[X] Agree with both Artemis and Axton and Lancel's plans. Leave during the night and head north to Castle Legerius, using Ryza's nightvision for guidance.
-[X] It might be worth considering using Ryza's lightning magic to allow everyone else to see where they're walking once we're far enough that Robert and his goons won't be able to see it, but don't do it if the others think it would be a bad idea.
"Marching thus at night a battalion is doubly impressive. The silent monster is full of restrained power, resolute in its onward sweep, impervious to danger."
-Lord MacGill
Your thoughts race; everyone had brought up good points so it was tricky to try and think of the best ones, but you were smart, you could do it.
"I think both Artemis and Axton make good points," you say finally. "And I don't see why we can't do both." You kick at the ground. "If we keep up our current pace, it will take us more than a week to get to Agrithe; that's plenty of time for something to go wrong. Better for us to go find more friends who can help us, like Kelton's people did." You look at Axton. "But at the same time, just staying here tonight won't help us: it just gives them more time to think, and we've always done best when we can think and they just have to react to us."
"It'll be dangerous," Axton says quietly, but he doesn't sound aggressive, just voicing ideas. "We can't see in the dark like you can; we stopped at the base of the mountain specifically because you were worried you wouldn't be able to guide us safely."
You nod. "That's true, but we didn't really need to move much faster then: we already had a good lead, and they didn't know we were gone yet. It was better to be safe. Now, we have those horses right behind us the whole way, meaning we can't get any rest. We need to get away from them, and if I'm the only one who can travel at night, then it's better we use that."
Kelton shrugs. "I would have preferred to solve the problem more permanently, but the kid makes some good points, and she's right that all our plans pretty much rely on her, so she gets a bigger vote than others. No offense, my lady."
"None taken," Artemis says. "Alright; that sounds like a good compromise to me." She glances out the window. "We should have some better cloud cover in an hour or two: we set up watch until then in case Robert tries something, then we slip out the back way." Everyone nods. "Excellent. Lancel; you go first: try to keep out of sight as much as possible, but leave some clue you're there. Axton, I'm going to try and set up a decoy for when we leave, something that'll keep Robert guessing."
Everyone sets about their work, and you find yourself with not much to do. You don't want to get out a scroll and read in case something happens, but whenever you try to ask if there's anything you can do to help you're told that, since you're going to be guiding everyone through the night soon, you should get some rest.
You occupy yourself with thinking about how you're going to do that. When you were guiding Artemis through your home, you'd needed to hold her hand for large portions of it, and while you wish you could do that here, you only have two hands. Instead, you decide that you'll need to imitate a duck: if you have everyone follow directly behind you, you can guide them all without having to directly guide each of them, just as a mother duck would guide her ducklings. It's a foolproof plan.
You're not quite sure why Kelton balks and Artemis stuffs her fist in her mouth when you describe it to them. Must be a human thing.
However, once you've convinced them that it's the best idea, all that's left to do is wait. A tense hour and a half passes before Artemis finally peeks out into the black night. "Alright; I think this is the best we're going to get," she whispers. "I see a fire on the hill; Robert's letting us know he's still there, though he probably has a few people watching from other angles." She carefully sets the strange thing that looked vaguely like a person she and Axton had clobbed together from a cloak, some sticks, and a bundle of moss swinging. "Feed the fire as much as you can; we want it to burn as long as possible, then let's go."
You lead the way out of the smallish hole Kelton had found; barely big enough for Actaeon to squeeze through. The horse does not seem happy, but with Artemis gently holding and shushing him, he seems willing to follow.
You pause for a moment, letting your eyes fully adjust before going further. You can't see the vibrant greens, browns and other colors in the night like a Black manakete would have been able to, but as the world sharpens around you you spot a figure standing in the trees a few dozen meters away. "Someone over there," you breath to Axton, who's right behind you. "Wait… wait…"
Finally, after a minute, the man shifts and moves away. "Okay, go!" you say, grabbing Axton's hand and leading the way, trusting him to guide the others along.
The first part of the journey is the most dangerous; it's mostly open ground down the hill on the other side from Robert himself. If you can make it to the tree line, you'll have some cover, but right now the only thing shielding you from sight is darkness. Thankfully, you'd taken the time to map the best route in your mind, and so there are no stumbles as you hustle down the hill and into the woods.
