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Cadil
with Unalmis, at Cadil's home, On the Eve of Erulaitalë
@Ercassie

While it might have been possible to assume that Unalmis was exaggerating the whole matter of being followed, Cadil did not view it so after what had been happening. At least the girls were out of the harm's way for a while, or so he assumed by the description of their shelter. However, he was glad that he did not have to go to the headquarters right away.

"Well, I am prone to getting scrapes and cuts," he shrugged and offered a small grin when Nal commented on his experience of finding plantain. That has been one of the simplest ways to handle small injuries he had learned and found very useful. "Who knows how healers call it officially... probably something complicated and fancy sounding," he remarked with a small grin. Once the leaves were handed over, he balanced on one foot in turns to remove the leather slipper and collect the socks to give Nal. "Don't worry about bloodying these up," he said. "They are not the first freshness, though I did put them on only this morning and have not managed to get them too dirty yet."

When he had offered up the socks, Cadil grabbed Nal's outstretched hand in a firm grip, and then lightly brushed off the mud along the side of his trousers.

"You make sure to stay safe, and then we can talk about taverns, all right?" he flashed another grin, though the words and the meaning behind them were quite serious. "And guard those feet of yours, you only have two of 'em, y'know."

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis had chosen not to respond when Arnyn raised the matter of Shamara’s arrest at Midsummer. It was not a deliberate discourtesy. But whatever Arkadhur had been doing at that time, let alone why, the Umbarian showing up had proved the very opposite of ‘help’ to the young man and his friends. The Lieutenant had previously revealed that the man was supposedly ‘tailing’ Relic’s accomplice. But the fact that the Umbarian had shown up at the same place and time as not only Shamara, but Trevadir as well, was a hard thing to avoid. Even when there were so many questions already to be explored.

“I’m fairly sure Abrazimir knows by now that ‘Lord Hollin Menilzir’ is really an Umbarian called Arkadhur,” Nal assured the Lieutenant, when she seemed uncertain. “I told them on the ‘Scythe’, well, I tried to tell Isys. Gael must have later told them the same thing. And while I can’t be sure if Abrazimir and my cousin have spoken about Lord Heledir’s very probable murder, still the Knight must suspect something enough for his own sake, to have agreed to transport the prisoner back to Dol Amroth. It certainly wouldn’t have been for Arkadhur’s health, or to help the guy escape.”


Unalmis poked a finger through his own pastry, and then glanced up guiltily as though he hadn’t done, or as though his grandmother had returned from beyond the grave to chide him for it. Trev’s grumble, about Arkadhur’s current disappearance, had clearly taken Arnyn’s focus off the matter of the Slaving circuit. Or just some ways down a new avenue of conspiracy about that clan. And Unalmis avoided glancing at either his friend or his Lieutenant, when Trevadir explained how he’d suspected, from the start, that transporting the Umbarian prisoner by ship could allow for Devedir to intervene at sea.

“The ship could still dock,” he agreed with the Lieutenant, though his mind had by now fallen toward Trevadir, in a hope to reassure his friend as much as the Officer. He wanted Trev to be wrong, wrong about that greatest of fears being proved as fact. But at the same time Nal did not exactly want to point out that Trev must in fact be wrong. For his friend was so vulnerable these days about people failing to believe him. Stuck in the middle did not even come close to the young Ranger’s predicament right now and delicacy wasn’t exactly his strength. But he tried regardless.


“Trev may have immediately suspected that transporting a prisoner by ship was a precarious play, but that’s because he knew full well what the Ass has done before,” the young Ranger put in, explaining for and almost apologetically to his friend. “Still, it was a proper official ship,” he rationalised, “the like of which has always been used to extricate prisoners from this end of Gondor to that, without risking countless ambush possibilities along the road else. And yes,” he conceded without taking pause to allow for the protest to be aired, “the Ass has a Swan ship so he might have a better chance than another corsair at even coming close to the guarded vessel without drawing immediate fire,” Nal was expectant for Trevadir’s concerns, having already debated this particular issue with his friend through most of the night, since he’d shared the unsettling news. And wished he never had.

“But for all we know Abrazimir may have only put out word that the prisoner was travelling by ship, deliberately, in order to bait the likes of Uhta or the Ass into a trap of his own.” This hope, at something of a far reach might have been evident in the young Man’s tone. Still he would not be put off. “Or maybe they’re only delayed in arriving at Dol Amroth because they’re having to drag in the now captured corsair ship with them. After it's failed attempt at stealing what was on board ?” he shrugged. “It’s all a lot of maybes and not much more besides. All we know for sure is that the Prince’s ship is late,” he concluded, to confirm that much. “Isys promised she’d send word as soon as she found out any actual details beyond that.”


The young man poised on the cusp of prompting the conversation to return to the matter of slavers themselves. That was, after all, not a subject anyone would willingly wish to discuss, and certainly his friend required this, albeit brief, intervention. Engaged in properly taking apart and then consuming his own pastry, apparently unconcerned, Unalmis refrained for long enough to think. And to allow for Arnyn’s decision to comfort and counsel the musician in the meantime. It made Unalmis smile to behold that kindness, despite the circumstances which made it necessary. And he watched to see if the Lieutenant’s thoughtful consideration had managed to touch base with his paranoid (deservedly, of course) friend.

“She’s not wrong,” he put in, for Trev to note. “I know you’ve become used to seeing the Ass always get his own way. But he wouldn’t want you to be sat here, home, would he ? And that’s proof. Because here you are. He doesn’t always get his way, Trev. It’s your turn.”

@Pele Alarion

Having accepted Cadil’s offered socks, fresh off the other young man’s feet, it was impossible for Unalmis not to break a smile at the entire circumstance. “I can not tell you .. what this means to me,” he managed, albeit gratefully. As his generous benefactor stopped to wipe away the mud he’d gotten on his hand in return.

“Right,” Nal agreed, stowing both the socks and second pair of boots in his bag with the precious herbs. He was going to need both hands free to get back over the wall and he couldn’t afford to drop any of the precious resources he’d gathered thus far. Readied, the ‘unexpected guest’ glanced down between them, and wiggled his toes in the cold grass. Already his feet felt a little better. But he was going to feel the full benefit of the plaintain tonight before booting up for the Guard interview the next day. He just had to get back to the girls before either of that.

“Get yours inside before they fall off from the cold,” he suggested. “And remember your word,” he bade Cadil. “I’ll see you,” he promised, as a farewell. And he meant it.

Taking his leave, Unalmis set off, feeling better about his friend’s chances now. Forewarned was foreamed, after all. But was it four knocks he must make to be readmitted at the sanctuary, or only three ? He’d remember by the time he got there, probably.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trev lightly squeezed the last bit of his pastry, causing some of the filling to ooze out. He was thinking while he slowly licked up the glob of filling just before it fell out onto the table or something, then popped the rest of the pastry in his mouth. Chewing provided a little more time to think. While he was definitely not the most knowledgeable sailor, he'd been on the ship a few years and had learned plenty about sailing, including what sort of things might cause such delay. He had already mentally run through all the possible ideas, when Nal told him the news, but he went through everything he could think of again, now.

Both Arnyn and Nal offered possible solutions for what could have delayed the ship, and yet he couldn't help but feel it wasn't any of those things. "They'd have to all catch something almost at the same time that took effect quickly," he mentioned in answer to the first suggestion. "Just going from Harlond to Dol Amroth doesn't take that long, and they wouldn't have to go far from shore." He pointed out.

The next idea, about Arkadhur being enslaved, almost seemed laughable. "I very much doubt Arkadhur is the sort of guy who wouldn't manage to talk his way out of something like that. His enemies are mostly here in Gondor. In Minas Tirith, in fact. Me, and Nal. And Cali. And Iole." He glanced at Nal, then back to Arnyn. "Probably Nardy, too. But I know I haven't attacked the ship, and Nardy wouldn't have, if I know anything about him." He shrugged, and folded his arms, almost sullenly, as Nal went on to repeat some of the 'debate' they'd partook in the night before.

"If they'd captured Dev's ship, why wouldn't they just sail it back with them, instead of towing it? A ship that size ought to have enough men to spare. And it wouldn't take this long even if they were towing it." He pointed out, trying not to sound too argumentative, but he couldn't help it. He was very skeptical about all the other possibilities that Nal, and now Arnyn, had suggested, but had no proof to back up his own instinctual hunch about the matter.

As the lieutenant addressed him again, speaking about Dev, Trevadir turned his attention back to her, and nodded slowly. At least she wasn't just dismissing that it could happen, but he still wasn't quite reassured about the matter. But, when she mentioned not staying in his shadow, Trev couldn't help a little smile at the way she worded it. And then Nal spoke up, pointing out how that Dev hadn't got his way in everything. He looked over to where Nal sat, dissecting his pastry, and gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "He tried to destroy our friendship, too," He mentioned quietly, as a small way of admitting Nal was right in that statement. Thankfully, that disaster had been averted, but he still felt a lingering resentment toward the pirate for bringing it about. And a bit of guilt and frustration at himself, for believing his lies and allowing himself to be manipulated like that.

Unfolding his arms, Trevadir let out a slow, silent sigh as he laced his fingers together and rested both on the tabletop. "Well, anyway. That's what I think happened. I hope I'm wrong. I really do." He shrugged, and then looked around for his lemonade. Seeing he'd left it on the windowsill earlier, he rose from his seat again to retrieve it. "As for what you asked about earlier," He added with a glance toward Nal, hesitating as he returned to his seat, drink in hand. "I don't really know much about that end of things." He frowned, thoughtful. "I mean, I suppose with her out of the picture, those others," he nodded toward the list he'd given Arnyn, "will just have all that much more chance to buy what Dev and others are bringing to the auctions."

He took a slow sip of lemonade, though it wasn't as cool as it had been, having sat in the sun for a few minutes now. "Dev usually sent me off on.. an errand.. when he was doing that stuff," He said, hesitant to bring up the temple just yet, "or he'd keep me out of the way on the ship. But he brought me along with him a few times. Usually, as a.. threat." He shifted slightly, uncomfortable to bring that up, but he didn't intend to keep it secret, if it came up. "So, I know the usual procedure," He concluded, looking at Arnyn. She might find this useful.

"After Pharak and Keket had taken their pick of what Dev had brought, he'd take the rest to the.. marketplace, there in Umbar." he explained. "They do auctions all the time, seems like. Dev brings his 'haul' there, and there's an auctioneer to do the uh, promoting and all that. Then when the bidding is over, the buyer'd come over and pay Dev or whoever is representing him. So, he or one of the main officers of the ship is usually standing around waiting while all that's going on, until the last captive has been sold. I know Relic would often buy from him, but I only actually met her once." he shivered a bit. "That was more than enough. After that..." He toyed with his glass, as if trying to make it sit in the exact center of the 'coaster' from earlier, while he tried to think how to proceed. Remembering how the lieutenant had assured him that he didn't have to describe Keket's torture methods, he figured she might feel the same about this. He merely finished up with, "it's... best not to go into too much detail."

After a moment's pause, he thought of something. "Did I give you a list of all the officers on the ship?" he was sure he'd made one up, but didn't recall having included it in what he had given Arnyn earlier. Knowing who was who on the ship would surely be helpful in taking them out, so he had intended on making sure that information was passed on to where it would be useful.


(edit: correcting the usage of a name)

When Sorrela introduced herself he gave her a polite nod, needing no further explanation as to her service. He could see she was a member if the City Guard. He only turned from her as Cali checked with him about how long he was to guard her. Once more he nodded his head in confirmation. He'd been ordered to guard her.
He stood quietly as they spoke between themselves.

When he heard lole mention the back door key he inwardly winched. He'd make sure that was fixed quickly and that they each got a new key. However when the conversation turned to the who reason Cali needed a guard in the first place he focused his attention on the two women. Shortly Sorrel went to leave and suggested using something more mundane to Cali to defend herself he muttered under his breath. "Like a mouse trap." He flexed his sore fingers in memory.

The City Guard was leaving and now lole was excusing herself also to go lie down in her room. He waited for the others to leave before speaking up. "If you want to head up and get some rest I'll stay till Nal gets here. I don't mind. " He hoped she would feel comfortable enough now with her friend home to actually get some rest.

Cadil
with Unalmis, at Cadil's home, On the Eve of Erulaitalë
@Ercassie

"Not a big deal, Nal," Cadil shrugged off the gratitude expressed, though a smile lingered on his face. He had a plenty of socks at home, and handing off a pair to his friend did not do much harm to those provisions. But he figured he might as well have given it away even if it was his last pair, since Nal was in a worse situation either way and needed his feet soothed to be effective.

He watched as his friend made preparations by putting everything in his bag. "Well, you make sure to keep your own skin in one piece, and that of the others, I won't drop my end of the bargain. Promise," Cadil spoke solemnly, the warm and somewhat silly grin now replaced with seriousness. He had still to grasp the full scope of what all it meant, but perhaps it was better done indoors, feet propped up towards the warmth of the fireplace, and sipping from a mug of ale, unless his parents made a scene out of it.

He still stood a while, wiggling his toes in the patch of grass, and looked at the wall once Unalmis had gone up and over it. Eventually he sighed and turned to head back into the house.

"Go figure..." he muttered to himself, locking the door behind him and venturing further into the kitchen to look for something delicious.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Now that Trevadir had explained more about how the slave auctions went - a term she could hardly fathom even existed anymore - she figured (or perhaps hoped) that the topic of slavery was, more or less, at an end. "How is it Men can be so cruel toward one another..." The words were spoken in quiet disbelief. Avoiding Trevadir and Unalmis' gaze, she watched her cup of coffee instead. "I have seen much. So I know it is part of life. But I do not understand why someone would be so cruel to a person who has never done them harm. Someone they do not even know. And I hope I never do."

Trevadir's question came at an opportune time. "No, you did not," she replied to his query. "You spoke of a Jay, a Rurik, a Borim... a Grisly. A Scar? But you did not mention anything about officers, I think. Or not that I wrote down, at least," she nuanced her own statement immediately. "The ones you mentioned earlier are not Devedir's main men, then?" She had assumed as much. But was now faced with the notion that assumptions were not always correct. On the other hand... she already asked so many questions. Sometimes, it seemed like there was no way to win.

As for Arkadhur, the knowledge that Isys was obviously trying to find out more while she was in Belfalas, was more or less comforting. Arnyn was unsure whether to ask these young men for the information, should it arrive. They had clearly assumed that she'd been in the know, while she had not been. And she was confident that if Isys had told Pele anything, Pele would have told her in turn. Which she had not. Therefore, Pele did not know either. Unless her friend would surprise her enormously with the contrary.
As such, the Lieutenant was faced with a dilemma. Either to admit that the command had been left entirely clueless, and perhaps in doing so, also admit to some sort of lack of proper leadership on their part. Or to admit nothing of either sort, and to miss out on the information altogether. Unless... unless she could convince herself that Isys would send any discoveries along to headquarters, despite not having mentioned it before her departure for Lond Col. The hope for this last option was definitely present. Could Arnyn turn that hope into trust?

The Lieutenant remained silent for a while.

She cleared her throat. "What I would also like to know is... You said Arkadhur blamed someone else for all the charges the City Guard had on him. Who did he blame? What happened to this person?"

@Rillewen @Arnyn


Since Trevadir seemed to remain convinced that the Ass was responsible for everything that was even only potentially a problem … and fair play to him, for the evidence to back this up was sadly overwhelming, there was, regardless, little point that Unalmis could see in continued debate about the missing ship. So he’d bitten his lip rather than suppose aloud that some epic sea battle might have damaged either one of the theoretical rival vessels so that the greater would have to tow in the – hopefully dishevelled – lesser craft. He’d shaken his head silently, slowly, at the very notion of Warder leading an assault on Prince Imrahil’s mighty transport. Abrazimir .. he might have privately thought perhaps would be more likely, given the Lord’s legendary prowess at sea, but still there was no motive there to justify such a thing from the Swan Knight. Personally, the young Ranger did prefer the image which Arnyn had planted, of the Umbarian falling foul of his own nefarious countrymen or their ilk. Now that, .. that would be justice.


