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Kadri:

"And what would, if you were on the outside, be the best way to draw the noble Dayalan from the high walls? Head straight for the captives."

Mikal

He shrugs. "Perhaps, yes. But his pride and anger might make him come to her. I expect he'd be able to avoid the walls somehow and just appear next to her on top of the tower, but it should mean he comes alone."

Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

Daxia listened to Mikal's suggestion, a look of mild bemusement on her features...

Then looked at Kadri...

And back to Mikal before her eyebrows shot up, appalled at the very nature -- the Chaos -- of his suggestion.

Her gaze snapped back towards Romana.

"Does that manner of magic exist??"

The Heartwood
Bordertown
Sometime After Sunrise
Hasday, The Twenty-Second Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

In Daxia's Room ...

From her corner Romana hook her head,

"It ... it not like that, yesyes?

"Carnage ... that is His ... His ... His way?

"Must think ... biggest destructive ... biggest dramatic ... biggest bloodestiest ...

"If between where wants to go ....

"Nevers be surprised."

Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

She tilted her head slightly, considering.

"Then the question that must be asked and answered is... where does he want to go?"

Daxia glanced around the room.

"He wishes to keep His hated alive, and to do that Tashka and Linette must not live to see Her next rising." It was a simple statement, as was her next.

"My oath to Dayala demands that I stand between the defenseless and those who wish to harm them. Bound in magicked chains of Darksteel, the Priestesses are all but defenseless against an Avatar of He of the Red Scarf.

"So I must stand between them... and Him.

"Whether it be on the field outside Bordertown, the ruins before my Lady's well, or in the Chapel of my Lady's Temple, I must stand between them and Him.

"As Kisa Allaine pledged to Risha's Children at the end of the last Age, He will not reach them while there is a Dayalan to stand against Him."

Once again, the Dayalan scanned the room.

"I do not disagree with Mikal in his statement that we should not be separated. I think among us we have many skills that can work in harmony.

"Yes, shooting at them with arrows from the top of the tower is likely a good strategy." She looked at Darian.

"Dazi understand Hunter want to move. Not like stand on top of tower." She nodded. "Dazi ask Darian think... can see more Red Men, shoot more Red Men from tower top or close to ground?" Daxia waved a hand, a negative motion. "Not say yet. Just think good, yah? Mikal with no-skill bow," she said with a wink, "see more, shoot more Red Men from tower, Dazi think."

Next she looked between Camelia, Cesare and Kadri. "I've seen all of you with your dagger work. Camelia, Cesare... Mikal may well be right in suggesting you use your skills from within or atop the tower. But you, my friend," she said, looking at Kadri and shaking her head, "your greatest advantage is your... well, ability to misdirect attention, yes? And be sneaky." Daxia gave her friend a mock stern look. "No take Dazi carved horse again. Too special; from Papa." Her features relaxed again, though she was still serious. "I can understand your need to be... sneaky and causing mischief among the Chaos Riders, as that would be -- for you -- more effective than throwing knives. Just..." She paused for a heartbeat or two, lips pressed tightly together. "...be careful."

After a moment, her gaze turned to Dean... and she shrugged. "Unless you prefer to throw rocks or buckets of boiling water, I can't see you have much choice but to use your sword against the Riders. I will not ask you to stand between the Priestesses and the Avatar; He is Chaos and I serve the Goddess of Order, so that is rightfully my place. But eliminating any who follow him would be most appreciated," she said with a slight smile before turning to Romana.

And sighed.

"Romana is Romana is Romana, and Romana will do whatever Romana is able to do, yes? Just tell Dazi where Romana will be, ok?" she asked before her eyes slid over to Bekkah.

"You will be in the tower, and you will not argue with me about it." She said it gently, and there was more worry in Daxia's eyes when she looked at her sister than at any other time. "If you are safe, Dean will be safer for he will not also need to worry about protecting you. If Dean is not distracted, both he and I will be safer, yes?" She gave a single nod, before turning to the final member of their party.

"I know Longtooth can do little inside tower but sit and watch and wait. If Darian thinks more Red Men can be killed from top of tower, will Longtooth go with Darian... or stay outside to snap with fierce teeth at Red Men with Dazi and Dean and Kadri?"

Many questions; so now Daxia waits for the many answers.

Cesare

He leans against the door jamb, listening to the others talk. still slightly preoccupied by the reading earlier. It is a position that allows him to hear everything but also to watch the corridor, which he does.

"I don't have a fighter's armour, not sure if I could walk in it anyway, so the idea of stone walls for armour is appealing. The amount of killing is likely to increase the longer we stay alive, so defence is a good strategy. With fighters around the base, backs protected and those in tower can aid attack. And we are likely strongest together. Getting down from a tower, quickest way on the outside - can also be used to pull people to safety. Tower has merit."