You slow to a stop: now noise will be your worst enemy. Axton nearly runs you over, but he's able to stop himself, and after a moment the whole procession slows.
You listen intently, but you don't hear any sounds of disturbance or alarm. "Okay, let's go," you whisper, starting to inch forward.
The going is slower than you'd expected. Even your darkvision has its limits: pools of particularly deep shadow blinding even you, and several time you nearly stumbled over a root or into a hole in the ground. However, with the occasional tiny flicker of lightning, you were able to prevent injury.
Harder, as it turned out, was keeping your "ducklings" in line. You had thought that they'd be able to just put their hands on each other's shoulders, but with the necessity of keeping a horse in line and weapons in hand, that turns out to be less viable. It's barely fifteen minutes before you have to rapidly extend a wing to catch Kelton as he gets separated and nearly blunders past you; unable to speak due to a shuffling noise not far from you that could be an animal, but could be one of the bandits. He grunts slightly as you push him back: even in your heart-form, your wings are strong, but thankfully he doesn't complain, and you continue on.
And on.
And on.
This… actually seems to be working. True, it's mentally exhausting, constantly keeping everything around you in focus as you try to keep going in the right direction. Artemis had mentioned once that she was able to navigate by stars , but the same clouds that were keeping you from being seen also prevented that. Instead, you are forced to rely on far more guesswork and hunches than you are comfortable with, but it's work-
Wait, Lancel just got separated. Stop everyone else and go get him.
Okay, now it's working.
You can't really tell how much time passes; it all starts to blur together. You've never been one to like going too long without a nap; and so it's painful to force yourself to keep going, step by step, realizing you've now gone an entire day without once stopping to rest (that hour and a half hadn't counted, you'd been plotting).
The first sign that something is changing is when you hear Artemis whisper something to Kelton, who whispers it to Axton, who passes it on to you. "Lady Artemis is wondering if there is anywhere safe enough to get some light, so that we can ease some of the burden on you," he asks.
You look ahead, frowning. "There's some tree line up that way, past a small ridge," you say. "We're on open ground right now, any light will be visible, but if we get there it should be safe to have a bit of light. I'll redirect us."
It takes a while and another few uses of your wings as makeshift walls (you are so glad everyone here knows about those and accepts them, this would be even more miserable without some way of quietly herding your friends) before you finally reach this next batch of trees. Once you're a little ways in, you form a ball of lightning in your hand and stabilize it into a rough facsimile of the sort of light orb a White manakete would make. "How's everyone doing?" you ask.
"We're doing well, Ryza," Artemis says, rubbing Actaeon's nose as he shies away from your lightning ball. "The question is, how are you doing?"
You shrug. "I'm a bit tired, but I'll be okay," you say. "If we can take little breaks like this, where we're all able to see, then I'll be fine for open spaces where we have to be sneaky."
Artemis frowns as she looks around. "While I understand that we have been traveling hard for the better part of a day, the further we can get from Robert before he realizes we're gone, the better off we will be. If you are all willing, I say we push on: we can rest during the day when it will be more likely we'll be spotted if we travel."
"Our lives are yours, my lady," Axton says. "If this is the best way to ensure safe passage, then we will endure."
"I'm down for it," Kelton says.
Artemis smiles. "Thank you, all of you," she says. "Very well, Ryza, take a break for a bit; we'll use light to get us through these woods."
You blink blearily as you uncurl, not quite sure where you are or what's going on. It's bright, too bright out to be asleep even though you're so tired…
"Hey, Ryza," Artemis's voice says gently.
Peering over, you stare at Artemis, who's leaning against a tree looking almost as tired as you feel, but still acting alert. "Artemis?" you say dumbly. You always sound dumb when you're tired, it's why you don't like being tired.
"Hush, it's okay," Artemis says, gently reaching out and rubbing your head. "Go back to sleep: you must be exhausted."
Frowning, you try to remember what you'd been doing. Last night… last night you'd all left the tower and kept walking… you'd all managed to make it to the woods and get some light… then you'd kept going.
Oh. Right.
You all had kept walking until dawn broke over the horizon. You'd led the way when you'd all been out in the open, using magic to light the way under cover, and you guess you'd overestimated your own stamina. You weren't in any danger of overload, but you were just so tired. Reaching unconsciously into your pocket, you pull out your dragonstone and press it to your temple, feeling a measure of your dragon's strength filling you.