The grin which Nal had granted Trev, on mention of their surviving friendship, despite all of the Ass’s best efforts, did pale a little as the slave trade soon after dominated the conversation. And the still infant imagining of even an Umbarian enemy in such a state of being was close to guilt-ridden by the Lieutenant’s sad recall. That slavery was a crime against all humanity.

Unalmis was very grateful not to have experienced any firsthand observation of the horrific trade, beyond what Gael and Trevadir had told him. He had never been thrust unto the kinds of horror which his friend was now relaying to the Lieutenant, although the inescapable link to Relic herself, brought it all a little too close to mind on who exactly the nefarious sorceress had been, and all that she had used to have a hand in. He had never been more glad that she were at an end, and glanced at least once toward the room where the courageous Cali was (hopefully) resting up with cat cuddles, rather than propped with crutches up against the door and a glass to her ear to listen to all that was being shared.


As his friend and his superior called out between them the Ass’s known crew members, Nal settled back in his seat and tried to rather discreetly wipe his fingers of their pastry crumbs, upon the coaster thing. This involved manipulating his coffee offside of it’s little seat, which took concentration if he was not to knock it over.

And then Arnyn asked, about who Arkadhur had blamed, or else framed, for all the crimes he had been accused of, here in the city. One hand jerked abruptly against his cup, even as the other saved it from spilling over. To be honest, it was no longer near filled any more anyway. Unalmis decided to quash any thoughts of venturing an answer to that once, as he raised and supped from the remaining coffee as an alibi to his fidgeting. Trev did not require any help from him in relaying the foulness of their long-time foe. The young Ranger was still rather coming to terms with the greater knowledge that his friend had clued him in on since returning. And, as had been the case with the Ass, Unalmis had held a somewhat low enough opinion of the man in question, even beforehand.

@Isolde Alarion @Ercassie

“You should have stayed home today,”

The words were very true, of course, and not very far off from what Mourgan and Aryn had said, if Cali recalled correctly. Although that felt like months ago, by now. It was hard to believe it had only been just that morning, when she spoke with the lieutenant. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered that Mourgan had given her something of importance, and subtly pressed a hand against the side of her leg where her pocket was, and felt the small lumps that rested there. What was it again? After a second or two, she recalled what it was; beans. For something. She'd think more about it later.

Listening as Iole went on to say that the place was now home, Cali's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and a small smile stole over her face. "Really?" She was quite happy with this news. "What an excellent use of time," She declared, a bit embarrassed to think of how worried she had been all this time. She accepted the keys and refrained from glancing toward Mourgan as Iole mentioned the key for the back door. "Yes, well," Cali pretended to be studying the keys, so as not to look at either Iole or Mourgan, or even Guard Korsey. "We will have to get all those traps out of the way, first."

As the guard then spoke up, declaring that something had actually happened, Cali looked up with trepidation, trying not to be alarmed by that, but she couldn't help being a bit worried. Before she had a chance to summon up any thoughts of her own about what this 'something' might be, Iole cleared up the matter with possibly the best news that there could be. Cali looked from the guard to her friend, blinking as she slowly slid the pair of keys into her other pocket. "He has?" She asked, slightly stunned. And unsure what to make of this. If he was arrested... before she could finish that thought, the rest of what Sorrela had said, sunk in. The weapon he used. The weapon? Ryn's dagger?! Cali's mouth opened slightly to hear this, startled, but she couldn't find any words to say, at the moment. The rest of what she said hardly registered, as her mind was reeling from this news.

Hearing the tone change, to imply the guard was preparing to take her leave, Cali swiftly found her voice again. "He's been in custody then, all this time? Since.. the other day?" She asked, as casually as she could possibly make it despite her anxiety to verify this fact.

When the guard explained that their attacker had been being questioned all day since before lunch, and that he had been officially arrested this evening, Cali nodded slowly, listening intently. Before that, it was confirmed that he was in Ranger Isys' custody all the previous day, and that she was the one who brought him to the Guard HQ this morning. Cali's gaze traveled over to find Mourgan, meeting his eyes for a moment. That meant, then, that he could not have been the one to steal the weapons from the armory, right? And Lieutenant Dealedwen was right, and now she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more worried than before. Turning back to the departing guard, Cali forced a small smile. "Thank you." She answered her. Belatedly, it registered that she had said something about coming in to identify the dagger, tomorrow. "I will come tomorrow then, early." She would even be willing to come tonight, right now, but she suspected that the people who needed to be there would have gone home for the night, by now.

The friendly 'advice' about using a skillet, rather than a knife, brought a slightly embarrassed smile. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you." She answered, fidgeting with the keys in her pocket. A skillet, or rolling pin... or traps. She barely caught what Mourgan had muttered, and bit her lip lightly. Yes, she still felt bad about that, but at least she knew that a real intruder would have very much regretted trying to break in. Although, the added bit about 'You might hurt the wrong person by mistake' was a bit more accurate than the guard would realize, and she looked down to avoid glancing in Mourgan's direction, at that point. Thankfully, he was alright despite her negligence in remembering those traps...

As Iole went to see her guard friend to the door, Cali sank down again on the couch, letting out a sigh as she tried to let all of this news sink in properly. Good, bad, and questionable. Now that she knew there was no threat, she took a moment to rub the lingering sleepiness from her eyes. Then she looked up again when Iole came back through, asking to be woken when Nal returned. "Wait, have you had supper?" Cali asked, realizing she was feeling hungry again by now. And it was probably at least supper time, if not well past that time.

"Oh, the landlady and her friend fed me so many cakes this afternoon, I couldn't eat a thing now, and may not need to all week in fact." Iole declared.

Cali smiled, glad to hear that she had at least been made comfortable. "Good," She nodded in satisfaction. At least she needn't worry about her friend going to bed on an empty stomach. "Sleep well." She smiled, biting back an addition of, 'Don't worry, if anyone tries to break in here, they'll seriously regret it.' Best not to worry Iole with the thought of anyone breaking in, just before she went to lie down for sleep.

Once Iole had gone off upstairs, Cali turned to Mourgan as he suggested that she could do the same if she liked. Cali shook her head with a little smile. "I've already slept for hours," She had no idea how many, but it was nearly dark now. "I'm alright. But," She stood up and stretched briefly, before dropping her arms down. "I am hungry. Are you? I thought I might make some supper? I figure Nal ought to be here any time. And if he's been training all day, he'll be hungry too. So, I'll make plenty," She decided. Picking up the kitchen knife, she headed for the kitchen with it, so she might return it to its place. Perhaps when Nal did come, she might ask him if he could possibly consider asking his father to come take a look at that door and how much cost and effort it would take to get it fixed.


(The snippets from Iole and Sorrela were added with permission from Ercassie, to help expedite things)

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@Arnyn @Ercassie
Hearing the lieutenant's words, about not understanding the cruelty some people managed to inflict on others, Trev fell quiet for a moment in silent agreement. Nodding slightly, he added a quiet, "Yeah, same." in reply, thinking of Dev, and how cold and calloused he could be, even toward his own son.

Clearing his throat softly, he sat back when Arnyn confirmed that he had not given her a list of the officers. "Right, sorry, I meant to. Where'd I put that?" he paused, but could not remember where he had hidden that paper. Under the couch cushions? Possibly. He didn't want to disturb Cali though. "Well, I can just tell you." he decided, leaning forward again. "No, those last four, they're just regular crewmen." He answered. "Obviously, the captain is Dev. I think you have plenty of information about him, but," He shrugged. "you can always ask for more if you need it." He smiled slightly. "Then there's Jay." Trev flipped to the wanted poster with his picture on it, and pointed him out. "He's the first mate, second in command." He laughed faintly. "Funnily enough, he's not really as familiar with ships as most of the others. He was originally a thief, burglar, and pickpocket. He's good at stealth and picking locks, that sort of thing. But he started working with Dev like, way back. I'm not even sure if I was born yet when they met. Dev apparently got him a job working on a cruise ship, picking pockets of the nobles, robbing their cabins, stuff like that, and then they'd split the profit.

"They parted ways for a while after their operation fell apart and they both were nearly caught. Then, when Dev stole his own ship, he invited Jay to join him. And he happened to be hiding out from the law, so, it worked out well for him." He explained. "So, anyway, he does a lot of the stealth jobs. Sneaking aboard another ship, disabling it, stuff like that. He was the one who came after me at the inn, the other night... and met Macardil instead." He shifted a bit uncomfortably at the memory, but he also couldn't help a faint smile of amusement as he pictured Jay's surprise at finding himself in that little trap. "He's also the one who taught me how to sabotage a ship." he added with a tiny smile. "So, he was the one most upset with me when I took that knowledge and used it against them."

He took a quick drink before continuing. "Next is the navigator." he hesitated. "Dev is pretty good at filling in for this job if he doesn't have anyone else to do it, but he does prefer to delegate to someone else if there's someone skilled enough to do it. Apparently, it's hard to find a good navigator who's willing to work for pirates." He explained quietly. "Last I was there, Dev had captured a guy from some merchant's ship, named Hûbion. He.. hasn't really given him much choice about staying on and working for Dev." He explained. "And, he's assigned a crewman to be his 'assistant' and sort of learn from him. But, I think it's mostly to keep him subdued and make sure he doesn't try to escape." He cleared his throat. "That guy's name is Dazon. He's.. mean. I don't know a lot of his history, just that he comes from Harad. There's a few of those mingled into Dev's crew, but they're in the minority."

"The next important officer on the ship is the Boatswain." he frowned. "I don't know how much you know about ships and all that, but, the boatswain's the guy who keeps everyone in line and dishes out punishments when people don't do what they're supposed to do." He explained. "He keeps charge of the provisions and all that, and basically keeps the ship.. shipshape." He smiled faintly at the wording, but the smile fell away quickly. "So, the guy with this role, he's.. well, everyone on the ship fears this guy." He took a breath, and flipped to another page featuring a large, muscular thug-looking guy, and pointed to him. "So, on Dev's ship, the original boatswain was named Samroth, and the assistant boatswain was named Da'mikr. And Samroth was definitely very intimidating. But.. just after the war, he and Da'mikr uh, got kicked off the ship. Quite literally," he added with a little grin. Trev couldn't deny that he'd been delighted to see him go. "Samroth and Dev had a... disagreement, and he tried to start up a mutiny, and Da'mikr supported Samroth's side." Trev paused, unsure how relevant this was, but, he continued anyway. "Samroth is still out there, somewhere," he motioned vaguely with one hand, meaning 'out in the world', not 'out in the city'. "I ran into him in Harlond, back in the spring." He added with vague wince at the recollection of the man's blow landing in his gut. "He... very much dislikes me."

"I'm not sure if that's anything you'd find useful. If not, you can disregard it," He shrugged, then paused for a moment to let Arnyn catch up any notes she was writing. "I think he's sailing with someone else now but I'm not sure who, or even if he is. His replacement on Dev's ship is a guy named Jarrek. He's pretty tough too. His assistant is named Kharayth. As far as I know, they're both loyal to Dev. The next guy in line is the weapon's master; the guy in charge of the ship's weapons, maintaining them, and making sure everyone on the ship knows how to use them, stuff like that." He hesitated, and decided not to mention having been made to train with this guy. "His name is Alrek, and he's pretty good with most weapons. I don't know much about his past, but I feel like he's had army training in the past." He shrugged, unable to tell anymore about that guy. He waited again, to let her catch up.

"Then there's the sailmaker, Havarr. He keeps the ship well supplied in backup sails," He made a face at that. "And he keeps the key to the chest where they're kept." He glanced at Arnyn, wondering if she recalled him saying he'd once tried shredding up the sails, and how useless that had been. "And the cook, Halvenor." He had little to say about him that would be useful to Arnyn. "The rest are more minor roles, and.. well, these guys are in the category of 'held against their will', but I'm not sure how much they might've given up, by this point." He explained. "The ship's carpenter, Galasson, and the healer, Nóruiven." He sighed. "They've both been there for years. And that's all of that list, so.. hopefully it's useful."

After having finished offering up this bit of information, Trev waited while the lieutenant finished up whatever she wished to write. A period of silence followed. He kept quiet, allowing the woman time to think and process the amount of information he had given her, and hoped that some of it would come to be useful in putting a stop to these people. He took a small sip of his lemonade, then noticed there was only a little bit left in the glass, and finished it off.

At last, Arnyn spoke again. Trev set his glass down as she asked her question, then sat still, catching his breath as that topic was finally broached. He'd known it would happen eventually. Had planned on making sure it was brought up. But now that it had, he wasn't sure he was ready. He sent a sidelong glance at Nal, who had just nearly knocked his coffee over. Seeing that his friend was 'busy' with taking a sip of his own drink, Trev failed to catch his eye, and therefore, concluded that Nal had no intention of offering up what he knew of the matter. So, it was left to Trev to explain about this. Even though Nal was the one who had told Trev this bit of information. He cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortable with how to even begin talking about this, with someone who didn't know, and didn't properly understand the levels of evil they were talking about here. He had no idea whether she would believe him, or if he could convince her he was not just making this up to get 'Rip' in trouble, over some old schoolyard grudge. It was way, way more than that.

He shifted in his seat, realizing the pause was growing longer, becoming awkward. "Um. Well," He dropped his gaze down to the table. "There's a guard, in the Watch." He began. "A lieutenant, by the name of Aderic Androllius." Under the table, his hands tightened into fists in his lap as he spoke the name of their enemy. "Arkadhur apparently told Abrazimir that.. this Lieutenant was behind it all. That he.. Aderic.. had murdered.. our friend. Cali's brother." He spoke that part with difficulty, fighting the emotions that threatened to rise up and choke him. "That he told Arkadhur to do... all that he did. Put him up to it, or coerced him, or something, I don't know the details," he glanced again at Nal. "Nal was the one who told me about it..." he mentioned. "Anyway, all I know, Androllius has apparently fled the city since these accusations came up?" He asked, checking with his friend whether that was correct or not. "But, um," he cleared his throat. "There's another.. more important matter I should probably get out of the way, before we uh, come back to that one. If that's alright?"

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Her notes were getting... out of hand. She would have preferred for them to be neater, certainly. Trying to ignore her own dissatisfaction with the way her paper detailing the information about Devedir and his crew was turning out, she wrote down Trevadir's belatedly supplied intelligence. Yet for all that it was given somewhat after the fact, and for the sorry state of her notes, the Lieutenant remained infinitely grateful about the openness Trevadir was displaying. It was a kindness. Not that he would know it as such. The way Cali and Trevadir were both so forthcoming to her, which in fact acted as a balm for the relationships she had botched with Duinion and Isys.

She did not miss Unalmis' jerked reaction to her latest question. But she allowed him the lack of a scrutinizing and questioning gaze, instead looking upon Trevadir calmly even as the man gave Unalmis a long look, as if waiting for something.

Something, as it turned out, which simply did not come.

Trevadir clearly shared Unamis' reluctance to speak of the subject. Arnyn resisted a frown. Instead she deposited her quill into the ink pot and returned to her coffee. It was about time to finish the cup, before the liquid lost much more of its warmth. She liked her coffee hot.

When Trevadir mentioned a guard in the watch, Arnyn's eyebrows shot up. Wait - did Arkadhur blame that Lieutenant in the guard Trevadir promised he would talk to her about today? The same guard Isys had told her Unalmis did not trust, but with whom the ranger had a personal history? Trevadir and Unalmis were close friends. The guard Unalmis would point out as crooked, may very well be the Lieutenant whom Trevadir wanted to address. Sure enough, when the young man continued to say he did mean a lieutenant, and then for the first time a name was finally given to this individual, it burned itself into Arnyn's mind. Aderic Androllius. Her dark eyes flicked to Unalmis then, unable to resist assessing the ranger at this point.