Bekkah

"So you ask me to remain where I can be of no use?"

She understand why Daxia had suggested this and she wasn't exactly arguing, but she wanted her sister to understand what she was saying. How would Dazi react, if Bekkah told her to stay out of harm's way.

She looked at Squire Dean.

"Squire Dean, if I remain safe in the tower, will you vow to help keep my sister safe instead of me?"

Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

"Where you are of no use, Bekkah?" Daxia looked at her sister, eyebrows raised; it was a combination -- perhaps -- of both mild surprise and mild annoyance. "I would say, rather, you would be as close to those who might need your help as possible without those of us who might need your help having the need to worry for your safety.

"Whether or not the followers of He of the Red Scarf acknowledge the sacrosanct aspect of Lady Attera's followers is irrelevant, sister. Where Chaos flows like water down the mountain streams during the spring thaws, you cannot even expect the Riders to recognize you as a Lady of Attera."

Her look softened, but she still had a hard, determined look in her eyes.

"As Romana has already said, we must not be surprised by anything He does. I don't ask this of you to protect you, I ask this of you to protect Dean, to protect me. Especially to protect me.

"Do not put yourself in a place where He can use you against me.

"For if He were to take you, I would have to choose between saving my sister and being an Oathbreaker."

For long measured heartbeats, Daxia simply looked at her sister... her dear sister she had not seen in so many years, her dear sister she had missed as a drowning person misses air.

"Stay in the tower, Bekkah, so I have no cause to choose between you and my Lady Dayala," she said softly. "For as much as it would shatter my heart to a point it would never heal...

"In this instance, on this day, I would be forced to choose my Lady Dayala."

Bekkah

She was calm, but there was an edge to her sister's normally serene tone.

"From the tower, the only use I could be for you would be to raise your body once you are dead. So if staying out of the way is the best I can do, then why the tower? Why not the town, or better yet, I should find the first wagon heading out of town and travel as far from here as I can?"

[ooc: We need to give Mokie a chance here, because if he refuses to leave Bekkah's side and he also stays in the tower, then the situation changes.]

[OOC: Yes... because if Dean refuses to leave Bekkah's side and stays in the tower he is SO fired. ]

[ooc: At least they can agree on that :)]

[ooc: wait...what??? :)]

Dean

Looking from sister to sister uncomfortably, Dean sighs. "Lady Bekkah, I have sworn to protect you, and will not fail in my duty." He pauses and looks back at Daxia and says "I trust Lady Bekkah realizes that sometimes the best way for me to protect her will not be at her side. And I trust Lady Daxia realizes I will do whatever is necessary to protect her sister."

He nods to himself, seemingly thinking he has said enough, and settles back to his place against the wall.

Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

Daxia simply looked at her sister.

Looked between her and Dean.

And then at Bekkah again for a handful of breaths before she stood began gathering her now-clean armor.

"Do what you will, Bekkah," she said softly. "Do what you will."

Bekkah

She knew her sister was under a lot of stress so she just let her go. Things would work out.

Kadri:

"Dazi - am I every anything but careful? I will run if I must run and hit at soft places when they present themselves and melt back into shadow when they do not. I will be ... as a ghost."

Darian

"Darian look tower. If Darian can go top tower, not in, then Darian go roof. If not go tower roof then other roof or tall tree."

A pause then a look to Mikal and back to Dazi.

"Think possible get more arrows? Many handfulls."

Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

"Ta, Kadri," she said with a wan smile, before nodding to Darian. "Maybe. Mikal need get, yah? If no merchant have, maybe Guild Brothers share? If have arrow for Darian bow." She gave Mikal a questioning look before putting her armor carefully to the side.

Daxia looked towards Camelia and Romana again for their answers, before crouching down beside Longtooth to scritch behind his ears. She glanced between Darian and Longtooth, and her smile became less anemic, more relaxed.

"Hard Hunt from roof, yah?" she said to him. "Longtooth welcome snap-bite Red Men with Dazi, Dean, Kadri. Or stay by Lady Kay fire. Longtooth smart; Longtooth know best for Longtooth."

Cesare

"I think long term I need to learn a more effective long range weapon - there is a limit to how many daggers I can buy and carry - and a limit to how far I can throw one."

He shrugs, it is what it is.

"Just trying to think of ways I can contribute more from the roof, maybe with stuff more readily available like rocks."

He grins.

"What do people think? Any other suggestions?"

[In response to Gypsy's post and GM's deleted post]




Daxia
with the Gang at the Inn

Giving Longtooth one last scritch, Daxia stood again to recheck her scabbard carefully before sliding the sword in, to recheck the dagger's sheath before putting that away as well.