Artemis gently covered your hand with hers. "I know the others are still asleep, but you should still be careful doing that," she said, a note of urgency in her voice. "I don't know what habits you formed before, but I'm afraid you're going to have to learn new habits."
Oh, right, humans had killed most of your people. You'd forgotten about that. You put your stone away, but don't say anything, just look out from the grove that you vaguely remember Artemis forcing you to stop at after you nearly broke your nose falling down. She'd said everyone was tired, and that was true, but it was clear they were stopping because of you. You'd felt bad about that.
"It's okay, Ryza," Artemis says, and you realize you must have said some of that aloud. "We made a lot of progress last night, and nobody's said anything about spotting people around since we've been keeping watch today. I think we made a clean break."
You nod. "Okay," you say, before frowning and squinting into the distance. "But how can you be sure, what with the clouds walking around over there?" you point towards a nearby hill.
Artemis turns her gaze to follow your finger before biting back a laugh. "Ryza, those aren't clouds. Those are sheep."
You peer at the strange things, frowning. They sure look like a cloud: all white and fluffy. You wonder if you could drink them: you'd tried to drink a low-flying cloud once after Father told you that they were made of water, but you'd just ended up getting wet.
Artemis continues to rub your head, humming. "Go to sleep, Ryza," she whispers. "You've done so much already; you can rest for a little bit; we should be able to make it to Countess Mantrae without any more problems."
A question occurs to you. "Artemis, why didn't you want to go to her first? You'd said she and your family are friends, why wouldn't you go straight there?"
Artemis frowns. "I'm not quite sure, I guess," she says. "I could say that I thought it'd be predictable, that the bandits would surely try to stop us. I could say that I didn't want to bring her any trouble. I could say that I didn't want to give even a friend any sort of leverage from a debt owed." She sighs. "In the end, I think all that's true, but also I wanted to show that we could get home without begging for help. Stupid, I know."
You shake your head. "I don't think it's stupid. Stupid would have been continuing to insist even after people said it was the best thing to do, but you didn't do that; we talked it out and we came up with a good plan. That's not stupid."
The human smiles. "You really are a sweetheart, Ryza," she says, slightly increasing the pressure on your scalp, causing you to press into her hand. "Go to sleep, little dragon."
"Manakete." you correct automatically, but you still shift to curl up next to Artemis to get in her shade and closing your eyes again.
You wake again to urgent whispering.
"-came from the wrong direction to be bandits," Lancel was saying.
"Can we risk it?" Axton counters. "Look at how they're talking, he wants something and she seems nervous."
You uncurl slowly, looking around to see what's going on.
It's almost dusk, the sun starting to sink towards the horizon, and the rest of the group are clustered around some trees near the edge, talking quietly. Carefully shifting yourself, you crawl over to join them.
Atop the hill where the cloud/sheep had been grazing, a group of mounted men are clustered around another figure that, when you focus, turns out to be a young woman dressed like some of the people in Miau, carrying a long stick with a hook on the end. The leader of the men is dressed a lot like Robert: his armor glinting in the sun as he stands. The woman is wringing her hands and gesturing, causing the armored man to wave a hand in what you think is a dismissive gesture.
"Could be Countess Mantrae's people," Kelton says quietly.
"Probably are, though that seems a bit big to be a simple traveling group, and so late in the day," Artemis says.
You start to open your mouth, but a faint rustling in the woods behind you causes you to cock your head. Turning, you focus… hoofbeats, just like Actaeons, but Actaeon's right over there and he's also looking in that- "Company," you say softly. "Trees behind us. Horses."
Artemis starts to turn, but before she can complete the move a pair of horses canter into the clearing before coming to a sudden halt. You shrink behind her as she leaps to her feet, drawing and nocking an arrow. However, the people on the horses seem more surprised to see you than you are to see them, simply gawking in your direction.
"Bloody hell, what's all this then," the man in front says. "Put those down!"
"As soon as you say who you are and who you're working for," Artemis says icily, her bow drawn and leveled. Glancing around, you see Axton and Lancel also have arrows drawn, and Kelton has stepped forward, his spear and shield out and leveled.
