Edited to correct, my bad!]

 

Croix smiled at Ryelle's words as Felix turned beet-red at her wink.

 

"I'm glad our reputation precedes us, the Captain will no doubt be glad of it. He does work hard to ensure that we're known as a more...benevolent group. I think he seems himself as something of a folk hero, truth be told...stealing from the large, evil corporations to strike a blow for the common man and all that. Idealistic fancy perhaps, but it works out well and keeps a decently sized portion of the general population on our side. Besides, I get the feeling that Vana's avian companion there would keep us in check" he said with a chuckle, watching as Epilleve crouched next to Vana with a child-like grin on her face before reaching out to try and pet the hawk. "As for the view...that's another thing you can thank the Captain for. I wish I could say he picked it out for the strategic value, as it certainly has a decent amount of that. But no...he fancies himself as something of a romantic, I'm afraid. He chose this location because he likes sitting and watching the couples down in the Octant by the moonlight." Croix jumped slightly as a chunk of carrot hit him in the back of the head.

 

"Don't be such a jerk, Croix" Hana said, waving the knife menacingly. "Sorry about him. Doesn't have a romantic bone in his body, it's all battles and plans with that one. Makes him an effective First Mate, but I swear I'll never understand what Salaah sees in him." She shook her head and went back to chopping the vegetables.

[Renaise]

Doc grinned at the group's defence of themselves, "Excellent, had to be sure you understand." Doc smiled as Chichiri picked out a yellow jelly cactuar. "Fine choice! They are excellent." When Doc was certain no one else would be taking up his offer of sweets he placed them back into his bag. "It certainly makes my job easier to see that you are at least noble in your intentions. But you are right, It is perhaps, not the most conventional of messages. However it adds to the mystique don't you think?"

 

Doc reached into his bag again and produced another card, this time with a lone figure pictured on it surrounded by stars. "This was mine, It's an invitation of sorts, well by 'of sorts' I do in fact mean it is an invitation. It comes from a friend of mine, well... by friend I would say someone I've known for the last year or so, hardly any time at all really. However he is convinced that he needs to find your Captain there..." Doc points to the card in Wandering Lion's possession which bares a figure of a pirate on it, quite similar to the likeness of the captain himself. "Quite how my friend came to know of your Captain... or even myself come to think of it, I haven't quite worked out... yet... but curiosity will keep me here, at least until then. In the mean time, I've been assigned the task of tracking a few people, with mixed results I must say, some are most... difficult to find."

[GaelicWarlord]

Valthizar heaves heavily as he approaches the set of steps that lead to the den. Behind him on a cot he dragged across the ground, was a wounded man, masked by a cloak, and covered in blankets. He lowered him to the ground slowly and moved up the steps, and as he reached the top door, he did the succession of raps that was the secret password, and unlocked the door with a key. He looks in the entry way and hollers in. "Ey!... some'n ge' off their arse and come ou' 'ere an' give me a hand!" His voice was destinctive, as was his accent, he was hyurian, but not of Eorzea by birth. The rest of the crew could easily figure out it was Val. Val ran back down the stairs to the man who was laid out upon the cot which now rested on the ground. "Alrigh' fella... we'll get ya' good in no time, we will."

 

He looked up the steps to see if anyone was coming to answer to his call.

[Menoe Valkyria]

((i'm afraid i have some bad news everyone, my laptop screen just cracked cause i stupidly had it too close to the edge, this was my only computer. right now i have a spare monitor hooked up to the laptop, but i dont have a stable safe place to continue to use it like this. I'm afraid i'll have to go on hiatus for now. Casi please feel free to write me out. I'm so sorry guys hope i can get a new computer but might be very difficult...))

 

Vana quickly and quietly slipped out of the lair while everyone else was distracted.

[Camille]

"Well, speaking as the large, evil corporation, I'm sorry the common man feels the need to lash out. Though I'm not sure it counts as heroism unless you give everything away... Anyway, when romantic idealism meshes with strategic benefit, then everyone is happy." Ryelle watched the odd man withdraw a card from his bag, leaning forward slightly, but not leaving the view from the window.