Her attention returned to Trevadir when his tone became emotional. She tried to fend off her own feelings at how Arkadhur had apparently told Abrazimir about this Lieutenant Androllius, and how it had not reached her own ears at all, even though it had reached Unalmis'. Isys, again, she assumed. But she shoved that down. Deep.

Arnyn drank deep from her coffee, until the empty cup was left staring at her with as much indignation as she felt. A guard. A guard Lieutenant. Involved so deeply? Could it be true?
It would be difficult to come to terms with such a thing. One of Gondor's own, not simply a civilian but a ranking officer in the Guard of Minas Tirith, no less? Something inside of her protested roughly. Vehemently. But she owed it to both Trevadir and Unalmis to listen, really listen - and keep an open mind. She had already been convinced there was a problem within the Guard, no matter how much that notion had shaken her and continued to shake her.

The Ranger Lieutenant took a slow, deep breath. Carefully, she put her cup down and pushed it away from her. "That is alright," she agreed, before taking one of the sweets that she had yet to dive into. This might be a good moment to keep herself occupied. "Go ahead."

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Now that it came to it at last, Trev felt a bit.. hesitant. He felt like he wasn't sure how to begin. To stall for a moment's time, he reached for the pitcher of lemonade and refilled his glass, slowly. Taking the time to think. He'd talked with Unalmis, during the past two weeks, about different things that he figured were sure to come up, trying to prepare his friend for this, as well as himself. He'd mentioned a few ideas on how it might be best to bring up this matter to the lieutenant when she came, but all of those ideas had fled from his mind, now. Partly because the conversation didn't play out exactly as he had expected. Oh well, that stuff happened.

He noticed that Nal appeared to be trying to keep his reactions minimal. He wasn't sure whether it would be that noticeable to Arnyn, but to Trev, who had known Nal since before they could talk, he could tell. And he understood. This was Rip they were about to talk about. He took a slow, deep breath, then took a sip of his fresh glass of lemonade before setting it down carefully. "So. I mentioned before that Pharak has this.. disciple," he began, deciding it would be best to just explain it the best he could. "I really don't know what else to call him. Acolyte? Apprentice? I.. don't know. But, anyway. He hangs around Pharak and the temple, I guess learning all about their 'religion' and how they do their sacrifices and all that horrible stuff. Pharak calls him 'Nâluthor'," He explained, making sure to pronounce it the way that Pharak had said it, so that Nâl- it would not be mistaken for Nal.

He fidgeted, his flute finding its way into his hands again, and realized that he might need to offer some explanation for how he knew so much about the temple's business. "I, um." He avoided glancing toward Nal again for now. "Dev used to make me go and deliver messages to Pharak, at his temple. And then I'd have to wait in case Pharak wanted to send a message back." He explained. "I hated it more than anything else, but Dev was.. insistent. And persuasive." He frowned, looking down at his lap. If she wished to know more about how Dev forced him to do things, he wouldn't withhold the information, but it wasn't pleasant to discuss. "Anyway. Many times when I would go there, Nâluthor would be there. He is.." He paused, struggling to find the words to describe how awful he was, to someone who did not know. "He's just a couple years older than I am, but he's.. very.. sadistic." That seemed the best way of putting it. "And he's also very enthusiastic about the stuff they do there, at that.. awful place." he shuddered slightly. "If Pharak hadn't kept him on a leash..." He cleared his throat. "well, the guy didn't try to hide the fact he wanted to torture me, or.. use me in their sacrifices." he took a deep breath.

Clearing his throat, he tried to get his nerves under control. "I saw this guy far more often than I'd like. He wasn't there every time I had to go, but he was there often enough to make me dread the very thought of going there. As if Pharak being there wasn't bad enough... Nâluthor would.. do stuff, just to intimidate me, like circling around me with a dagger in his hand, saying stuff... you know. Just.. trying to scare me." He swallowed and glanced up. "He would beg Pharak to let him 'play' with me. And then he'd say something like 'not yet, maybe next time, if the moon is right...' and so forth. And, well, between the two of them, I'm amazed I didn't just faint or.. something." he added with a slightly nervous laugh, trying to make it sound like a joke, but decided it wouldn't be polite to even joke about wetting oneself.

"Anyway. This.. Nâluthor guy, he has used Dev's ship to transport him places, too. Which was a nightmare for me, having him on board as a passenger. Pharak would sometimes send the creep on missions or something, I think, so he'd get Dev to take him wherever he needed to go, at times. And.. this guy gets a thrill out of tormenting me. Since he couldn't physically torture me, he'd find other ways to torment me..." He frowned. "Really, there is something seriously wrong with that guy. I bet he tortured kittens when he was a kid." Actually, he remembered, hadn't they had to rescue a kitten from 'Rip' at least once? He risked a subtle glance toward Nal at that point, but quickly looked back at Arnyn. "This guy is like, really dark, and evil, and cruel. It's like he thrives on cruelty and suffering. And he has a serious vendetta against me and my friends..." he took a slow breath and let it out a little shakily.

"In fact, I'm fairly certain that he was involved in helping Pharak kidnap Nal several years ago. Because of some stuff he said before when he'd be taunting me, which.. well like, he could only know certain things if he'd been there personally. You know? Besides..." he shrugged, "considering everything else I know about him, I have no reason to doubt he was there, taunting Nal just like he did me." He paused briefly to gather his composure before adding, "He also knew about our friend who was murdered. Ryn. And he would.. laugh about it. Like it was a joke, and he'd make comments like.. to belittle Ryn's memory." His hand tightened into a fist around his flute, as he dropped his gaze to try and hide the anger in his eyes. His jaw clenched as well, and he had to take a moment before he would be able to continue.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

The Ranger Lieutenant ate one of the sweets while Trevadir poured himself some more lemonade and while Unalmis nursed his coffee. She nodded when Trevadir said he'd mentioned Pharak's disciple before. He had. The squiggly line she'd drawn diagonally down from Pharak's name still led to an empty spot in her notes.

Nâluthor.

The name had been given. Although something gave her pause, for she did not yet reclaim her quill. Was it the wording? That Pharak 'called him' as such? Was it the way both Trevadir and Unalmis had become even more uncomfortable now the topic had shifted? The latter was not what she would have expected, at the least. Was it the strange way this topic had been broached; the unnatural way Trevadir had requested to wait with sharing information on the guard lieutenant to instead return to Pharak's disciple? Though, Arnyn would admit, it made more sense to first finish speaking of the Halsads and their allies before moving onto an altogether different topic. It seemed that Trevadir was jumping from one topic to the next, forward and backward, despite his extensive preparations. In all likelihood, she was simply overthinking the matter.

So this Nâluthor was only a few years older than Trevadir. That made Pharak's sadistic disciple younger than her. Had the cruelty already been passed along to the next generation, then? It should be no surprise, she thought grimly, glancing at Unalmis. For the Rangers were already passing along their own values as well, were they not?

Her brows drew together as she listened. This Nâluthor had clearly shaken Trevadir, and unbalanced him even now. She found herself wanting to offer some comfort, but with their limited acquaintance, she was not sure how best to tackle the endeavour. "That's heinous," she said quietly, noting the way Trevadir's hand tightened around his instrument after sharing the last bit. "But no matter how much he ridicules your friend or what happened to him... No one can take away Ryn's value or memory from you. Not unless you'd let them. And neither you nor Unalmis seem to me like the type to allow that to happen. Hence... other than being dark and cruel, this Náluthor is also - at least in part - a fool." The statement was firm. "It sounds to me that he enjoyed any attempts he could venture to manipulate you and your feelings." And judging from what she was seeing now... she wondered whether Nâluthor had obtained whatever it was he'd been looking for. Anger? So Trevadir might overstep?

Perhaps it would be best to try and distract Trevadir from the feelings this acolyte of Pharak's clearly summoned. "Where would you rate this disciple or acolyte on the... well, let's call it the Halsad scale? Given Keket was the absolute worst and Uhta the... lesser evil - while still obviously evil?" The Lieutenant blinked at her own words, hoping they made some sort of sense.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trev let out a small sigh and nodded quietly when Arnyn said that it was heinous. Indeed, he could think of a few other words for it, but that one fit well enough. He appreciated her words about how no one could take Ryn's memory, yet there was something else he felt necessary to add. "No, no one can take his memory away, but someone did take our friend away from us." He frowned and exchanged a glance with Nal. Ryn's murder had made it extremely personal.

The next moment though, he smiled vaguely at the lieutenant's comment that he was a fool. "We've been saying that for a long time," He muttered, but not loudly. He nodded to confirm that 'Nâluthor' enjoyed trying to manipulate his feelings. "He likes to antagonize people as much as he can. Me especially. Nal too," he shrugged. "Honestly, I think he just enjoys terrorizing people. He likes people to be afraid of him. He doesn't like when people stand up to him, and.." He sighed. "It's one thing to face him with friends at your back, but.. alone? And when he's got Pharak backing him up..." He dropped his gaze, sighing, leaving it unsaid just how difficult it was not to be frightened of the guy.

As she asked about where the creep would rate on the Halsad scale, Trev paused to consider that for about half a second. "I'm not sure that's a fair question," He said with a little smile, glancing up again. "I mean... I may be a bit biased. And he isn't actually a Halsad, but... honestly, I think he surpasses them all. In my own opinion, he's top of the list." He shrugged and glanced at Nal, wondering if he would have a different opinion. He looked back at Arnyn, figuring he should explain. "See... the triplets are all horrible in their own ways, but you gotta consider the fact that they were just born into that world. Pharak raised them. So, is it any wonder they turned out as they did?" He shrugged. "I'm not saying their deeds are excusable, just.." he tried to find the right words. "It's all they've been taught, all their lives. And Pharak.." He sighed.

"The guy is awful. He does horrible things to people. He even harmed Nal in the past, and I despise him for that. But like... it's his reasons for it that make him less awful than his disciple. Pharak... he's crazy enough to think that what he does will bring him favor from.. the one he worships." He frowned, hesitating as he chose his words carefully. "He's convinced that he has spared him for some purpose after he survived being burned alive." He shook his head slightly in slight astonishment. "The guy is.. absurdly devoted. He's even got this crazy notion he might even be able to revive.. him.. and somehow get him restored to his former power and everything." He shivered at the thought. "I really, really hope it's just a wild fantasy, but... the idea is terrifying." He explained.

"But.. Nâluthor?" Trev frowned deeply. "He chose to get involved in all that stuff. Not because he's all religious or anything, either. Just because he clearly enjoys it." He leaned forward again. "This guy is eager to help Pharak in his endeavors, thrives on other people's fear, gets a thrill out of seeing people suffer.. he begs Pharak to let him do the.. sacrificing stuff, and all that. Pharak is the one who kept him on his 'leash' when I was around, you know? He's just.." Trev struggled to find the right words, and finally gave up. "I can't even describe how awful he is. So yeah, I rank him far worse than any of the Halsads. He's worse than Dev, and Arkadhur, and.. anyone else I've ever encountered."

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Trevadir's answer made her wonder. Why had this Nâluthor made such a nemesis of Trevadir? Just because he brought messages to the temple and the man didn't like the way Trevadir looked at him? The same question rose about Unalmis. Why enjoy antagonizing them, especially? Arnyn reached for another one of the sweets, trying to figure out whether she could blame Trevadir's words on fear rather than reality. Perhaps Nâluthor scared Trevadir to such a degree that he could not believe the acolyte to be as cruel and manipulative to anyone else?

The musician admitted to being biased. The Lieutenant tried to see past that little smile. Past the shrug. Past the glance thrown Unalmis' way. The small delicacy she'd picked still held by three unmoving fingers. He would put this Nâluthor at the very top of the list?

Even after listening to his reasoning, after considering the words, Arnyn failed to see how this man's history made him worse than the others. Was it not lamentable that anyone was swallowed by the darkness? Whether that darkness was brought about by madness, by nurture or by nature?

She lifted her other hand to claim the next moment to speak. Despite Trevadir's clearly spoken words, Arnyn didn't quite believe she was hearing this right. "You would rank worse. Far worse. Above Pharak, the delusional priest who has sawn sailors in half in worship of a destroyed Maia? Above Keket, the sadistic torturer who hates everyone on this earth, including himself, and who likes sending pieces of people back to those who love them most? Above Arkadhur, the man who told Keket to break your best friend, and the man who abducted two more of your closest friends with the intention of handing them over to Devedir, who would in turn offer them to Pharak to sacrifice or Keket to torture?"

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis had summoned forth at least a nod, when his friend mentioned how ‘Rip’ had disappeared, soon after the Umbarian’s allegations against him. The Ranger had not missed that both his friend and his Lieutenant had sent eyeful glances in his direction as their talk headed down this new avenue of woe. Still having emptied his cup of coffee, the young man gave up no remark to either one of them to voice his stance on it. Which was probably as telling as it needed to be, that even words were difficult to dredge up on this matter. And given other matters they had touched upon thus far ..

Instead, he turned for the jug of water and began to fill his cup, more slowly than ought to have been possible. And every time that he had dripped a scant portion of the drink into the cup, he replaced the jug down on the table. Eyed the contents of the cup and only then picked up the water once more to resume the act. And so on. It was simply needful to be doing something. And all the things he could not do were piling up and pressing on his skull from the inside. Don’t throw the cup, don’t leave, don’t break .... a frown troubled his brow with the effort, of apparently pouring a drink.


When Trev then apparently altered course from discussing Ryndir’s murder, to .. what was in fact the rest of the murderer’s resume, it might have seemed to Arnyn that he had in fact changed the subject entirely. Since no link had been made apparent between the Temple’s acolyte and the corrupt City Guard Lieutenant. Nal did not put down the jug of water for long enough then to stare a time at Trev, unsure what his friend was doing.

Trevadir had told him ‘Rip’s new ‘Umbarian alias’ in the time between their first meeting with Arnyn, and this one. The rest of the account, of what his friend had endured, .. in the Temple .. the Ranger recalled hearing back at the Inn itself. The thought which had been planted on that occasion had been frequented watered with panic and horror since, usually in the dead of night. But now it was resurrected, here, now. Realising that he had been holding the jug of water up in the air without pouring it now for almost a minute, the Ranger lowered it slowly back slowly to the table and ignored the drink he had readied.


When Trev tried to describe how it was ‘one thing to face this acolyte with friends at your back’, Unalmis watched the Ranger Lieutenant, to see if she would catch what his friend was throwing out. Because when would the musician have faced this Nâluthor, with friends at his back ? Not in Umbar .. Arnyn’s question was an interesting one but Nal let Trev first venture his opinion.

“Thing is .. ahem, I mean, Lieutenant,” he put in, when the officer pressed Trev to explain his reasoning afterwards, and the Ranger recalled (a little late) who he was speaking to. “That this ‘Nâluthor’ is currently being held back and told ‘no’ by the likes of Pharak. So if someone like Arkadhur, who has ‘maybe’ even helped us on occasion, would nonetheless abduct our friends and work with a treacherous Ass in order to exploit innocent lives for a sadistic torturer .. ” Unalmis glanced down and emitted a shuddered sigh, before he supported his friend’s ranking of this latest foe. “Then what do you suppose that someone who is more keen to do the awful than even a delusional saw-wielding Blood Priest would and could accomplish if he ever decides to just go ahead and do what he wants to anyway ? Because he kind of has already started,” Nal confessed about their enemy. “And Trev hasn’t even told you the worst part yet,” Nal turned back toward his friend. “You want to tell it, or shall I ?” he leaned back in his seat, appearing suddenly exhausted before either one of them would ever make an attempt.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
For perhaps the first time in all this lengthy report, Trevadir saw surprise in the Lieutenant's expression. He gave a small nod when she began asking questions, to double check she was hearing him correctly. He hesitated, unsure how to properly answer. How to explain where she could properly understand this level of evil? As he was hesitating and trying to think, Nal spoke up to offer his own input. Trev was somewhat relieved to hear that Nal backed him up on this, and that they agreed on the matter. He nodded emphatically as his friend emphasized one of the points he had been trying to make. "Right. Exactly," He agreed.