The front man starts to open his mouth again, but the woman behind him's eyes widen. "Biggs, isn't that her?" she says, pointing. "Isn't that Lady Cartese?"
Biggs peers at Artemis before swallowing. "Many apologies, milady," he says, clumsily bowing from the back of his horse. "When we were sent out looking for you, we didn't exactly expect to find you!"
"You were looking for me?" Artemis asks, not lowering her bow. "Who sent you?"
"Why, Sir Octavio, of course," the woman says, pointing towards the man on the hill. "Countess Mantrae said you were in some trouble, and we were sent out to make sure you were okay. Glad to see you're safe, milady!"
Artemis raises an eyebrow, but does slowly lower her bow. "And-"
A faint rumbling causes you to look back, and you realize that, in your efforts to get behind the others, you'd moved into clear view of the people on the hill, and someone had noticed. The horses were all cantering towards you, causing you to shrink back again. "Um, Artemis…" you say weakly, tugging on her cloak.
"I hear them, Ryza," she says softly. "I… I think these are friends."
The armored man spurs his horse to get ahead of his fellows, not quite galloping but certainly hurrying. As he comes closer, you finally get a good look at him:
He draws his horse (and it's even bigger than Actaeon! And wearing shiny armor of its own!) and starts to open his mouth before noticing Artemis.
"My Lady!" he says, swinging himself down before giving a deep bow, flourishing his hand oddly as he does. "Truly, the Spirits smile upon us this day, to see that you are safe!" He glanced around, a tiny frown crossing his face. "But… forgive me, I cannot help but notice that the fair Dame Selena is not with you."
Artemis flinches. "Selena's… she's gone," she says quietly.
It takes the cavalier a moment to figure out what she means, but his eyes widen. "I… my apologies, my lady," he says, his voice losing some of its flamboyance. "My deepest condolences for your loss: I know you were very close."
"Thank you."
He looks around. "But forgive me, where are my manners! Well met, companions of Lady Cartese! I am Sir Octavio, knight of Legerius and sworn man of Countess Mantrae. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
You glance surreptitiously between Sir Octavio and Kelton. Are all men from Legerius this… talkative? He seems nice, though, and so you nod back with a smile and a wave. "Hello."
He raises an eyebrow slightly as you speak, but he still smiles. "Well met, child," he says.
After the others introduce themselves, Sir Octavio looks up at the sky before nodding firmly. "As fine as this glade is, it is not place for a lady of your radiance to rest, Lady Cartese. Come, there is still light enough for a ride to Castle Legerius, where you will be the honored guest of Countess Mantrae and be able to sleep in the comfort you are due after these trying times. Catus, ride to Countess Mantrae and tell her our quest is successful!"
Artemis blinks as one of the men salutes and turns to gallop off. "Aren't… you going to ask what has happened first?" she asks.
"Perish the thought, fair lady! It is clear you and your company are exhausted and have suffered terribly: something that should not have happened in the lands of Countess Mantrae's domain! I would not force you to recount your trials before you have been given respite from them!" His smile took on a slightly rueful air. "That is, unless you want to tell the tale of your heroic escape from danger."
Artemis grimaces. "I am content to tell the story fewer times," she says. "And I'm sure Countess Mantrae will have her own questions when we reach her." As she starts to turn towards Actaeon, she pauses before looking back. "Sir Octavio, forgive me, I do not mean to sound ungrateful. Your arrival is… most appreciated, and I thank you." There was something off about her voice as she said that, but as you forced back a yawn you decided you didn't have the energy to ask. "Come on, Ryza, I think Actaeon's recovered enough for a short ride."
You blanch. "Um…"
Artemis smiles. "Don't worry so much, Ryza," she says. "I promise, he's very sweet. Come on, or you'll get left behind."
You don't feel too comforted, but as some of the people who came with Sir Octavio start to look at you oddly, you allow Artemis to lead you over to Actaeon and, with a bit of work, she manages to help you sit on his back.
Instantly, memories from your youth fill your mind. You'd ridden on Father and Mother's back many times when you were young, and although the feeling isn't right (Your legs hang on either side of the horse rather than curling around a spine, you aren't nearly as high up as you're used to, and there are no faint jolts of lightning to cause your legs to pleasantly tingle) it's so close that it takes your breath away.
Then Actaeon shifts under you, and you're forced to throw your arms around his neck with a squeak to try and hold on because there's no wings to support you.