 

"What is it an invitation to and who exactly are you tracking, if I might ask? And how did he get the images for..." She stopped and looked towards the door as someone rapped, then opened it and shouted something barely intelligible. "Even more company?" She leaned back as the ranger slipped past the new Hyur, uncrossing and recrossing her arms in discontent. She'd have to find the ranger again at a later date now and the business of the evening was set back severely. Waiting for the ship before getting to business had been a mistake. Waiting for the ship in a den of pirates was also probably a mistake, though she doubted they'd try to raid the ship once it was in port.

[Tyriont]

Croix moved quickly, recognizing the voice of one of the crew's contacts in the city. Signalling for Wandering Lion and Felix to accompany him, the three dashed down the stairs to see the wounded man lying on a cot next to Val. Following Croix's barked directions, Wandering Lion and Felix each lifted an end of the cot carefully, being certain not to jostle the man as they cautiously made their way up the stairs and back into the den. Once inside, they settled the cot down in the middle of the room.

 

"Hana, Tera, bandages! Epi, sort through the racks and find the strongest stuff we have - these wounds need to be cleaned out." He knelt next to the man and began examining his wounds. "Don't worry, friend. You're in good hands." He glanced up at Ryelle and Doc, shooting a gaze between the two of them. "Do either of you have much in the way of medical experience? All I know is basic treatments and I get the feeling this poor sod will need more than my skills." While the rest of the crew bustled around readying supplies for treatment of the man, Wandering Lion took up position next to Val and watched the commotion.

 

"We be 'avin' a busy night an' no mistake, mate. Wha' be t'story wi' this one, eh Val?"

[Renaise]

Doc frowned at the sight of the injured stranger and nodded to Croix. "I have more than enough..." Doc took a few different vials from his bag, handing one over to Croix. "Use this on the wounds, it will disinfect and help the flesh bind together more easily," Doc poured a few different liquids into the empty bottle he had picked up earlier and shook it vigorously. "Someone raise his head so I can tip this down his throat. He isn't going to like the taste that's for sure but he'll thank us in the morning. Or he wont it doesn't matter, but at least he'll still be alive not to thank us." Doc took a whiff of the concoction inside the bottle and winced. "Needs some mint... oh well, next time... Once you get his wounds dressed I know a few curative magics that should at least put him in the right direction between dead and not dead. So look alive people lets get this done." Doc grinned with a twinkle in his eye.

[GaelicWarlord]

Val looks down at the wounded man, a crazy smile coming upon his face. "Quite a story I'll tell ya!... heard talk among the watch this here bastard set the Bismark ablaze and killed ol' One-Eye's lil brother. Bloody-helluva death wish if ya' ask me. Didn't seem ta resist the guards in the slightest... as ifin' he wanted ta' go to jail. Can't expect he thought better of gettin' out alive though. Heard talk that One-Eye came ta' meet with tha' ol Watch Cap'n 'imself. Figures he's got the watch under 'is thumb... Anyway... looks like he was stuck... pretty bad, but by luck, I think he'll make it... Anyway... mighta wanna restrain 'im or somethin. Quack's got a screw loose... better ta keep 'im from hurtin' himself, or anyone else. Figured we could get some juicy tid-bits from 'im... No one's dared ta' mess with One-Eye before until those lot who started that fight in the bismarck, and o'course this feller... but I'll be... killin the man's brother. I don't know if he realizes what he did... or ifin' ol One-eye an him go back... but they're both highlanders ya' know... so I figured he'd know somethin. Sides... we've been tryin' ta find away to get aroun' One-Eye anywho... or put 'im in a lesser place. Maybe this fella knows somethin." He heads back to the entrance and closes the door, reaching for the sack and a weapon wrapped in linen cloth for travel. "An' I got ya' a present... Shocked tha' piss outta' me when I touched it... but it was too good ta' leave behind..." Valthizar looks to Croix and with a gloved hand removes a black steel Nodachi, some spots with dried blood on it, though it looked like it was cleaned rather poorly recently. There was a unique gem that was incrested in its intricate hilt, that pulsed a blue glow, as did the runes. As soon as Valthizar touched it with his gloved hand the glow of the jewel and the runes faded into darkness. "Some wicked poker this is... but I wouldn't touch it without holdin' somethin if I was you..."