He toyed with his glass of lemonade, biting his lip thoughtfully for a moment before he continued. "Not only that," he added to what Nal had said, about Pharak being the one holding Rip back, "but.. this Nâluthor has said stuff before about learning torture methods from Keket, and that he watches him when he's.. at work." He hesitated. "He's boasted about torturing people, even described.. some of the stuff he'd like to do to me. Trying to.. frighten me, I guess.. cause he enjoys instilling fear in people, when he can." He swallowed quietly, then took a small sip of his drink, as if to steady himself. "He enjoys doing the same horrific things as both Pharak and Keket." He shivered slightly. "He... he'd laugh about torture and all that, like it was.. this big source of entertainment to him." He drew in a shaky breath and swallowed quietly, his throat feeling dry despite the recent sip of his drink.

Trying to move on, he cleared his throat. "And Arkadhur," he sighed. "He's definitely horrible, and I despise him just as much as I despise all the rest of them," he frowned. "I hate him for what he did to the girls. And I hate him for his part causing harm to Nal." He scowled at the very memory of those things. "But also, I think Nâluthor was behind the girl's kidnapping. And I'm sure he was a big part of the reason why Nal was in that predicament in the first place. If it hadn't been for him..." He clenched his hand around the glass, taking a slow breath to regain his composure. He couldn't be sure that Nal wouldn't have been abducted, back then, if Rip hadn't gotten involved. But it did seem unlikely that Pharak would have been as successful, if not for Rip's help.

"It's like someone has taken the worst part of all of them, and combined it all into one utterly horrible person." He explained. "He's a sadistic, torture-happy creep that likes to perform sickening sacrificial rituals on people, just for the enjoyment of watching his victims' suffering. I don't know if he's actually sincere about the religion thing, like Pharak is, but he goes along with it wholeheartedly. I think it's only because it gives him an excuse to be cruel to people. And there's reason to believe that he's coerced Arkadhur into doing things for him, too. Which implies that Arkadhur does whatever he says..."

He took a deep breath at Nal's question. "...I will." He replied quietly, a bit reluctant. He looked at Arnyn with a solemn expression. "See, the thing is," He began, with a little sigh. "Nâluthor is not his rightful name. Pharak, I guess, gave him that name, so he'd have a 'proper Umbarian name' or whatever. Because.. he is not Umbarian." he explained. "I once asked one of the Haradrim sailors on Dev's ship what it means. He said that Nâluthor means 'Shadow son'. So, it's sort of like Pharak was naming him as another son, as if he's adopted him or something." he frowned. "I think Keket is jealous of him, like he might take his place. But anyway," He tried not to digress. "His rightful name.. the one he grew up using.. is Aderic Androllius." He watched the lieutenant, curious whether she would recall that name from earlier.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

Her eyes still intense with surprise that Trevadir ranked the acolyte as the worst of them all, they turned to Unalmis when he broke the silence he'd adopted. The way the Ranger put it, had chills running down her back.

She wanted to ask what exactly Nâluthor had done then, that would make Unalmis say and think he was already starting to do what he wants, despite Pharak's opinions or orders - but the immediate follow-up that she hadn't even heard the worst of it, yet, made the question die on her lips. Her neck and shoulders tensed as her gaze slowly went from one young man to the other. How... how could she not yet have heard the worst of it by now?

The delicacy in her fingers, remained where it was. Bereft of purpose. Meanwhile Arnyn listened to Trevadir's words with all her attention, to the point where she wouldn't even notice it if Unalmis was now emptying his glass one drop at a time on his own head - after filling it up so bizarrely earlier.

She let the words sink into her, making mental notes here and there. Such as that Trevadir being sure of Nâluthor being behind Cali and Iole's kidnapping did not mean that it was fact. As far as she could tell from what they'd told her, there was no proof. But then why would Trevadir be so sure? Why was the musician so convinced that the acolyte had it out for him and his friends? It made, as of yet, no sense. Moreover, what reason was there that he believed Nâluthor has coerced Arkadhur to do anything?

Arnyn wanted to speak. She wanted to ask questions. But Unalmis' question to Trevadir kept her from doing so. The tension the two young men clearly felt, was spreading. The air was thick with it. The Lieutenant felt it pressing down on her, settling into her own muscles. Whatever this was going to be... it would be bad. Despite the warnings her instincts were shouting at her, however, her face had lost its surprise, settling back into her usual indecipherable expression. As if to prepare for what was to come.

"See, the thing is, Nâluthor is not his rightful name. Pharak, I guess, gave him that name, so he'd have a 'proper Umbarian name' or whatever. Because.. he is not Umbarian. I once asked one of the Haradrim sailors on Dev's ship what it means. He said that Nâluthor means 'Shadow son'. So, it's sort of like Pharak was naming him as another son, as if he's adopted him or something. I think Keket is jealous of him, like he might take his place. But anyway. His rightful name.. the one he grew up using.. is Aderic Androllius."

Arnyn's dark eyes flashed - but whatever sentiment they held was gone as quickly as it had come. She held Trevadir's gaze for two slow breaths. In and out. In and out. Her tone was level, bland almost, as she spoke. "The Guard Lieutenant." It was not a question, but a statement. Spoken if only to relay to Unalmis and Trevadir that she remembered the name and was following their exposition.

Her gaze dropped. Not to her notes, but to the table in front of Trevadir. Two more breaths.

The chair's feet scraped over the floor as she pushed back and rose. The very tips of her fingers hovering over the tabletop as her eyes continued to rest on the dark wood. The treat she had still been holding, left alone somewhere closeby. Isolated. She moved from her position, slowly walking around the room and thus also around the table. Her expression... Pensive? Perturbed? It would be difficult to say for either of the young men.

"You are telling me that the worst person in this entire mess, is a Gondorian."

Once she had reached the other side of the room, she leaned against the wall with the back of her shoulders. Her arms she crossed in front of her. "A Gondorian who has sworn to defend and protect the nation against those who would harm it."

"One of our own."

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trev gave a slow nod when the lieutenant commented 'the guard lieutenant'. He started to make a comment in reply, but the way she looked made him hold back. He watched her get up and walk around the room, and remained silent as he allowed her to process the news he had just dropped on her. He still felt uncomfortable, partly wondering whether she would even believe it. He understood, it was a lot to take in. And there was a lot of bad history there between Rip and the friends, which was why he had went about giving the lieutenant this news the way he had. Because, he feared that if he went straight into talking about how awful this guard lieutenant was, and declared him to be a traitor and all that, there might be some skepticism. But to convince her about how terrible this guy was, and then reveal who he really was, he thought that it might be more easy to believe what Trev was saying.

"You are telling me that the worst person in this entire mess, is a Gondorian."

Trev gave a tiny nod. As she went on, including more detail, concerning the vows the creep had taken to protect the nation, he nodded again. "That's one of the things that makes him so much worse than the others." He answered quietly. "That, on top of all else, he's also a traitor." He scowled at this. That part definitely made him upset. "I didn't even know he was a part of the city guard, back when I saw him so often in the temple. I had no idea about that, until Nal told me about what he did at the gate.." He glanced then at his friend, unsure whether he wanted to tell about that. He cleared his throat. "Back when the girls were kidnapped, that is. Rip.." he paused, realizing she wouldn't know the history behind that name. "Aderic, that is.. was guarding the South Gate that day, and he made sure Arkadhur got through with his.. load." He narrowed his eyes at that. "Cali swears she heard his voice, and she's sure that he knew she and Iole were hidden on the wagon, but he didn't do anything about it. So, Arkadhur saying that he was behind it all, well.. it seems highly likely that he was telling the truth for once." Trev explained, with a small shrug.

He looked down, holding back a sigh before adding a little more. "It's also extremely probable that he was the one who killed Ryn." He added quietly. That, of course, was the traitor's worst offense as far as he was concerned. Unfortunately, he realized, there was no proof of this fact. As he had been made aware during the course of their talk, the only 'proof' they had on the matter was the testimony of a highly questionable Umbarian who was known to lie, and who had since then (presumably) escaped custody. It was extremely frustrating that the traitorous murderer had gotten away with this for so long, and it was looking as if he would continue to get away with it for some time longer.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She'd known criminals, of course. Gondorian ones. That was nothing new. Thieves and such, she could sometimes understand. People trying to feed families. Trying to survive the only way they know how. But the criminals who took things that were not theirs just because they could... or those who brought pain and hurt onto others... she had never been able to grasp. That sometimes 'the bad' was among their own kin. That Men could be their own worst enemy. Had the Dark Lord not been enough?

No. She had never understood the minds or motivations of such people.

And so, the frown that had made its way to her features was easily explained. If she found it impossible to grasp civilians turning on their own... then comprehending that a guard or a ranger was capable of doing the same... was inconceivable. It had been - inconceivable. Until Macardil had plunged that knife into Amathen's neck. Her trip to Ithilien then, to visit her brother, would have been no surprise to those who knew her well.

In her mind surely anyone who would take Gondor's oaths meant them as fiercely as she did herself. It was why she also extended trust to rangers she did not know. It was why she persevered in trusting those who did not behave as she might hope. She had needed to process Macardil's betrayal of Amathen, and by extension, his betrayal of Gondor. Her brother had told her it made sense for her world to be turned upside down - that she was far too idealistic to grasp that a comrade in arms would do such a thing. Too idealistic... The subtext had clearly been: too naive.

The relief she had felt when Macardil's name had been cleared, had been enormous. The why, once it had finally been explained, had lifted a shadow from her heart. One that her trip to Ithilien and the talks with her family had not been able to chase away. The knowledge that Macardil had had no choice. That the reason why was not to be found within him, but externally. In one who was clearly an enemy. A remnant of Sauron's Shadow.

Despite that welcome revelation, Arnyn had still found it had been more difficult to extend that unconditional trust. Not impossible. Simply harder than it had been before. After speaking extensively with her brother, after recognizing and admitting - out loud - that there was no true logic in that kind of trust without proof it was wise of her to give... without the other parties earning it first.

And now, here she was. Now she was being told that another - Aderic Androllius, a Lieutenant of the Minas Tirith Tower Guard... was not only a weak link... but downright evil. A sadistic torturer. A sociopath. Someone who cared nothing for the value of life.

Every fiber of her being wanted to revolt against the notion. She wanted to fight it. She wanted it to be a lie. Part of her needed it to be a lie. It was overwhelming the analytical part of Arnyn's mind, and she knew it. A wave of doubt and emotion was trying to drown out her common sense. Struggling to wade through the pressure of that wave, struggling to maintain her composure in front Trevadir and Unalmis, the Lieutenant woodenly returned to her side of the table and drained her water.

"I see," she managed,to her own surprise still sounding very calm and deceptively put together. The biggest tell of her inner turmoil would doubtlessly be her surprising and utter lack of follow-up questions.

Cadil, at home, with 17 boxes and 17 socks
Third circle

His parents and possibly everyone else might have considered him absolutely lazy, and yet Cadil knew to keep his word once he had promised something; and true to the word he had given to Nal he did not engage in any pub crawls, ending up with too much time on his hands to think. And to avoid some of that thinking, or overthinking, he had applied himself to work providing his parents with a complete surprise. Not that they did not immediately set about using the opportunity - and soon the garden was neatly weeded, flower beds had gained low wicker fences, and the muddy paths were exchanged for cobbled ones. And every so often hammering could be heard within the house - some furniture had been in need of fixing.

All the activities had at first made the young man stiff and sore, yet he was soon used to work and gradually lost some of his belly fat, growing stronger and leaner. His brown eyes shone brighter, and he moved around the house and garden with a newly found sense of purpose.

And then, one day he ended up with a sizeable box brought to him by the mailman. For a few moments he stood in the door studying the handwriting on the box, and then brought it into the living room to unpack it. Only to find another box in it, and then... more of the same.

"What are you doing, Cadil?" his mother asked, coming in from the kitchen and finding her son sitting on the ground surrounded by boxes of various sizes. "Have you decided to start your own life finally and moving away from us?"

"Why? Of course not, mother!" he objected, as he finally opened the last box to find socks within. "A gift from my friend," he half snorted and half laughed, sorting the socks by pairs and ending up with the last one quite by itself. Seventeen boxes for seventeen socks - Cadil would not have wondered much if the said friend had placed one sock in each box instead of packing all into the last box.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis turned his cup of water around on it’s ‘coaster’ with a fidget of idle fingers. He had known of course that his friend wasn’t keen to reveal the truth about the corrupt Guard, but also that there was no way around it. For not only was the turncoat yet another criminal associate of the Ass, and equally an advocate for Umbarian occultists; but Trev’s understandable misgivings about the very worst Lieutenant were the whole reason that the informant had asked to give his report to Arnyn in the first place. Rather than a Guard.

Her reaction, or lack thereof, at the news, the worst part, .. sucked all of the air out of the room. At the outset of this meet, Nal had observed the hunger, the intrigue, the Officer’s want for all the knowledge that Trev could offer her. Now though her pace of participation had slowed, her silences grown longer .. maybe she had merely tired. How long had it even been that they’d been sitting here ? It felt like days already. When the woman rose and crossed the room, Nal glanced toward his friend, unsure what this might herald. Did she not believe them ?

But then ..
‘A Gondorian .. who has sworn to defend and protect the nation against those who would harm it ..’


The conclusion was almost a question but rather more incredibly something else. A slow, unhappy acceptance of the answer that the Lieutenant had gained for all her interest. Their antics with the lemon had been far easier to swallow. And yet .. the officer seemed strangely collected. Seeing as Arnyn emptied her drink then, the best that the younger Ranger could do for her, was refill her glass from the jug he’d been somewhat monopolizing most recently. Inching the meagre offering back toward the Lieutenant, he cleared his own throat as though the act had cleansed his palate enough to try and help.

“Thing about getting to the worst part, is that .. well, afterwards, that’s the worst part of it over and done with,” Unalmis sighed, drawing back into his seat and kicking at the floor beneath the table, with one heel. “Because now you know,” he pointed out, crushing the fingers of his one hand within his other. Brown eyes though found the Officer, from a place of hope. “And you’re in the position of authority, same as the traitor was, to make a difference. Only, you know, the way a Lieutenant is meant to make a difference. We trust you, as much as we don’t trust him. Clearly. This whole sharing of information, that’s the point really isn’t it ? That’s why we’re sitting through this. It’s not for a good time. But at the end of the day, the only bearable part of the worst part is that Rip – that’s what ‘we’ call him,” the Ranger indicated Trevadir and himself, before resuming, “is finally suspended and officially under investigation. He’s had to flee from the same City Guard he once manipulated to his own wants. The Ass meanwhile is fretting right about now that he is in a position to be sabotaged by the very saboteur he tried to twist to his way of thinking. And Umbar .. well, clearly it’s become almost dependent on a few rogue Gondorians in order to keep it’s pockets of resistance afloat. Now that’s irony. As is the fact that we're now in the best position we've ever been to counter all these enemies than we were before we were ever unfortunate enough to know the awful truth of them. And it's certainly about time that I’d better make sure Cali gets a refill or some of these refreshments.”