Artemis giggles gently as she easily gets up behind you. "It's okay, Ryza, I got you," she says softly, pulling you back against her. "Please do not strangle my friend."
"Well if your friend would stop moving, I wouldn't have to," you say grumpily. Artemis just laughs again before nudging Actaeon's sides with her heels and oh wow you're moving forwards now this is so close to what things were like before but so different you felt like you were gonna be sick.
As you ride, what little of your focus isn't alternating between awe and terror keeps track of everyone. Lancel and Axton have been given their own horses; the riders that had been astride them relegated to riding with their fellows, while Kelton rides with Lancel. You wonder at this for a moment before you notice the two horses flanking Actaeon closely: keeping themselves between you, Artemis and the others.
It seems you and the Legerians aren't quite friends yet.
Thankfully, nobody stares at you too much; Sir Octavio and his people seem focused on keeping an eye out for any of the bandits as darkness starts to close in, the Mother's Light sinking down below the horizon. The stars are at least out, so there's more light to see by, and as the horses reach the path the journey seems to smooth out.
Finally, a little more than an hour later, Artemis speaks from behind you.
"Looks like we're almost there, Ryza."
You peer ahead into the darkness, you think at first that this Countess Mantrae lives in a mountain too. There's certainly a large, blocky shape with flickering lights coming from small holes all over it looming in front of you.
However, as you get closer, you realize that this is no mountain. Instead, a titanic structure of stone rises from the land, surrounded by massive walls and peaked by tall towers. At first, you convince yourself that surely the humans must have carved all of this out of a pre-existing rock, but eventually you are forced to recognize that this whole structure had been built from scratch.
"How…" you whisper, staring slack-jawed at the castle. How had they been able to do this: Even in dragon form, it would have taken years for Father and Mother to build something like this! You could have taken all the buildings in Miau and shoved them into a corner and barely even notice the lost space! Just how many humans were there that they needed something this big!?
"Impressive, isn't it?" Artemis asks, and you can hear her grin. "Just wait until you see Father's castle; it's even bigger."
They get bigger?!
Before your mind could fully process that statement, the massive walls of the castle are right in front of you, faint figures lit only by torchlight moving atop them. You weren't quite sure what to expect, but it seemed they were willing to let you in, as you heard a few shouts from inside, and the huge wooden doors swung open in front of you, allowing Sir Octavio to lead the way in.
As the group of you rode into a large, open area in front of the ginormous central building, you spotted a group of men and women carrying lanterns forming a pathway up the stairs. As your eyes followed them up, you saw a woman standing just before the doors, her own eyes gazing down at you all.
You fidget as Artemis dismounts before helping you down. There's something about that woman…
"It's okay, Ryza," Artemis whispers to you as the two of you mount the stairs. "She may look severe, but she's a good woman. We'll be safe here."
Before you can answer, you are all standing in front of the woman, and you shrink behind Artemis as Sir Octavio bows. "My Countess, I have found Lady Cartese and her surviving company, alive and well," he says dramatically.
The woman nods. "As skilled as ever, my knight," she says, her voice smooth as velvet. "Artemis, it has been quite some time."
Artemis steps to the fore of the group and curtsies, keeping her head lowered as she does. "It has, Countess Mantrae," she says in a tone you're more used to people using when talking to her.
Countess Mantrae gives a thin smile. "Do stand up straight, girl, there's no need for such ceremony tonight," she says.
Artemis rises to her full height, nodding. "Thank you, my lady, and my apologies for troubling you at this late hour."
"Do not concern yourself with that, Artemis, I was already awake. I am glad to see you; when I received word of Agrithian horses with no Agrethian riders, especially since you were running late, I feared that something unfortunate had transpired. It seems that I was correct to be concerned."
"You were, my lady," Artemis says. "Robert, one of my father's cavaliers, betrayed me to the bandits you heard of. My retainer, Selena, is dead, and I'm afraid I have brought trouble to your door."
Something passes over Countess Mantrae's face, but she shakes her head. "You have brought no trouble to me, dear girl. But we shall not speak of this further tonight: you and your companions look exhausted." She claps, and one of the women behind her steps forwards. "Maria, kindly see Lady Cartese and her entourage to the guest chambers."
"Of course, my lady," Maria says. "Lady Cartese, this way, if you would."