 

 

Val looks at the Doc as he comes up with supplies, among other things. He rests the unique sword against the wall and goes rummaging through Doc's supplies. Among the supplies Val finds a bottle of what looked like to be liquer of some sort. "Thanks, Doc." Instead of treating the wounded man, he raises the bottle to his lips, rips out the cork with his teeth and takes a long swig and spits it out everywhere. "What the piss is this?!"

[Renaise]

"What the piss is this?!"

 

"Exactly right... Aldgoat urine." Doc snatched the bottle and his bag off of the man. Careful with this bag, it doesn't really like to be treated like that, anyway...." Doc reached again into his bag for another bottle and handed it to the man. "Better wash that down with some rum, no woman is going to want to kiss you with Aldgoat urine breath." Doc paused for a moment in thought. "Well at least no woman it would be wise to associate with. Either way, restraining wont be necessary, that stuff is strong enough to send our large friend here," Doc patted Wandering Lion on the shoulder, "To dream land for at least a day and night, so it should work just as well if not better with this chap."

[Camille]

Ryelle shrank back against the window at the sight of the highlander, disgust and fury flickering across her face. Turning away, she regained a composed frown and edged to the corner. She kept the window in the periphery of her view but eyed the exit. She seemed to relax slightly when he mentioned the liquid would knock the wounded man out. She moved alittle further from teh highlander and watched Doc work.

 

"You're certain he'll remain unconcious?" She murmured, before clearing her throat and repeating it more clearly. "It would be rather unfortunate if he set another building on fire."

[Renaise]

Doc tilted his head and looked at Ryelle curiously. "Quite sure, a whole day at least, possibly a little longer. However I doubt our wounded friend here has the energy or the ability to start a conversation in the state he is in, let alone another fire. We could have a couple of the crew here stand at the ready with several large buckets of iced water just in case." Doc chuckled and smiled warmly. "No need to worry, I'm usually sure what I am doing." Doc said with a sense of reassurance in his voice before getting back to work.

[GaelicWarlord]

Eye's the bottle as it is taken away from him and glares at the Doc with Mock agrivation. "Oh, tha's cruel......" He glances at the other bottle much more warily this time around and lifts it to his nostrils before taking a swig, and swishing the substance around in his mouth. His eyes land upon Ryelle and winks with an ornery smile. "Who's tha' pretty?"

[Tyriont]

Croix watched the events unfold with mild curiosity. He had a feeling that the old man working on the patient was telling the truth when he said he knew what he was doing, though he seemed to have a twisted sense of humor. Hana and Tera had finished their preparations and were crouching next to Doc, bundles of clean, steamed linen torn into strips to be used as bandages. His mind was racing...Val had certainly brought them something interesting if the man really was involved with One-Eye...the story made sense, Croix did vaguely recall seeing someone looking like this man during the brawl. One-Eye...he'd been a problem for the crew for quite some time now. Very much the opposite viewpoint to their own group, that man was rumored to rule his criminal empire with an iron fist, thinking nothing of employing blackmail and exploiting innocents. If this man would be able to provide some sort of information that would help against One-Eye's lot he would be useful indeed. His attention was caught by Val's inquiry and he noticed Ryelle glancing towards the exit.

 

"Her name is Ryelle. She was caught up in the blaze as well, helped me get out. Some kind of trader, evidently. We brought her here until things died down. Don't worry, Ryelle" he smiled kindly at her "he won't be able to start anything with us here. Besides...from what Val says, it sounds like he's got some trouble with One-Eye. As they say, the enemy of my enemy...he could prove useful to us. Regardless though, once the Doc here is done with him we'll make sure he's well restrained. We'll have quite the amount of questions for him..." His attention turned back to the nodachi resting against the wall. "Fascinating...this isn't a weapon that would be carried by some random thug. Whatever this man's issue with One-Eye is, he's got resources. You said One-Eye's brother is dead? Killed by this one?"

[Camille]

"Representative and... nevermind..." Ryelle's shrugged faintly and murmured, "Some sort of trader is fine. Though I'd be wary of making friends with every enemy of my enemy. The politics can get impressively complicated." She stopped watching the exit, arching a brow at Val before she returned her gaze to the window. "Do you often make a habit of tasting every medicine thrown your way?"