With a deep breath, Unalmis rose from his seat and prepared to face the kitchen, and the crazy cat lady who was hopefully still cosied up in the next room. The fact of their each having dried their drinks and since resorted to the sweet treats, had reminded the young man that their less mobile friend currently had no means of replenishing her stock of either. And as much as all three in the dining room had waved off the need for a break before now, it seemed that now was the perfect moment, really, to stop and recover from all that had been shared since that point.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Watching the lieutenant, Trev could not really tell much about what she might be thinking. She said very little, which didn't help, either. He half-expected her to deny the possibility of what he was telling her, and so, he was very grateful when Nal spoke up, backing him up. He gave a small nod in agreement when his friend spoke of how she was now able to 'make a difference' the way a lieutenant was meant to do. Trev quietly took a sip of his lemonade, feeling like he'd done a great deal of talking and like to take a short break, even if there was more talking to be done soon.

A little smile broke through on his face, when Nal mentioned that they call him Rip. He almost wished Lieutenant Dealedwen would ask why they called him that, so they could tell her of the comical tale from childhood. But there were definitely more important things to discuss. The smile faded though as he thoughtfully considered what Nal had said about both Rip and Dev. While it was nice to know that the traitor 'guard' was no longer around to bother and threaten him and his friends, he couldn't help worrying what he might be doing elsewhere. And as for Dev, he had no idea what he might be up to now, and was a bit concerned about that.

we're now in the best position we've ever been to counter all these enemies...

His friend's words stirred a little hope in Trev. A faint smile returned to his face at those words. It made him think of something that Ryn might have said, if he'd been there. He had often thought of such things, and he didn't doubt that Nal did, too. Though he was sorrowful that so many years of his life had been wasted with Dev, and he had hated having to be stuck in that life, yet still, that had put him in the perfect position to accomplish, and learn, a great many things which had been, and now were, quite helpful.

Even as he was reflecting on this, Nal declared that it was time to see if Cali wanted anything. He gave a small nod to his friend, and focused his gaze on the table while his friend set off to the next room. After Nal had stepped out, Trev glanced at the lieutenant, wondering how she was taking this whole thing. "So, um, sorry to have brought so much bad news." He mentioned quietly, a little unsure of what else to say.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis found the living room, and placed a fresh cinnamon tea down on the table next to Cali. That and a chocolate pastry he had tried not to crush during his swift escape from the dining room. Without speaking, he slumped in the chair next to her’s and just closed his eyes for a moment before sitting up, with the same spontaneity as though he’d suddenly found his seat was on fire.

“That vicious little thing hasn’t eaten you alive then ?” he supposed then, pulling a face at the cat, as though they two had some long historic emnity. “Thought I’d bring you some fresh supplies before you use your spent refreshment as an excuse to come inspect the kitchen,” he shrugged.


There were a multitude of other reasons why he’d thought this the prime time to check on the impatient invalid. For one because he’d quite lost count how many of the ‘matters’ Trev and Arnyn had actually covered yet, from the initial intention. The conversation after all, had not carried down a straight path, but verted all about the place and backtracked as things that had been missed were afterwards remembered. And other things which may have otherwise been glossed over, .. were thrown under a greater light of attention.

Trying to hazard any guess of what Arnyn must think of it all by this point was impossible. Trying to help Trev clarify the facts without reaffirming his friend’s tendency to worry .. equally impossible. Trying to dull the cacophony of questions which were scrawling about his own mind, the longer that they debated the entire mess .. unpleasant and unsatisfying.


He should have asked if the young woman needed anything, and then seen about tending to it. He ought not to abandon the pair in the kitchen, as he had been prepared to save his friend from flight, not so long before. But though brown eyes did graze the door across the room, he could not quite make himself rise yet and return.

“Sorry Cali,” he remembered himself a minute or two of silence later. “Do you need anything or umm ? Cushion ? Book ? Cat removal ? Lemon for your drink ?” His eyes did not leave the door to find her, almost as though he was speaking to the wooden barricade instead.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

She barely managed a nod to Unalmis when he refilled her glass with water, yet manage it she did. Her eyes finally lifted when the ranger cleared his throat and spoke. And he spoke well. Almost as if he knew she needed some sort of lifeline in that moment. An acceptable way out of that wave, so she could gather herself. Unalmis offered a silver lining in that the worst of it was now behind them, but more so than that, he was stating his trust in her.

Arnyn wondered if he knew the value of those words for her. Especially after everything they had just told her. After everything they knew was possible from someone who had sworn the oaths. That Unalmis chose this moment to proclaim both his and Trevedir's trust in her, filled her heart like the water had filled her glass. He probably had not meant for it to carry such weight. Yet that did not change the fact that, for Arnyn, it did.

So, the Lieutenant started emerging from the wave. A slight smile appeared on her lips, accompanied by a thankful look in her eyes. That Unalmis added that Aderic - Rip, to them, as it turned out - was currently suspended and under investigation already, was a good thing, too. But that he had fled - successfully - was certainly not.

Before she could process all this, because she could well and good recollect herself, and thus before she could thank the ranger, Unalmis fled to see to Cali's needs. Arnyn was left in the dining room with Trevadir. She slowly sat back down, even as her mind seemed to reboot itself.

"So, um, sorry to have brought so much bad news."

Looking at Trevadir, a half smile formed on her face. The apology was almost comical, despite the obvious sincerity with which it was delivered. If anything, that made it even more comical, didn't it? Arnyn tried to hold back a smirk but finally laughed quietly. It was a brief laugh, and not one meant in jest of anything Trevadir had said. Perhaps she simply needed a release of some sort to stay sane. Perhaps she wanted to show Trevadir he need not worry overmuch about her. Perhaps it was both.
After a deep inhale of breath and an exhale that turned into another quiet 'heh', she shook her head slowly.

"No need to apologize," she said, her tone serious despite the soft smile now adorning her features. "Though I do appreciate the sentiment. You telling me all this is a good thing. Something needs to be done. I was convinced of this even before I came here. You have given me much more information than I had even dared hope for. This is the first step to help change things from what they are into what they might become - what they could be - what they should be. You should not apologize to me. I should thank you." She nodded, still smiling. "So, thank you, Trevadir." The Lieutenant held his eyes. "Thank you."

@Arnyn @Ercassie

The door had managed to muffle most of the conversation, and all Cali could hear from where she was stretched out on the couch, was the sound of muffled voices, but only a few of the words were discernible, and only when someone spoke a bit louder. But she wasn't really trying to listen, and anyway, the cat's purring had served to mostly drown out what little she could have heard. In fact, she was becoming a bit drowsy, and though she was trying to focus on the book in her hands, she had begun to feel like the words were blending together and she was trying not to nod.

And then suddenly, Nal burst into the room. Cali blinked and looked up from where she had nearly dozed with the book in hand, and watched as he flopped quite comfortably into the empty chair nearby. She lowered the book which wasn't holding her interest well enough anyway, and wondered why Nal looked.. almost like he was exhausted? Although almost as soon as she thought it, he had sat upright as if he'd suddenly heard his grandmother scolding him about slouching or something. It might have been comical, except that she belatedly guessed the reason for what had made him look so weary before. She ignored the ridiculous comment about the cat, but idly scratched around her furry ears.

"Thank you," She smiled at the thoughtfulness of her friend, in bringing her a new drink. In fact, hers had vanished some time ago, and she had half forgotten about the pastries (although she would have remembered before long) so it was quite nice to have one brought to her. "Hmm, just how bad is that kitchen, anyway?" She wondered with a raised eyebrow, and a vague, teasing smile. "Are Iole and I going to lose our security deposit?" She actually wasn't sure if they'd had to pay that or not, but neither did Nal, probably.

But, seeing that his attention seemed more focused toward the door of the other room, where their mutual friend remained with the lieutenant, she suspected he was worried. But she also guessed that he had needed a little break, for she assumed there were some heavy topics being discussed in there. "How's it going with the report, anyway?" She added, in a tone quieter and more serious. "Is it going well, you think? I know he's been pretty nervous about this... and what about you?" She wondered with a concerned glance at him, though he may have been too focused on the door to notice. And he was now asking if she needed anything.

"I'm fine, thanks." She answered with a tiny eyeroll at the 'lemon' part, and carefully picking up the new cup of tea. "Better not have any lemon in this," She mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear the comment, before taking a very cautious (possibly 'overdramatically cautious') sip. A smile spread on her face as she tasted it, however. Nal had fixed it up for her just how she liked it. "That was sweet," She commented softly, although he might just assume she meant the tea, when in fact, she had meant 'sweet of you to do that for me'.

Apparently disturbed by Cali's slight moving around, the cat stretched and hopped down from her lap. "Hey, where're you going?" She asked, with a little pout as the feline paused to glance back at her, meowed, then trotted off to the dining room. "Hmph. Traitor." Cali muttered, then glanced sideways at Nal with a faint smirk. "She says you smell too much like dog." She informed him, as if she had interpreted that from the single 'meow'. As if it was his fault that the cat had abandoned her.

---

He was watching the lieutenant's expression, and noted that she looked less.. troubled, or something, after hearing what Nal had said. He hoped that she hadn't been terribly overwhelmed, but it seemed she was recovering, anyway. That was good, right? He hadn't meant to break the lieutenant... but the little smile that came to her face when he had spoken, and the following light laugh, helped him relax somewhat in turn, and when she spoke again at last, he began to smile faintly in relief.

"Yeah... you're welcome." He answered, as it seemed the only proper thing he could say. But he went on, to add, "I'm glad that I finally had a chance to tell someone all that I've learned, somewhere that it could be useful." With a brief glance toward the door where Nal had gone, Trevadir fidgeted only slightly, before looking back at Arnyn. "Believe it or not, I've been waiting for such a chance for about five years now. I never thought.. that I'd actually get it."

He looked down a little shyly, and let out a little breath; not quite a sigh, but close. "I started keeping notes, you know, pretty early on. Writing down everything I could about whatever I could find out about Dev's operation.. trying to find out things that maybe would be useful to someone like.. well, you." He shrugged. "You'd be surprised how difficult it was to find out certain things I've told you about... like about Dev's informants. But I kept at it, asking questions, poking around, watching when they didn't think I was looking... hoping maybe, someday, I'd be able to pass the information to someone who'd find it useful." He glanced up again with a tiny smile. "I hardly dared to hope that I'd be able to deliver the information in person... but it's just as well that I was able to, since I'm not sure you'd be able to understand my notes." He added with a slightly awkward laugh. "I um, wrote them in my own sort of code, you see. I doubt very many people could have made much sense of it." Shifting a little, he added in explanation, "Just in case, you know... I worried Dev might sneak a look at my journal sometime, and I figured he'd destroy it if he realized what it really contained."

"I've spent a lot of time this past week and a half, going through all of it to make lists and everything, in case there was something important I might have forgotten about." He went on. As he was saying this, the door swung open partially. Trev glanced that way, expecting to see Nal returning, but instead, the fluffy little feline slipped inside and paused to look around and meowed at them, before venturing over to sniff at the legs and shoes of the stranger(Arnyn) with great curiosity. "Oh, no. Nal has turned into a cat." Trev lamented with a completely straight face. "I guess Iole and Cali will be happy, but what are we going to tell his father?"


(edit: fixing some formatting issues that I noticed)

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"You did well," she pressed upon the young musician after he detailed his efforts. "I mean it. This information is priceless. You can be proud of yourself for going to such lengths, especially given the risks at the time."

The door opening drew her gaze but found no one at eye level, but at the same moment the low movements of the cat caught her eye.

"Oh no. Nal has turned into a cat. I guess Iole and Cali will be happy, but what are we going to tell his father?" Trevadir's delivery was so natural, Arnyn had to laugh again briefly.

"That will be a difficult conversation," she agreed as the cat rubbed its head against her leg. Arnyn slowly reached down to pet the beautiful cat's head and spine, down to the tail. "Not to mention what we'll have to tell the Captain. Will claws and teeth even be acceptable primary and secondary weapons?" She smiled at the little animal, who started purring. "Would it be weird if I put Nalcat on my lap?" she grinned at Trevadir, with no small amount of amusement.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trev grinned as the lieutenant laughed, and then went right along with his joke. "Oh, yeah, definitely." He answered the question about primary and secondary weapons. "Have you seen what those claws can do to a curtain? And the mice all flee in terror. That's a vicious beast you have there." he declared solemnly, trying not to crack a smile. "Don't let the cuteness fool you. That's another weapon, you know. Lulling you into a false sense of safety, thinking 'aww it's so cute and fluffy' and then when you least expect it... slash!"

He couldn't help but break into a laugh then, and it felt pretty good after all the serious stuff that had been brought up recently. He took a long moment to enjoy the amusement, and even put his face down, partially hidden in one hand for a moment, the elbow resting on the table, while he laughed.

"Sorry, I'm just.." Trev shook his head, grinning as he lifted his head again. "Nalcat." He repeated, grinning still with great amusement. "I'm not sure Cali or Iole will agree to that name... but yeah, go ahead, I'm sure it'd be fine. Not weird at all." He snickered. "The cat is really very sweet and docile.. most of the time." He assured her with slightly more seriousness. "Just.. not when Hattie's around." He rubbed his neck lightly, where the cat had clawed him in its desperate attempt to climb up onto his head and get further away from the excitable canine.

Calming a bit from the earlier amusement, he sat back with a little smile, while he debated if he ought to reply to what she had said about the information being priceless. It sort of felt like the moment for replying had already passed, however, so he kept quiet, and wondered vaguely whether Nal would be coming back soon. In the meanwhile, he reached over to grab another pastry from the tray. He felt a bit reluctant to return to the matters that they had previously been discussing, so he decided to wait and enjoy the moment, and the pastry, and see whether she had any further questions for now.

Private with @Isolde Alarion

The day had been both anticipated and endured; each hour a step closer to the appointed time until suddenly there seemed not enough minutes enough to manage everything. Still day’s end found Addhor far from flurried in his comings and goings. There was an order to packing things up, each tool to be returned to it’s own place, and for actual moments at a time he went about the process as though the evening after would be like any other. The broom made a clean canvas of the wooden floor, readied for what tomorrow would bring. But there was no real thinking about tomorrow just now. There would be no wishing away what had not even rightly begun.

Turning the sign at the shop door to ‘closed’, he did not lock up, nor close the inner door either as steps took him through that portal and up the stairs to ready the next level. He glanced back over his shoulder once, and begrudgingly left the sight behind him, of the street beyond. Of where she would appear, had appeared before now, and had agreed to again.. tonight, .. against all odds and all the reasons he might concoct why she would think better of doing so.


The rooms above were his sanctuary, his calm, his place. The part of his life where people off the streets could not just stroll in. Few had ever received an invitation and most of those who had, he’d known about as long as he had known himself. He wished to know this latest invited guest rather better and really, it was the most simple thing in all the world. Just dinner. No fancy restaurant or event to dress up for. No cause to be all about best behaviour and expectations. No need for anything but just themselves. This was just for them.

He would have liked to call for Nell at her door, the way a man ought do. But the thought of bringing her home then to what scene of chaos might come from leaving kitchens unattended ..? Best not risk it ! Next time, he privately made the oath with himself. And while he would not mind just about any situation, so long as she was there to share it, .. actually Addhor stopped in the midst of setting the small table. He could not really imagine any situation that those dear green eyes, that kind laugh, that smart wit could not make worthwhile.

Opening a window, he allowed the warmth of the stove to not built up too much in the small space. And so the simple scent of home cooked food, the very rare snatch of .. was he humming ? Stars. How had that happened ? Of course, when it came to pass that everything which needed to be done, was already in hand, there was nothing else to do but wait. He washed his hands then, and took a moment to enjoy even the anticipation. As though it could never be improved on. Until of course she might arrive. The prospect and the fact of coming even a few steps closer to it, saw the man descend back down the stairs. He might have heard somebody at the door.