"You might want to consider a bow, Cesare, for the future," she said as she placed her weapons with her armor. "I think you have the strength and eye to learn a bow like Darian's or mine, though a crossbow like Mikal's might be quicker to learn. But other than throwing knives and rocks... well, perhaps Lady Kay or Lord Random have things to throw, though I doubt she would appreciate you tossing her pots off the roof or he would appreciate you tossing his books," she said, smiling.

She turned to Mikal, pausing for a moment in her tasks. "See if you can get more arrows for Darian... and yourself." The she nodded to Camelia. "Yes. Stay in town... do what you can to help here." Her brows furrowed for a moment. "Though Molkavin and Lady Kara are safe enough now from whatever might have threatened them if this..." She patted the folded vellum at her side. "...had been delivered, the Sheriff may still be at risk. A word to him may make a difference in his safety." Daxia shrugged. "Your sister considers him a friend; I would be loathe to see her lose one if it can be prevented.

"Cesare speaks of Fates, and you speak of Waves and Tides... the first implying that there are set Paths that one must walk, the second..." She looked at Camelia oddly. "The second sounds more like... like the Paths I see, trying to navigate them to find the best way to reach a goal." Both eyebrows raised in surprise. "Maybe I am starting to understand you... a little," she said with a true smile that last for a moment before she continued.

"While it's true neither you nor I -- nor any of us, for that matter -- could protect the Sheriff, and it's certainly true he will have plenty to worry about this night, a word of warning may make the difference in whether he enjoys the sight of Her rising in the morning or lies in Krysta's embrace. In this, for your sister's friend, I would challenge Cesare's Fates." Daxia tilted her head to one side, considering. "You could ask your Cards all manner of questions... Is he worth saving? Can he save himself without knowing treachery steals up from behind? Is it best to warn him of this treachery? I'm sure you could think of other questions, as well. But my... gut feelings... say it is best to warn him." She shrugged. "Like my Khorall, I tend trust them. But I also trust you. And I trust you to do what is right."

She gathered clean clothes, her travel clothes -- cream colored tunic and darker tan breeches -- before turning to Romana. "If the worst happens, Romana, it will not be good for anyone. But yes, it would be even less good for Romana. So Romana should be where Romana is safest while watching for whatever Romana expects, yes? No need to tell Dazidazidazi. Just be safest Romana, ok?" She smiled crookedly. "And that still may not be quite safe, yes? But safest Romana is best Romana."

Clean clothes and dagger in hand, she headed towards the door. "I am going to get a bath. Fern will be vexed to be used as a pack animal, but whatever extra supplies we can gather... she can carry. Meet us in the courtyard when you're all ready."

And she stepped out the door to find the bath she so desperately needed.

Cesare

As Daxia steps out, Cesare looks around the rest of them with a puzzled look, finally his eyes rest on Camelia but the question is for anyone.

"Who is this Sheriff and what was Daxia saying about him?"

Again he feels like he has missed something. The difference here is that instead of a shrug, he is actually asking.

Darian

"Bordertown Sherrif," Darian said. "Name on scroll Darian took from Red Rider."

Cesare

"What did this scroll say?"

Curiosity holds sway just now.

Mikal

He nods, getting up to go. "Will try to get more daggers as well." He pauses a moment, then asks Cesare and Kadri, "I don't suppose you know how to use a sling? Ammunition lying on the ground everywhere for those."

He glances at Daxia. "When I get back with whatever I can find will you know whether we make our stand atop the tower or on the ground outside? You already know my preference."

When they move out for the evening he plans to be near Daxia. He'd prefer that Daxia and the others be on top of the tower. Daxia can be in her armour and shouting imprecations from atop the tower just as easily as she can from the ground, but he sees his job as covering her flank. The advantage of the tower is it severely limits the options their enemy can take and offers such a tremendous combat advantage to them that not using it seems madness to him.

Cesare

He is still awaiting an answer to his last question but already his thoughts are moving elsewhere.

"Sling, no. But I can throw rocks if that is all I have, thinking of gathering some from around the ruins and carting them up the tower."

He looks back at Mikal.

"From what I understand Daxia's main motive for being on the ground is to stand between the two women and those trying to kill them. I'm no expert on how this curse might work but do they have to be alive when the avatar dies for the curse to be broken? If not, maybe.."

He gets ready to duck before he makes his suggestion.

"..maybe we could.. uhh.. kill them in the best way before the avatar and his minions arrive.. therefore Daxia has no need to protect them as they would not need it... unless of course the curse brings them back straight away."

He shrugs.

"Not my area.. just thinking aloud."