[GaelicWarlord]

"Right infront of the entire Militia... Like I said... this man is either crazy, or has a bloody deathwish... I just don't get it... ifin' he wanted to kill one-eye, why'd he not run away?... Seems like a bloody waste of opportunity to just throw in the white flag, when it was almost certain they were gonna kill 'im... I'd like ta' give the bloke some bloody credit, cause he doesn't look like the usual village idiot... but uh... kinda stupid if ye' ask me."

 

Val takes another swig of the substance and looks over to Ryelle and nods curtly. "Pleasure ta' meet ya' miss." He shrugged at her words. "I won't lie... it's been a problem. But ey', it serves its uses. Ol' Croix here has me taste most of his food and drink in case of any assassination attempt." He smiles widely and rather stupidly. "Lucky for me, none of it has been poisoned yet... but don't tell him I'm swindlin him!" He says loudly smirking over at Croix.

[Tyriont]

Wandering Lion laughed at Ryelle's words, moving over to slap her roughly on the back. "Ain't no need t'worry 'bout politics, lass! Jus' punch 'em in t'face, seems t'work ou' fer me!" He took another swig of rum and sat down on the floor next to her. Croix shot Val a wry grin.

 

"Quite. Of course, don't tell Val that I have Hana whip up special plates just for him that have...extra ingredients added." He crouched next to the wounded man and examined him intently. "Kills One-Eye's brother, then surrenders...just who are you?" He glanced up at Val. "Did anyone see you get him away? I imagine that One-Eye will be coming down in this poor sod with full force once things settle down a bit. Granted, he's in no position to be moved any time soon...but I'd rather avoid getting into a full scale war against him." From the corner, Chichiri gulped nervously.

 

"A...war? With One-Eye?" he shuddered. "Scary..." Epilleve moved over and ruffled the tiny pirate's hair playfully.

 

"Don't worry, Riri!" she beamed, trying to encourage him. "Val's, like, stealthy! Besides, even if anyone did see him then Croix and Ty will figure it out! You know how all crazy smart they are when they think together!" Her words were bouncy and enthusiastic, seeming quite out of place amongst the roughness of the rest of the crew. Chichiri smiled up at her somewhat weakly.

 

"I guess...I guess you're right. I'll try to be brave." He folded his arms and tried to look serious, resulting in an expression that looked more comical than intimidating.

[Camille]

Ryelle staggered forward, catching herself on Felix's arm. She straightened and leaned back into her post. "Worrying over politics is part of the job." She lifted her left hand to her chin thoughtfully.

 

"I'd always assumed every pirate crew paid dues to One-Eye and the other underlords to avoid trouble, like the smaller corporations. I know we pay more than some to the Admiralty because of our Consortium's connections, but less since losing a place in the Syndicate..." She looked across at the highlander with a nod. "Your Captain sounded like the type to risk a skirmish to get him away personally for the heroics, rather than pay or pander. How long would you guess you have until trouble knocks at the door?"

[Tyriont]

Felix nodded, unable to look straight at Ryelle but instead staring at his feet and blushing. "That's right, Miss. Not just the Captain though, none of us feel right bowing down to One-Eye, that we don't. Most of them pay dues to him, that's true...but there's those of us who won't submit so easily, no we won't. It's part of why we're still a smaller crew even after so many years. We've talked about openly opposing him before, trying to bring it down...but there's only so many of us. He has a lot of flunkies and most of us...we're not enough. We can hold our own on a raid, that we can, but we're seafarers by trade. A war against One-Eye would be fought in the city...that's not even considering how many innocent townsfolk would be killed during a fight." Felix shook his head sadly. "Truth is, most of us are pretty much on par with a run-of-the-mill adventurer...there's only the Talons of the Phoenix that'd be capable of doing much against him and even they'd be overwhelmed. That's the other reason we use this place...the outer wall is nigh-impossible to climb and the stairway is tall and narrow, so it's easy to defend, that it is."

[Camille]

"I see." Ryelle frowned and stared out the window once more. "What about the highlander's friend? The one with the greataxe and black hood. He wasn't arrested and he's most likely still near the Bismarck, so he could probably be found without too much trouble. Perhaps he could explain why the patient seems to have something personal against One-Eye." Her eyes lit up suddenly and she brushed Wandering Lion's shoulder. "Is there a spyglass I could borrow?"