@Rillewen @Arnyn

Unalmis met Cali’s raised eyebrow with one of his own, as though he were playing at being the young woman’s mirror. Particularly leading up to the climax of her tasting the tea which he had brought in. Nal was tempted to tell her, only after she had supped some, that something really awful had been added to the drink. But eventually the young man gave up only a grin and small shake of his head. You would never catch him drinking what he knew was his friend’s favourite brew. It did not need any adding to it, as far as he was concerned. Far too sweet. He’d tried it once. He tried a lot of things once and learnt not to repeat the experience, at least not on purpose.


“That is for me to know and you to not worry at all about,” he warned Cali, bringing the subject back to the kitchen, and ignoring entirely the question of what was happening in the dining room. “I mean, honestly, you girls were the ones who were expecting me to make a mess out there. I’m just proving you right. You should be happy,” he informed his friend, mock serious. "I promise I will make sure it is all back to how it was before, after." A hand rose to cover his heart, whilst another crossed fingers quite blatantly behind his back.

A glance after the departing cat stole a smile in the name of some contemplative silence. “Works for me,” he shrugged eventually. “You are very welcome to be her pin cushion. But see ? Cat removal. As promised. You’re welcome.” He leaned back, as though having accomplished something.


An ear listened out thenafter for some sound of outcry or delight from the next room, and neither were excessively obvious. So, that proved that their conversation probably had not bothered the patient by being too loud at all. “Can’t say really,” the young Ranger concluded after a moment more. But whether he meant that he was not allowed to share, or that he could not honestly tell if it was helping at all yet .. well, honestly the latter was most likely. But he did not want to admit that. He absolutely did not want to venture an opinion on how he was feeling about what was being said. It felt like it was all they’d spoken about for the last year and a half, instead of just a couple of weeks. And he was looking forward to the part where things changed, as a consequence. “About as you’d expect,” was the best hint he could offer.

“Did you want the little fluffmonster back ?” he asked then, rising but not exactly rushing to retrieve the animal. He was aware though that the cat did bring Cali comfort. Probably more comfort than he was able to right now. "The cat, I mean, Not Trev." he clarified, adding a grin. And oh, look, the eyebrow rose to the occasion again also.

She had never wished to close the bakery at the end of the day so much in her life. Minutes seemed to take hours and customers seemed to take their time in making choices. She almost wanted to chose for them, for most ordered the same thing daily and she could have just taken their items and wrapped them up from memory. To say her patience was working hard today was an understatement. She then noticed her. The widow Parliman. She felt herself inwardly groan. She was a spindly elder who she was sure watched them build the White City with her own eyes! She knew the woman enjoyed picking her own loafs and any other pastries she might like thus taking forever with her horrible eyesight. Nell took a deep breath and steeled her patience, then welcomed the woman with a smile.

"Good evening Mrs Parliman, anything in particular this evening I can get you?" She asked hoping to speed up the process. "Oh no Deary, you know I like to chose my own goods. My eyes might be failing me but my nose knows." She tapped her nose with a brittle fingertip. "Of course ma"am." Nell offered her a smile then followed along as she hobbled her way toward the bread shelf. The only thing rising her spirits was the sight of the shelf that Addor had brought her. She still loved it and of course showed off the ingenious additions of the baskets whenever she could.

When she'd taken her time to get the loaves of bread she wanted, Nell followed her to the pastries. "What flavors would you like today Ma'am?" she asked as she prepared to gather them. "Two blueberry muffins and a cheese danish." Nell quickly gathered them and carefully wrapped them up for her. She gently placed them in the woman's basket for her. "There you are Mrs. Parliman. Please, don't worry about paying me today. Consider them my gift." Nell smiled and pat her wrinkled hand. "Oh! That's very nice of you Nell, thank you." The elder woman smiled brightly causing Nells smile to widen at the woman's joy. Nell escorted her to the door and with a wave of her hand she watched her a moment till she quickly turned the sign to closed and shut the door.

Through the bakery she nearly ran, almost ripping off her apron and flinging it onto the nearest peg before she hit the stairs two at a time. Reaching her room she flung the door open and hurried to change, she felt she was running late but hadn't looked at the actual time. She went to her room and started to change, throwing her work wear everywhere and then grabbed her best dress. It wasn't formal like the one she wore on the cruise but it was a lovely green kirtle with a swirl of dandelion colored embroidery along the sleeves and the bottom of the dress.She quickly shimmied into it and tied the front to bring it all together. Now the hair.

It got a fresh brushing through, she made sure there was no hint of flour in it, then braided it into a long braid that was then made into a neat bun. She looked into her mirror and made sure there were no loose ends and smoothed the front down. Then she hurried to her chest and opened it. It took no time to find it as she often held it and read it, so many times the folds were making creases and the corners curled a bit. She looked at it and smiled, then held it close to her chest and after a moment she slipped it into her dress pocket.

With a dab of scented water, the aroma of summer flowers, dabbed behind each ear she took one last look and nodded with a smile, she was ready to see him.
With the enthusiasm of a schoolgirl she made her way down the steps and out the shop door, making sure to lock it. She then turned and looked for his shop door. She smiled to see it, not that anyone moved it but the fact he was there. She made her way to the door, careful not to get her dress in any muck or mud along the way. Drat!! In all her excitement she forgot the bread!! She quickly went back the shop door unlocked it and slipped inside. Into the back she went and took a small basket in arm, next to the shelf with the special loaf on it. She took it and wrapped it in clothe and set it carefully into the basket. Turned on her heel and back out she went.

At the woodworkers shop....

She paused a moment before knocking. Taking a moment to smooth her hair and straighten and wrinkles in her dress. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was a very important evening for them. Time to enjoy each others company with out social pressures, laugh as freely as they wished, and for her she would give him the reply to the note he'd slipped under her door that day.

She raised her hand to the door...

Knock, Knock

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"Trevadir," she started slowly while gently lifting the cat to her lap. Now that she'd sucessfully emerged from 'the wave', she wanted clarifications. "About... Aderic Androllius."

"There are some things that don't seem to add up," she continued, more slowly. "You said that Androllius was not always at the temple when you had to deliver messages, but he was there often enough. You also mentioned that Pharak sent him on missions and how he sometimes travelled with Devedir on his ship. And somehow... he also joined the City Guard and was present enough to earn a promotion to Lieutenant? I know a thing or two about how things usually work in the Guard. He would have needed to work more than half time to get a rank like that so quickly. If anything, he would have needed to work overtime. How on Middle Earth he could have combined that with a steady enough presence in Umbar, and travelling for assignments for Pharak..." Arnyn shook her head, frowning as she was looking down at the cat, stroking the fluffy animal in her lap. The ERC and the Tower Guard had worked together very closely in the past. And she'd needed to work hard to earn the guards' respect as a very young Ranger officer. They did not see it often. Clearly. And with what she knew of the current state of the Guard, she could hardly imagine that had changed much. "It doesn't make much sense to me," she muttered.

"And what did Unalmis mean when he said... that Androllius has already started to do what he wants to do, despite Pharak holding him back? How has he started shedding his leash, so to speak? Or do I need to ask Nal that question?"

@Arnyn @Ercassie
As the lieutenant spoke his name, Trev looked up, growing noticeably more serious as he anticipated some sort of serious question, due to the tone in her voice. And sure enough, there it was; about Aderic Androllius. He barely refrained from making a face at the mere mention of his name, and automatically muttered, "Rip," as if to correct her, although he immediately adopted an apologetic look as he glanced her way, waiting for the rest of the question.

A small frown came to his face at the mention that 'it doesn't add up. Immediately, he began to wonder whether she actually did believe him or not. He sat still while she continued to speak and explain her thoughts on the matter, but in his own thoughts, he was growing somewhat concerned that the lieutenant was not believing what he knew to be the truth. And that made him anxious, for if she didn't believe him, then she might believe that creep's lies, if he got a chance to tell them to her.

He inhaled slowly as she concluded to say that it didn't make much sense to her. He disregarded the final question for now, and tried to think of how he could convince her and to also find some logical way to explain this apparent contradiction, himself. First of all, he realized, she ought to understand the time gap. "One thing I guess I failed to make clear," He began hesitantly. "There were usually around four months or so, between my trips to the temple. Give or take a bit, but.. anyway. So," He shrugged. "Say I went to deliver a letter in the spring, and Rip was there. But I had no idea how long he'd been there before I walked in. For all I know, he could have been there a week, or maybe he just dropped in for an hour, that very day, and planned to rush off home again before his time off ended. I never was entirely sure about how much time he spends there, only that he seems to be some sort of.. acolyte or something, eager to learn from Pharak more gruesome ways to murder people." He shivered slightly before continuing.

"But then, say I came back in the summer.. he might not be there. And then in the fall, he might be there again. For all I know, maybe that was eight months between his last visit and this. Or, maybe he'd been there once a week or once a month. I have no idea, really." He shrugged. "All I can say is, a little more than half of the times that Dev forced me to go there, I ended up having to endure his taunting as well as Pharak's." He explained. "He and I are.. far from close, so it's not like we ever had any discussions about his schedule or anything." He took a breath. "I also had no idea that he was a member of the Tower guard, much less a lieutenant, until I saw Cali and Iole and Nal, nearly a year ago. They told me about him, and it surprised me to hear it."

Taking a small sip of lemonade, mainly just to give himself a break to think and consider, he took his time then in setting the glass back down in the exact center of the potholder/coaster. "Maybe he worked really hard while he was here, to rise up through the ranks, and then begged for like a couple week's time off all at once so he could travel to Umbar every so often. I don't know how the guards work, and I don't know how long he's been a lieutenant. Maybe he worked extra hard to get there, and then used his authority to give himself enough time to make those trips. Although, more than likely, he used his father's influence to get a higher rank. I believe he was once a captain or something, back years ago before me or Rip were born." He shrugged. "All I can say for sure is that he was there in Umbar." He frowned. "It seems he's done a pretty good job inserting himself into a position of power, in any case. And that really doesn't surprise me much, since that's the sort of thing he's always done." He frowned. "That, and.. acting innocent. Playing the victim..."

He looked up from his glass at Arnyn. "That is something you should be warned about, by the way." Trevadir added. "See... Unalmis and I have known him since.. well, when Nal first started school. He used to pick on us all even then. He'd say really mean, hurtful things, and push other kids around, take stuff from other people, whatever he felt like doing. But then when the teacher or some adult was around, he was like.. the perfect little angel, with the nicest manners you could ever imagine from a child.. that sort of thing, you know?" He shook his head in disgust. "And then when we kids had had enough, we'd confront him, and he'd put on this act like he's soooo innocent, and he never did any of that stuff we accused him of, so it must have been his 'twin brother' who did all that stuff." He rolled his eyes and snorted slightly in disgust.

"On the first, we would actually start to believe it, and before long we'd actually end up apologizing and asking questions about his brother, wondering why they didn't both come to school on the same day, you know... and then eventually, some other time when there wasn't a mob of angry children surrounding him, one of us might ask which twin he was, and he'd start laughing and telling us how stupid we were for actually believing that, and boasting about how he fooled us." He huffed out a little sigh of frustration. "Anyway. We finally grew wise to him and stopped even listening to his twin story, but... well, I figured I should warn you. Cause you don't know him, and you aren't familiar with his trickery. And... now that the stakes are much higher than just getting beat up a little by the other kids who are fed up with being bullied... I wouldn't put it past him to pull something like that again with you, or whoever finally catches him. So, I wanted to warn you about his tricks." He explained. "His own father even confirmed once that he only has one child." He paused, looking down with a little sadness as he realized that the only two people who had witnessed that confirmation, were Ryn and his father. Who were both dead now. "I.. guess, Cali would be the one to ask about that, if you want to hear more about that."

Drawing in another deep breath, he finally addressed the other question. "As for the leash thing," He frowned slightly, hesitating. "Maybe you should ask Nal. I think I know what he meant, but... well, I don't want to speak for him." He shrugged slightly. "He may have things to say that I don't know about." He somewhat doubted it, but mostly just felt that it might be better if the lieutenant heard some of these things from Nal, so it wasn't all coming from Trev. Especially since he had been out of the room for a few moments, and so he hadn't heard what Trev said about Rip most recently. So, there was less chances of their being accused of plotting together to make up this whole thing against Rip. Then again, they'd had like a week and a half together to collaborate stories, but still... he hoped she would believe what Trev knew to be the truth.

@Arnyn
Captain Pele Alarion
Heading up to the Seventh Circle

Pele had been busy late the previous night, visiting... taking up the kitchen at the barracks, so she had retired to bed well into night only to get back up after too few hours. Luckily, it did not take too much time to get ready in the morning, and she did it with practiced ease, last of all making sure her still relatively short braid was tight and in control of most of the stray hair.

"Ready?" she called at the same time as opening the door and half-expecting Arnyn standing there already about to knock. The early bird... or how the saying went.

While Pele did not carry her weapons, she did have a box on her arm, a delicious scent wafting from it.

"I'm quite ready to discuss our serious matters," she announced, glancing sideways at Arnyn once they were face to face without the door separating them. "Any neat notes with you? Or do you have all of the plans in your head, Arnyn?"

@Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
Heading up to the Seventh Circle

A clean uniform. Tall boots and black leather bracers. One long braid. Her Hyandaner and Lieutenant badge on her shoulder. Her longsword by her side. That is how Arnyn greeted Pele out in the hallway of the Officers' Quarters of the barracks.

"Ready," she confirmed at the Captain's first question. At the second inquiry, Arnyn raised a thin folder. It held some copies she'd made of all the gathered information - information she knew she would likely not remember by heart, should King Elessar ask for it. "Most of it is up here," she smiled faintly, tapping her temple. "Some of it, in here," she finished, raising the folder. "Just in case the Elfstone insists on details." She was no stranger to the King's way of questioning, nor his manner of conductiog meetings of a military nature.

As the two officers headed out onto the stone-paved streets of the White City, Arnyn glanced at her friend. "How do you want to handle this meeting, Captain?"

@Arnyn

Captain Pele Alarion
Heading up to the Seventh Circle

"I am quite sure he'd want quite a lot of detail," Pele said quite seriously, minding her step so as not to kick any loose small rocks down the street as she sometimes liked to do. "The matter is dangerous and would require good planning and precision in executing it."

"The meeting? I'd say... no use trying to beat around the bush with how things stand," the Captain shrugged lightly. "Suppose, the more our King is aware of what is going on, the better our consultation with him, and the more success in actually achieving something against the Umbarians. I wonder how much he knows already - no doubt he has sources of his own to gather information from."

Pele was silent for a while, and then stopped momentarily not far from the gate to the seventh circle. "But... I think it still requires some level of subtlety, in a way," her voice was quiet. "Would not want the King to think that we consider his rule ineffective. No?" Moving off again with another slight shrug, she went over the possible opening words in her head.

The guards at the gate did not hesitate to let them through - they knew the password, and they were probably informed that the King was awaiting them. "The fountain is as beautiful as ever," Pele observed with a note of wonder in her voice as if she saw the fountain, the Tree, and the fountain guards for the first time. It was not a sight one could ever weary of, or so she thought, letting her eyes take in the beauty of the courtyard.

Private with @Isolde Alarion


His ear caught the sound of a knock, and for a moment told himself that it was likely just the sound of himself coming down the stairs. Still he looked ... He could not not look. And once he had, and he had convinced himself that this was not just some vision borne of out anticipation, it took a moment before he remembered that he ought do more than just look. That was how these things worked, not that he was practiced in these types of things at all.

Mentally shaking himself into action, Addhor emerged from the light of the stairs behind him. It seemed strangely as though he could not move fast enough, that the shop floor seemed a mile longer than it must have been. And though the notion that she might turn at any point and think better of her decision may have been a fool one for the man to entertain .. still he was half in shock still that this was happening. To him. This was the sort of thing which happened to other people who then told him how they had spent a nice evening. Nell was the first person come to mind who he would wish to share a pleasant memory with, and so the man managed to draw in the front door to meet his guest. For a moment he could not find words and could only hope the subconscious smile conveyed quite how glad he was to see her.