As you follow Artemis, you glance back at Countess Mantrae, who meets your eye. You're not quite sure what to expect: a friendly smile, a confused cock of the head, an annoyed narrowing of the eyes.
You don't expect a slight flinch and a quick aversion of her gaze. Before you can try to figure out what that means, Maria leads you around the corner and Countess Mantrae is out of sight, though you do notice that there are four men armed like Kelton who fall silently in behind your group
A few minutes later, as your eyes start to droop as the energy you'd gotten from your daytime nap begins to fade, Maria stops in a corridor that looks just like the dozen others you'd passed through. "Is there anything you need, my lady?" she asks Artemis, ignoring the rest of you.
"No, thank you," Artemis says. "Please convey once again my appreciation to Countess Mantrae."
The woman bows. "Of course, my lady," she says. "Rest well, you are safe now." With that, she turns perfectly on her heel and leaves. The four soldiers silently position themselves; two on either end of the corridor, facing outwards.
As you start to follow Artemis to her room, she gently nudges you towards the room next to hers. "There's enough for everyone, Ryza," she says. "You can have your own room."
A part of you wants to insist on going with Artemis; you haven't slept alone once since you woke in the shrine your father sealed you in, and you don't really want to start now, but if Artemis wants some privacy you'll respect that. "Okay," you say, allowing her to herd you into a bedroom.
It's… okay. It's a bit smaller than yours, but more than that it just feels empty. It has nice furniture, a window looking out towards the mountains to the east, but it's clear that this isn't used much. Everything is… cold. Sterile.
However, it has a soft bed, so it'll do.
Pausing only to push your backpack into a corner, you bury yourself completely under the covers and go to sleep.
You don't know exactly how long you sleep, but eventually even your tired mind and body can't resist, and you poke your head out with a groan.
The room, aside from being brightened by the risen sun, is much the same as before. The only difference you notice is a set of cloths that had somehow been laid out on a chair without you knowing (though with how deeply you'd been sleeping, Mother could probably have roared last night and you wouldn't have woken.)
Now that you're awake, however, you can hear the sounds from outside. There are some birds, but more than that, you hear voices. Countless voices, like Miau but so much louder. Carefully peeking out the window, you gasp when you see dozens, maybe even hundreds of people walking around outside!
For a moment, all you can do is stare. Intellectually, you'd known that there were more people in the world besides your family, and even if you hadn't Miau would have rectified that, but to see so many just… going about their daily lives, as if nothing strange was happening… it was an awe-inspiring feeling, but also a scary one. How would you be able to keep yourself from getting swamped, either here or at Artemis's home, which was apparently even bigger.
As you kneel on the soft, fluffy bed, staring out the window, you wonder what you're going to do now.
[] You're still so tired, and this bed is so fluffy. Roll over, close your eyes again, and go back to sleep. You don't have the energy to deal with this right now.
[] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[] What scroll do you read?
-[] There are some odd papery things sitting on the shelves of the room. Are these the fabled tomes Artemis has told you about? You must know more.
[] Go find Artemis. You're feeling overwhelmed; Artemis has always been able to help with that.
[] Go find Axton and/or Lancel. Artemis deserves some sleep, but you don't want to be alone right now. Go see what they're up to.
[] Go find Kelton. Kelton's from around here, surely he knows best what this place is like.
[] Go find Sir Octavio. He seems nice, if a bit boisterous. Maybe you can go talk to him and he'll be a new friend!
[] Go exploring: This place is just so big! There's so many people! There's so much you can learn! Get out there and see what you can find!
As you shift, you glance at your bag. The cloths Countess Mantrae had left for you are nice, but you had packed those even nicer cloths Mother made for you. The ones she'd said for when for special occasions. You'd been planning to save them for when you met with Artemis's family, but it might be a good idea to look your best for Countess Mantrae.
Plus, it might be fun to look pretty.
Do you take the time to dress up?
[] Yes
[] No
EDITED AN: Note that there's a voting moratorium to encourage discussion. since this vote could have some long-reaching consequences.
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[x] There are some odd papery things sitting on the shelves of the room. Are these the fabled tomes Artemis has told you about? You must know more.
Do you take the time to dress up?
[X] Yes
let's enjoy ourselves before we're inevitably stabbed in the back.