“Now how do you do that ?” the amazement was genuine but not overstated. The bewitching green of her eyes was only amplified by the simple but, for all that, striking dress. “You look ..” he began then, and failed to find words to do her justice. “You are ..,” he corrected and gestured for the woman to enter, stepping back to allow space. “Incredible,” came the closest offering which could hope to do justice. “Come in, please do come in.”

Closing the door behind her, Addhor turned the key to secure it, but did not remove it from the lock. Not wishing to startle his guest into some fear of being trapped. He did pull the blind down though so that the (windowed) part of the door which could be seen through, usually, now could not. Nell did not look to have brought a coat with her, so the man’s instinct to relieve her of such a burden took him straight to how it was not cold enough, of course, at the current hour. Though it might be later, so he could always offer her his coat if he walked her home .. and well, indicating the stairs, and remembering the moment, he invited his guest to ascend before him.


The rooms that she would find were likely not far removed from the layout of her own shop’s first floor, though he did not know, to be certain. A ‘living’ area was evident from the two large green chairs which were set before the fireplace, a small wooden table set between them, ringed with at least one stain from where a cup clearly had left it’s mark. There was a decent rug which once must have been a deep vibrant red, but still lent faded colour to coat the otherwise wooden floor. Bookcases lined one wall, crammed with a collection which were of varying size and age, and separated by a simple writing table, which was clear of any adornments upon it, it’s one drawer closed with a lock. There was a simple, smaller chair tucked away beneath this, where it would not dare to trip, should a dark-framed painting centrepiece of trees watching their autumnal leaves fall to mask the bare ground, threatened to snag and hold attention at the far wall. The single initial ‘C’ was etched into one corner of the artwork, to credit it’s talented artist.

A decent pair of dark brown curtains had been tied back, either side of the large window which was flung open, near the spread of counters, wash basin and stove, which served as kitchen on one side of the stairs. On the other side of the divisive stair case, was a small round wooden table which had been set with a pair of plain china plates and a carafe was posing as a small glass vase, with the hope that it’s bright eruption of wildflowers concealed the slight crack at it’s throat. Though two small glasses betrayed it’s true vocation, a further three chairs were gathered, easily matching the one which nestled underneath the writing desk; their missing fourth member assuredly, which had been re-assigned, clearly in light of so few usual guests or company. The doors which indicated a bathroom and a bedroom both at the front of this story were both closed, for privacy’s sake. And without little forethought that they might be mistaken for one another, by a guest who did not live in a similar set-up herself.


Addhor allowed Nell to find and meet his small sanctuary as he followed her from where the head of the stair case opened out into the room. Trialling a hand to rest upon the back of the closest chair, he decided at the last minute not to, and awkwardly threw it behind his back instead. Though a small collection of walking sticks were propped in one corner of the room, near the woodpile, these were less for mobility any more and rather more for an evening’s entertainment. Each was at an altered stage of work to all the others. Some painted, some polished, all varying in their timber and all carved elseways to the rest, at their head. A large locked trunk sat in solemn judgement against one wall, next to a smaller but open crate, wherein were amassed some gathering of things, such as shoes and whistles, which a less well-ordered individual (mentioning no names, but who visited at least once a week) had left behind him or failed to remember to reclaim. As though to encourage his guest’s attention from this rare proof of life in the neat surroudings, Addhor gestured toward the chairs, or their vicinity, to see Nell made welcome.

“It isn’t much but it is home,” he remarked, with a roving glance about to ensure that no thing was out of place. Truth was that she was the most splendid thing to his eyes in the whole place, and the carpenter sidestepped behind one of the chairs because he had not changed his dark trousers from the long day at work. A swift, and suddenly nervous brush with one hand cast off the woodshavings he imagined might still linger. At least his sandcastle-hued shirt was clean.

“Please, make yourself comfortable. Dinner should not be too long. Can I tempt you with a little Carathôn*, while I finish up ?”


*(I have used the name ‘Carathôn’ as substitution for a ‘Pinot Noir’ wine, as best as I can render an amateurish Sindarin translation of the same name.)

@Pele Alarion

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
The Seventh Circle

Pele wasn't wrong of course. It would take a great amount of planning to pull off what they had in mind. After everything that had been brought to her attention, though, whether it had been spontaneously delivered to her or naively sought after by her own designs, what other choice did they have? Surely they could not let matters be as they were? Arnyn frowned lightly as they passed through the gate, pondering the Captain's last question.

"Yes, it is," she agreed, falling silent a moment longer as they gazed upon the courtyard. The tree and the fountain had an innate sort of magic to them, a fantastical aura only increased by the light of the morning summer sun upon the white stone all around them.

"I would not wish to offend the King." Why would she? She was grateful for so much he had done. "Much has improved since he has taken up the crown. No one could hope to achieve the perfect Reunited Kingdom after only a handful of years. Do you think he would be so sensitive as to think we... or I... were inappreciative?" Arnyn bit her bottom lip as they approached the Citadel. Soon, the great doors were upon them.

@Arnyn

Captain Pele Alarion
The Seventh Circle

"A lot has truly become better since his return," Pele agreed, once more lingering in the approach to the door and turning back to look at the flourishing White Tree which seemed to her like a perfect symbol that what was dried out and dead can once again be turned into new life. Of course, the Tree was not the same old one, and yet... It reminded her of hope.

"I don't think he would be so touchy," she said quietly so as not to be overheard by the guards. "Yet, the subject is a heavy one. I don't think there is an easy way to speak of it no matter what, and it does pertain to the matters of ruling over all the realm. I... don't really look forward to this conversation, nor anything to do with this at all, but that is nothing new to you, aye? So let us just go for it, I say, and face it."

One last look at the Tree, a glance of mixed apprehension and hope at Arnyn, and Pele turned back to the door of the Citadel to see if the guards would admit them within.

@Pele Alarion


King Aragorn Elessar
The Citadel, Seventh Circle
Receiving Captain Pele Alarion and Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen

The guards admitted them, yes. The doors opened smoothly enough, and both women were allowed to keep their weapons - perhaps the greatest sign of trust that could be bestowed upon them by the Elfstone, given that he was High King.

The hall was long, and one of the guards preceeded them. Not to the throne in Merethrond, but beyond. Up a set of stairs with many steps of white marble, to the offices of Elessar. He was waiting, a tall man looking from a tall window.

"Captain Alarion," he spoke as they entered, and after turning around to look at the arrivals, his grey eyes rested briefly on Arnyn. "And Lieutenant Dealedwen." Had the Captain spoken of the Lieutenant's presence in her request? He did not believe it to have been so - yet he supposed it made little difference.

"Please, sit." He gestured at a set of chairs that were always positioned on the other side of his desk. "How grievous is the matter you came to discuss?" he inquired, his gaze briefly touching what each of the women was holding, before lifting back to the guard who had accompanied them. "Bring us water, Mendel. Something tells me we will have need of it."

@Arnyn

Captain Pele Alarion
The Citadel, Seventh Circle

Pele had only taken a dagger with her, supposing that the more weapons she had the longer it would take to disarm at the door, and the fact that the usual requirement was not applied to them made her feel both slightly humbled and very honoured.

"Are you sure?" she had asked of the guard twice, just to be certain.

In and up they were led, and once within the office, Pele realised she could not really give a proper salute while juggling a box of cakes.

"My King," she responded instead, heartfelt respect permeating the quieted tones of her voice. Placing the box on the desk, she sat in one of the chairs. "The matter is very concerning. So... I thought some honey cakes might sweeten it if even a little."

Pele glanced at Arnyn, hesitated a while, and then simply provided a short introductory information: "It's Umbar yet again. Apparently they think they can keep enslaving Gondorian people, war or no war. Arnyn... Lieutenant Dealedwen has collected a lot of rather detailed information which might help us do something about it. So we have come with all of that information to you."

@Pele Alarion


King Aragorn Elessar
&

Lieutenant Arnyn Dealedwen
The Citadel, Seventh Circle

His gaze rested on the box before returning to Captain Alarion. "A suitable offering." A faint smile accompanied the words, the raised matter of Umbar and their inhumane activities easily casting a shadow over his features. The mention of Arnyn's name drew Aragorn's attention to the Lieutenant. He hadn't missed that she had only taken a seat after the Captain had done so, and she was now regarding them both with a composed, focused expression. "Lieutenant Dealedwen?" he inquired, thus giving her permission to take the floor.

Arnyn drew in a deep breath. She calmly tackled the difficult task of taking the King through all she had learned as well as the possibilities this provided for them. "Or," she added, "opportunities, if you would wish to view it so." Her brown eyes didn't shy away from Aragorn's own piercing assessment. "I know I do."

Aragorn let the information settle as he gauged Arnyn's expression first. He had given her leave to speak, and had let the words flow without any interruptions. He gauged Pele's reaction next. That the Captain had brought the matter to him, at the very least meant she thought action needed to be taken. "You both wish to go to Umbar?" The question did not sound positive or negative. It was, instead, entirely neutral, and gave away nothing of his thoughts.

"I do, your Grace," Arnyn was swift to respond this time. "We have more intelligence at our disposal right now than ever before. With all this information, with the Rangers, with the support of House Dimaethor through Lord Abrazimir - the odds have never been this good."

"They are still poorer than I would prefer," the King countered, although he had to admit it was difficult to go against the Lieutenant's conviction. "It would be an immensely dangerous enterprise for everyone involved."

Arnyn tilted her chin up minutely. "No less dangerous than fighting a hopelessly outnumbered battle on the fields of the Pelennor. No less dangerous than half the missions the Rangers take on."

Aragorn crossed his arms loosely. He had heard the Relic report, of course. Extensively. That Arnyn was not one to shy away from possible death, was not a surprise. He turned to Pele. "Your second in command clearly requires no further motivation, Captain. Do you believe the same be said of the others under your command? What are your thoughts on the matter?"

@Arnyn


The sun was already surmounting the city, yet her warmth was presently still working it’s way down, losing a race to the morning’s light. So it was that Unalmis did not dawdle, the last lingering traces of a departing chill chasing him down from the Barracks, to the Fifth. His Ranger gear (and caffeine-fuelled breakfast) had encouraged a walk to evolve into a smart jog, a warm up before ever he arrived down at the Training Grounds. But it was not so early that he might wake local residents en route with his sure stride, but it was just late enough that those folk hereabouts with places elsewhere to be and things of matter to do were already off there and about them. The Ranger’s own ‘to do’ list tended to exist in a very fluid state of what was most pivotal at any given moment, but this particular errand had been in the back of his mind for a while now, even when it was shoved behind things of more urgency. It remained of an importance that he could not shake and .. well, he was literally passing .. if you didn’t count the turn he had taken off his usual route to get here.

He had called at front doors on this circle before, most often of late to find Ilisys for some chore or cause he hoped perhaps to understand at least by the time that he achieved it. This street though was new. To him, at least. He did not doubt the address because he had heard the Lieutenant direct it to Trevadir, with clear enough directions that his friend would be able to find it. Unsure what had been behind that little mystery at the time, Nal had paid good heed to every detail afforded. Mostly out of curiosity. The information had not been imparted, after all, in a privacy which he had intruded upon without invitation. So, as far as his thinking could reason, it was fair game now to make good use of. And it would save a lot of time, he was sure. He had, after all, once knocked on the door of every house in several circles, in hopes of finding something which was behind none of them, as it turned out. Of course he had been much younger then and, despite the surprising interest and then aid of several other children who (clearly in agreement that his mission was more important than any of them going to school that morning), had followed along. That was the day he had met Ryn and Cali for the first time which proved that, even though he had not found what he had sought on that occasion, the exercise had been more than worth his time.


Despite the seventeen or so years which had passed since that day, the door that he approached now seemed somehow almost as large as they all had back then. But then, doors were larger here, just like the houses. No doubt because the inhabitants could afford to keep more of everything inside them and required space accordingly. Still he had seen more than one curtain twitch already as he tested out the front step, so there could be no retreat now. It would only make a return effort more daunting and honestly there ought not be a reason to hesitate. It was not like … well, it was just ..

He knocked, before he could decide whether this had all been a really terrible idea from the outset. It would be a far worse thing to be caught knocking and running off, and he had certainly outgrown that in the last seventeen years. So nudging the itch on the back of one leg with his other boot, he held his balance, regained surer footing, and then hoped that he had time to bend down and tie the loosened shoelace he had just now noticed, before anybody opened the door and found him there, bent down as though in reverence. Or unpreparedness.

@Rillewen

She was under the mistaken impression that she must be still asleep. For only in a dream could she stretch so far across the massive bed and not be met or bumped or jostled by some limb or other, of some sister or other. And yet when a brazen light broke through the already disturbed curtains, declaring it as day, still the young woman found that the shared commodity was hers. All hers.

No doubt because this was no longer a decent hour to be still in bed at all. Everyone else had some place else they had to be for every hour that they might make good use of. Until the tussle and tangling would resume again come sun down. With all the whispers shared beneath the shared sheets, it was honestly a wonder she got any sleep at all. Of course, given recent events, that could not be blamed entirely upon her squabble of siblings. And in the end, exhaustion would overcome so that only a short space of nights would pass before not even a stampeding fell beast could have roused her unto wakefulness.

Closing her eyes anew, Sorrela tried to make the most out of her being last to leave their crowded nest. But once she’d seen the sky, the morn, a nagging sense of urgency saw the young woman prop up some on both elbows, and consider where she might have left her shawl. Bare feet took her in a tap of toes about the room, raising up piles of discarded and unfolded laundry, but for all the reams of womens’ clothing she came across, what she sought was nowhere to be seen.

Taking then the nearest blanket, she gathered it about her raised shoulders and emerged into the main room where, in no time whatsoever, she found the shawl she’d been looking for. Wrapped around the shoulders of Roselly. Too tired to even argue, let alone be surprised by what she should by now have expected, the eldest of the sisters prepared to join their raucous brood in stretching and swiping around the kitchen table for some scrap of breakfast. Honestly, birds of prey probably did not have to rely so heavily upon scavenging.


Having managed a crust of bread and what turned out to be the last dregs from the milk jug, Sorrela was distracted from glaring daggers at the milk-moustachioed Johenna who smiled, unashamedly beside her. A hand laid upon her shoulder from behind, saw the eldest shove out her seat with only a small sigh, and remove herself of the table to heed her mother’s summons. By the time she had followed Serenda out of earshot, Tessamy and Lynneth had both grasped for the bread that was abandoned in her wake.

Patting her wet hands against her apron, the matriarch retrieved what looked like a letter from one of her crowded pockets. She smoothed the paper a little before handing it over to Sorrela, glancing over her daughter’s shoulder as she did, to confirm that none of the others had noticed.

“Do not let your father see this,” the mother advised, causing the recipient to pause, somewhat alarmed, before she dared now to unfold the thing.

“You read it ?” Sorrel frowned a little and prepared to protest, firmly clasping the correspondence to her chest, albeit belatedly. “That is my name on the front, mam,”

“Says there .. ‘to whomever else it may concern’,” Serenda returned, barely letting the complaint come before she had batted it away. Clearly she had readied her defence. And her daughter shook her head slowly, contemplating reading the thing straight away once more, for great now was her dismay that she should not be first to know what had been sent to her ! “I have to say it darling, I am concerned,” she was told then, in no uncertain terms.


“When did it ..” Sorrel was not permitted to proceed any further than that, as a chorus of excitement rose from the four younger women sat still at the table.

“Sorrel’s got a boyfriend ! Sorrel’s got a ..”