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[x] There are some odd papery things sitting on the shelves of the room. Are these the fabled tomes Artemis has told you about? You must know more.
Do you take the time to dress up?
[X] Yes
let's enjoy ourselves before we're inevitably stabbed in the back.
Personally, I'm averse to dressing in the clothes we found. We might be presenting ourselves as someone equal to Artemis in front of the Countess, which might put Artemis on the spot.
As you follow Artemis, you glance back at Countess Mantrae, who meets your eye. You're not quite sure what to expect: a friendly smile, a confused cock of the head, an annoyed narrowing of the eyes.
You don't expect a slight flinch and a quick aversion of her gaze.
As you shift, you glance at your bag. The cloths Countess Mantrae had left for you are nice, but you had packed those even nicer cloths Mother made for you. The ones she'd said for when for special occasions. You'd been planning to save them for when you met with Artemis's family, but it might be a good idea to look your best for Countess Mantrae.
I think the Dress Up is to wear our packed clothes since she says that the packed cloths are nicer. So if you don't want to wear the clothes given to us, then we need to dress up.
I think the Dress Up is to wear our packed clothes since she says that the packed cloths are nicer. So if you don't want to wear the clothes given to us, then we need to dress up.
This is correct: if you choose Yes, you're taking the time to dig out the nice clothes you picked up from the box and put those on properly, if you choose No you'll put on what you're offered, since the cloths you wore to bed are not quite presentable anymore.
If I put on my tinfoil hat and try to speculate the nature of the betrayal... way back when we first left the mountain and were deciding the route to take, Artemis gave us some brief backstory to this place.
And yet Artemis being late prompted them to dispatch search teams of knights, an endeavor said knights themselves expressed doubt in actually being successful? That's... suspicious. Especially since when Artemis raises the prospect of encountering a search team on this route in the above discussion she says it's possible her father might send one.
If I had to hazard a guess, this Empire is looking to capture Artemis and roped the Countess and Robert into it. Whether this was part of the deal the Countess negotiated with the Empire (since in terms of a kingdom's history, "recently" could still have been years ago) or just the Empire leaning super hard on them in spite of it IDK but from our perspective it probably doesn't matter much either way.
So with that said... the vote. Even though Ryza's suspicion radar has gone off we're going to need evidence if we want to have a chance of alerting Artemis before whatever trap is sprung. So ironically, I think talking to Artemis won't really help, she'll just continue to assume (not entirely wrongly) that Ryza is just nervous over a new experience and reassure her the Countess is a good person and everything is fine. Talking to Axton, Lancel, or Kelton are wildcards because I don't know maybe we stumble into something with them... Kelton would be the best for that I think. Looking for Octavio is the direct approach but it feels pretty OoC to me? He's probably in on whatever is going on here but... Exploring the castle is the wildcard option, we might end up eavesdropping on things. As for reading... to Ryza's disappointment I'm pretty sure magic tomes aren't just kept in guest rooms. I'd love the intrigue option that there's some evidence of treachery there but realistically that's hard to imagine too - who would keep that stuff in a guest room? Even if they perhaps assume Ryza can't read.
So in terms of productive activity here, I think my favored options are to explore the castle, read the books in the room, or talk to Kelton. I know I just said I have a hard time believing useful info would be in the books here but it'd be such a delicious way to thwart this I want to believe LOL. As for clothes, I agree with Brainbow's post that it'd be better not to risk raising questions about Ryza's social status.
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] No
Vote is open now if I'm understanding things correctly.
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] No
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] No
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] No
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes
I think if we're going to hang around Artemis it's important that Ryza appear to be someone with the social status to make that acceptable, so the clothes will be helpful.
The concerns about a betrayal are interesting, but I don't feel like we have any great options for exploring that right now. There's exploring the castle and talking to Sir Octavio, but both are kind of shots in the dark. For now I think I'd prefer to improve Ryza's magical knowledge. That'll put us in good stead for dealing with problems later, if necessary.
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes
[X] You're still so tired, and this bed is so fluffy. Roll over, close your eyes again, and go back to sleep. You don't have the energy to deal with this right now.
[X] Yes
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] No
[X] You're a bit tired, but you have some energy. Maybe you can read a bit, relax for a while.
-[X] Beyond your Stone: A Guide to Practical Magic
[X] Yes