One hand curled around a jug half filled with water, one foot took a step toward the raucous crowd .. before they scattered as though she had wished it so. She would have foregone the noise though that still betrayed their unseen presence, had she any sort of control over her four younger sisters.

The bedroom was no option after that, but as the riots commenced even through the closed door, over who would get to wear what of their various laundry of clothes this day, the Guard Recruit sank onto a chair at the abandoned dinner table and ignored the quiet glance her mother hovered on, before making the dirty dishes her distraction.


She read the letter once, and then she read it three more times. By the time she was readying to make it five in total, the young woman’s mother was returned to her side.

“Johena saw him leave it under the door,” Serenda added further fuel unto the fire which must be extinguished. “That Guard,” she put in then, sensing the annoyance. “The young one. She described him. And turns out, Roselly knows him, from the Guesthouse. Apparently he goes there to meet with informants, she says."

Sorrel held her patience as her mother proved which gossip-hound Roselly took after. She had heard before, of course, that some amidst the Guard met with informants at the Guesthouse. For all that the informants seemed to feel it was less conspicuous for them than to walk into the Tower Guard, most of them had no idea how bored Rose was at her job there, cleaning. The gossip and intrigue was likely the main reason that she stayed in such a post. Her thoughts having wondered to where she might ask amidst the Guards if it were worth her visiting the Guesthouse herself .. the Recruit was stunned back to the present by her mother's new point of thinking ..

"It is maybe best to allow you sisters to believe .. that he and you ..” After meeting her daughter’s expression at the insinuation of that silence, the mother took a deep sigh. “He has gone, after all,” she stiffly picked up where she had left off.

“Noone is going to believe that,” Sorrel rolled her eyes. Nobody that knew her, certainly. Though few of course did really. Save .. well, Iole for a one, she knew, would not believe it for a moment. “And I am .. not going to lie,” she realised aloud. “Not for him. Not for any of them. That is why I took this job in the first place, Mam. To get to the truth. Not to abandon it.”

That was what all Guards did though, in the end, apparently. Even he. She had begun to believe him. And now .. if she believed what he had written ? Folding the letter up as small as she could make it, Sorrel held it in her hand, though dropped that hand down to hang by her leg. “Is it a lie to not tell anyone about it at all ?” A grunt of dismay escaped the tall Recruit, as she almost subconsciously, began to pull her hair over one shoulder, working it through her fingers to see out the tangles. Searching for a hairbrush, in this house, was a case which would wear out a dozen City Guards. Still it would be easier than sifting through the tangles of thought inside her head now. At length, the daughter laid that smoothed head back over the top of her chair, and glanced up into her beloved, unflagging parent’s face, seeking for the same support and strength which she had always hoped she’d find had replicated in herself. Somehow. At some point. But for all the height though that she’d reached, with thanks to her gargantuan father, she had clearly not finished coming into her own yet. “Roselly has a mouth on her” she groaned. “It is better that I tell about the letter, than should she tell and it comes out that I kept it to myself ..”


“We must all keep things to ourselves, sometimes,” Serenda sniffed, her own thought gone to the dozens of letters which her best friend, Luisa, had sent her, and which she had squirrelled away from her husband's finding. He had a mouth on him as well ... “That is why our mouths can close as well as open. Your sister will only speak of what she thinks is interesting. Tell her it is a note about where to meet you for work today. Bore her. Rose has no wish to be boring ..”

“More lies, Mam !” the Guard recruit groaned. “And now my sisters are becoming involved in it all ? No. It is wrong.”

“Will they give you another supervisor now ?” was the only question which the mother could voice in response to that.

“After the second of the two they’ve already assigned to me skipped town, just like the first did ?” Sorrel sighed. “I have no idea. This letter says ‘to whomever else it may concern. But .. do I show it to the Captain ? It doesn’t read as though it ought to be common knowledge. And the Ehtyar is out of town ...”

“You’re not working alone today ?” Despite her eldest standing sturdy as a tree, Serenda worried. “Its not safe. Clearly ..”

“I’m to help with making it safe, Mam,” Sorrel almost even laughed aloud. “I expect I’ll get stuck with Thorley again. He’s been around longer than most of the others.” She did not need to wonder why they had never promoted that Guard. He’d stuck his neck out once, she knew, because of her father. Because his friend had asked him to. And it had gone badly. Now he kept his head down. He had advised her to do the same. She could not take this to him. He would bury it. And then they’d both be in trouble if it came out. And if it didn’t ? Then she’d be a liar, and a hypocrite.


“Be careful,” the mother of five set a kiss firm upon the head of her still seated child, and tuned away to attend her dishes. “That’s all you can do, my dear. Just promise me you will be careful. Last thing you need is to get pulled into some mess. You know what happened to ..”

“Yes, yes, I know.” the Guard Recruit sighed, and took herself into the small garden where she could consider the letter more privately. Or forget all about it and be glad to watch the birds in peace. Pretending to do so would perhaps at least console her worried mother some anyway.

This was so removed from all that she had hoped, when enlisting with the Guard. It was supposed to set her family upon the straight and narrow ! Not drag her, and the rest of them into further suspicion and ill repute. That ought to have died with her grandfather and his rather less than above board money lending 'schemes'. They had tried so hard, first her father but then his Ranger career had gotten thrown out. Now it was her turn ? She was doing what was right, she had to ..

She just had to figure out what that might be exactly.

He watched her stand then stretch saying she'd already slept for hours and that she was alright. He was glad for that. He could see the stress of worry for her friend was gone now. She then headed toward the kitchen after taking the knife and asking if he was hungry. He hadn't thought about it before, but he could go for something he supposed. "I could eat something." He answered as he turned to follow her into the kitchen.

It stared at him, that back door and the damage he'd done to it. "I..uhh, insist you send me the bill for that door." He motioned towards it. He looked back at her and watched her for abit. "You know, I can help you make something. Believe it or not, I can actually find my way around a kitchen. My mother insisted I knew how to at least feed myself. " He offered a small grin.

@Ercassie

Cali rolled her eyes when Nal refused to tell her the state of the kitchen. "Guess I'll have to go in there and have a look myself.." She threatened, teasingly. And then stared at him in something like a mix of amazement and unamused-ness as he declared that he was 'just proving her right'. "Wow. Yeah, thanks so much for that." The sarcasm in her tone was very obvious. She shook her head slightly, and then as he promised to have it all back 'like it was', a pillow, which had been previously rested near her and serving little other purpose until now, went flying toward his head. "I've seen how your glue works out, Nal." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "And I've heard enough crashes come from in there to know that you aren't going to be able to put things 'back like they were' without a good deal of it."

And then he proceeded to remind her just why he could be one of the most annoying guys she knew, by acting all proud of himself for his part in 'cat removal', despite the fact she had not wanted the cat removed at all. She rolled her eyes, and wished she had another pillow to toss at him, but decided maybe she ought not let him get to her too much. And throwing too many pillows had, in the past, proven as a very effective way to start a pillow fight, which was not her goal right now. Besides, he probably ought to be getting back to Trev, right? But then, maybe the topics had gotten a bit too intense for him, for the moment. Maybe he needed a breather.

"No, it's fine," She waved off his offer to recapture the cat, albeit with a little laugh as Nal saw fit to clarify that he meant the cat, not Trev. "She might be hungry, or maybe she wanted to check out our visitor. Or she might have wanted to go outside for a bit." Cali shrugged slightly. A little nod was all she responded to his comment 'about what you'd expect'. "So.. are they nearly done? It seems like you guys have been in there for days, talking." She glanced toward the door, hoping Trev was doing alright.

---

@Isolde Alarion

Cali slid the knife back into the block with the other knives, and smiled at Mourgan when he mentioned he could eat. "Well, good. It seems like the least I can do, after all I've put you through today." She said with a half laugh. Noticing how he was looking at the door, she was a little surprised when he said to send him the bill for it. "Oh, well.." She glanced at it. "I was going to ask Nal if he could ask his father to look at it. I hear he's pretty good at carpentry and such." She explained, thinking a moment. "I don't blame you for that. I was the one who said to break it down, remember?" She pointed out. "But anyway, don't worry about it. I might even see about working out a trade with him, you know.. making some him some nails or tools or something he might need, in return for fixing the door." She shrugged slightly, not tremendously concerned about it.

She was a bit surprised, then, when Mourgan said that he could help with cooking. "Oh?" She smiled slightly. "Well, maybe we could work together on the food, then. I can cook, but..it's not that great." She admitted. "I mean, I did learn a lot when I was living with my sister in law, taking care of my niece and nephew, and all that. But Ivornith's cooking was always far better received than mine," She laughed lightly as she opened the pantry door and looked thoughtfully at what was inside. "So... any thoughts?" She asked, glancing at him, curious what sort of cooking skills he might have.

@Arnyn

Captain Pele Alarion
The Citadel, Seventh Circle

Pele made sure to listen carefully to the details Arnyn shared with the King, even though the two of them had already gone through it all before. She did not interfere or add anything, and her gaze did occasionally roam away towards the window even though her mind remained focused.

"To be honest," she began to respond to the King's question hesitantly and with quite a lot of reluctance in comparison with the Lieutenant's zeal. "I do not want to go to Umbar. I would want to stay as far away from it as I could for the rest of my days." Pele had decided there was no use to hide where she stood emotionally in relation to the matter, at least not before Arnyn, or the King.

"However, it does not give me excuses to ignore the fact that others may be suffering the same fate as I did, or might still, if nothing is done," her voice while relatively calm and quiet bore the undertones of determination. "So yes, I am willing and ready to go to Umbar, for the sake of our people and to make sure the slavers' sense of impunity is proved wrong."

At the same time, Pele was very well aware that even if they planned their mission the minutest detail, it can still go very wrong and there was a possibility of lives lost. In fact, there was a possibility that none of them would return.

"I do not think the other Rangers would need much in terms of motivation, m'lord, not after the dealings with Relic," she then continued, with more confidence. "I'm sure they would follow us, not unknowingly - fully informed of the danger. There is always risk, knowing the people we would be tackling, yet... if we do not do anything about it, would the risk not increase with time?"

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"Twin brother?" she mumbled quietly. What a strange thing to claim. Especially if only one 'brother' ever came to school? Why would a family school one brother and not the other? Or send one brother one day and the other the next? That made no sense. Unless... perhaps they did not have the money to put both brothers through proper schooling. Was it that expensive, though? Mentally, she shook her head. She was getting distracted. When Aderic's father was mentioned, however, that drew her attention. "His father? Is he still around the City?" she couldn't help but ask. Usually, parents had pretty complete picture of their children. It took a real psycho to hide faults from parents you grew up with day in, day out. Right? "Why would Cali be the one to ask about his father's words?" she questioned, as an afterthought.

She decided then, to keep one hand busy stroking the cat in her lap, and actually - finally - eat the small delicacy she'd picked up from the platter a while ago. The sweet taste stood in stark contrast to all the information that had been bestowed upon her, although she was still warmed by the vocalization and proof of Unalmis and Trevadir's trust.

@Arnyn @Ercassie
"Yeah," Trev rolled his eyes. "His 'identical twin'." he added. "He'd always be like, 'we look exactly alike, but it wasn't me, I swear, it must've been him'. It was his way of pushing the blame onto someone else, even when we said we had eyewitnesses and all that." He huffed a bit in annoyance, but refrained from grumbling under his breath. No amount of lies was going to get him out of this latest trouble. Trev was determined about that.

When Arnyn asked about Rip's father, Trev paused and thought for a moment to try and remember what he knew about the guy. "I... really have no idea, actually." He admitted. "I mean, I don't think they lived in the city, when I was growing up. I remember often seeing Rip walking from the Pelennor in the mornings, and then walking back out after school." He frowned. "But, I never knew where he lived or anything. None of us ever had any desire to go to where he lived, you know?"

As for the latter... Trev hesitated, then glanced down with a slow exhale. "Well. She was there that day, although she wasn't in the room. I remember Ryn telling us about it though. Rip and his father had come in to Ryn's dad's shop to get some practice swords or something, so he could teach him how to fight." He rolled his eyes. "As if he wasn't already a terror.." He muttered. "Anyway. Ryn and his father were the only ones there when he said that," He shrugged. "But.. they're both gone now. So, Cali's the closest thing to a witness there is, to that. I'd guess she remembers the details better than I do."

@Rillewen @Arnyn


He did not move to stop Cali when she threatened to go and spy out the state of the kitchen for herself. Unalmis simply crossed his arms, calling her bluff. Which called for a more hasty move thenafter, to catch the pillow which was hurled fast at his head. He managed it, stared at the fluffy missile which was caught up in his hands just like .. just like Cadil’s bag had been, when ‘Rip’ had thrown that at him the year before ... The tendency now for Nal to revisit almost every memory, in light of Trev’s revelations .. was no more settling this time than any other. But as the oblivious young woman continued to protest his every claim, as was her tendency, the young man simply tucked the pillow back into place behind her head with a smile, and lingered just long enough that she might grow concerned what else he was doing back there. From behind, she would not see when the smile faded.

Soon enough a short laugh from the Smith indicated the end of her lecture, and proved that humour would always serve a better distraction than any try at reason. Argue with a friend and they will keep that stubborn scowl for just as long as you appear to question their principles. But tickle that same friend .. they’d be at your mercy in moments and the most dreadful of matters forgotten, in favour of reaction. Of retaliation or of running away, or what have you. It was all the same. Really, people did underestimate the most effective and simple methods of coming back to the important things. The good things. The glimpse of his friend’s smile, for even a second, was a reminder of just what they were all fighting for anyway. Which was certainly as important to recall as what they were fighting against. Maybe more so.


Unalmis was not in the mood to tickle Cali right now, she would no doubt have been very grateful to know. Her leg would have lent a more delicate requirement to the fun, and the need to be ‘careful’ rather defied the point of tickling at all. Besides, she’d already returned to questions which he’d hoped the kitchen mess concerns might have diverted. So he chased his friend’s steady gaze back to the door, and frowned as expectation reared it’s head again. There really was no escape to be had from any of this, was there ?

“We’re no place near done,” he admitted his concern and his oath, more quietly than was his norm and maybe more honestly than he had meant to. And with an exaggerated sigh soon after, the Ranger glanced back to Cali and for a moment it looked like he might say something more, but in the end there was nothing offered. Nothing but “Wait .. you mean you’re Queen Beruthiel reborn and you sent that floof-ridden fleabag out to spy on the state of the kitchen, didn’t you ?” Unalmis shook his head, ignoring the fact that his entire tone had shifted back to one more familiar, and hesitated only for a moment at the door, before pushing through, mentally and physically. In the very same second then he retreated, and gathered up his friend’s empty cup from earlier, ready to take it through to the kitchen. At least he could scan the scene in the dining room, en route, and see where things had fallen. And whether they wanted him back yet.


“I’ll go find out,” he promised Cali .. the possibility of some peace without his presence to annoy her.

@Ercassie @Rillewen

"Perhaps Androllius has his father listed as an emergency contact with the City Guard," Arnyn mused. "I could inquire about that." Falling silent for a moment as she looked over her notes, she grabbed another one of the sweets. Without thinking on it, she was calmly petting Nalcap, who was still in her lap. Arnyn looked at the cat. A really beautiful pet.

"Trevadir," she started slowly. "You and Unalmis have given me all of this information. I am definitely going to do some further digging and propose action to the Captain - and if she agrees - to the King. Tell me, how do you feel about strangers.. well, other than Unamis... going after Devedir? You are a civilian," she clarified. "Despite being an excellent informant, and having been at the center of this..."

At that point, the door opened, drawing her gaze. It closed again, almost immediately, however. It made Nalcat jump to the floor, leaving Arnyn slightly bereft. The Lieutenant blinked, then looked back at Trevadir. "... you would not be able to physically be a part of any sort of mission or action."