Snippet #2117938

Ven sat with his back to the wall, his shoulders hunched and his head staring down at a piece of paper and a few components of random stuff. The tavern was basically empty at this point in time, giving him the perfect work space. He wondered why more people didn’t get up this early…oh well. He hadn’t seen anyone else that morning, though he supposed he could have just missed them. He wasn’t exactly at his most attentive.

    Zet had been awake for an hour or so, after all he always did wake up at the crack of dawn, providing he slept at all of course. There were things in his past that haunted him sometimes, things that he rarely ever talked about. Things that would sometimes keep him awake, though his training made up for the lack of sleep. The past hour or so, Zet was walking around the town. He’d been here once before, but the Krovi’s came here much more often. They weren’t seen of as a threat here, being a very well guarded town, as well as many years of dealings with the Krovi’s and seeing no ill will towards the town. Zet felt like he could belong here, which was odd for him. Rarely did he feel that way; however how he felt it was of little importance looking at the grand scheme of things.

    Zet entered the Tavern, after all it was where they’d agreed to meet the next day. When he entered and saw the nearly empty place, he noticed the Sorian Guardian doing… something. Surprised to see anyone up at this hour, he walked over to him. Better then sitting alone, right? “Umm… Ven, right? You’re up earlier then I would have expected. What is it you’re working on, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Ven didn’t notice Zet walk into the tavern until he spoke, and even then he didn’t attract Ven’s attention until called by name. He looked up, puzzled, wondering who could be up this early and who would be talking to him by name. Ah, yes, the hooded man. What was his name…Zet? Yes, that sounded right, “It’s quiet early in the morning. Easier to work. As for what I am working on, the wind host is sensitive to sound. I agreed to attempt at making something to help him cope with this side effect.” This was a bit of a lie; he hadn’t necessarily asked him to do it. He pretty much volunteered to do it after he realized he was sound sensitive. After all, those wads of paper he’d given him were primitive and worked, but they didn’t do a great job, “What about you? Why are you up so early, Mr. Zet?”

Zet listened to Ven, just crossing his arms as he did so. Sometimes this helped Zet think. It’s more of a natural reflex that he just did, then actually helping him think though obviously. “I see. Well I suppose a more quiet and uncrowded work place would be more efficient. Sounds like you are pretty handy with these kind of things. I’m more geared for battle myself. Trained for survival in the most harsh of conditions, yet ask me to do something like that and I’m not sure I could do much more then cotton or some kind of cloth earplug. I suppose the old gem hosts knew what they were doing when they picked us.” Zet sat down at Ven’s table, invited or not. Cracking his neck, while still keeping up his hood of course he just laughed a bit. “Mr. Zet? Just Zet is fine, really. I’m always up at this time. I’ve just been walking around town though. Gotta admire such a self sufficient place.”

Ven nodded, his concentration split between what he was doing and Zet, “Indeed. While it lacks the grandeur of the Sorian cities, it’s mere front gates are probably more practical.” It was more than obvious in Ven’s tone that he had no love for the Sorian cities, but he didn’t continue, “As for this, it’s just something I’m good at. Been doing it since I was a kid, never really stopped. My father wanted me to join the priesthood, and to squelch my talent. No thanks. I’d rather roam and tinker than stand at the front of a church and talk to a crowd. Never was good at that. Never really tried. Didn’t like it.”

    Zet listened and smiled a bit. “Well seems to me you made the right choice. After all, I don’t see a man of the church among us do you? Can’t see how much use a preacher would be on the battlefield; while we’re in all out war. Helpful things though, well those will be umm, helpful. Of course we are up against the power of a full scale army, and we don’t even have the power of the gems to back us up personally, so if we all end up dead on the battlefield then maybe you did make the wrong choice after all. Either way though, it’s the adventure of a lifetime, and if I die fighting, so be it.”

“You’re a bit of a pessimist, aren’t you?” Ven replied simply, holding a component up to the light before fitting it into its place, “Ha! Finished. This’ll help him no matter what stage of his gem sickness he’s at.” He’d coined the term as they realized that the gem’s side effects wore off over time, “It has an adjustable knob here, that uh…well, you know what, you probably don’t care.” Ven pulled back his coat, showing a collection of glass bottles, one of which was missing. It was the bottle he had thrown the previous day in the fight that had caused the explosion. He pushed the earplugs into one of his many pockets and reminded himself to give it to Edwards later.

    Zet just snickered as Ven spoke. It wasn’t that he was funny, it was just different from what Zet was used to. “Pessimist? I’d more say I’m a realist. No use calling your shit green on the off chance you ate too many vegetables, or whatever it is that makes your shit green. My point is, no use on painting this situation great, with the odds so highly stacked against us. Do we stand a chance, depends on if the Gem hosts live up to the legend. If we do die though, we’ll have one hell of a time doing it.” Zet did frown a bit as Ven said he probably didn’t care. “Hey now, don’t go assuming I don’t care just because I can’t make it myself. I’m interested in what you can do, and wondering how it can be applied to my own personal talents.”

It was Ven’s turn to laugh a little, “I’m just surprised that you’d want to know the technical aspect of my work. Most people just want to know that it does work, not how it works.” He said, pointing to the drawing, “That knob controls the amount of air that can get into the ear. The more air, the more sound, obviously. It’s a fairly simply design, it was just finding the pieces that was difficult.” He said, crumpling the paper up before burning it in a nearby candle, “It’s always such a shame to have to do that…but some people will steal anything that isn’t nailed down, right? As for us winning this fight, I figure spooky ghosty gem soul things wouldn’t send us on a quest like this if they didn’t think we would win. I mean, sure, the odds are a little stacked, but it isn’t like we’re supposed to take on the entire army by ourselves, at once.”

    Zet listened to what Ven had to say, and it was interesting.  Zet thought that he got the jist of it at least, although if anyone asked him to replicate even something similar, they’d get cotton or cloth to shove in their ears.  “I usually like to know how things I’m around work, at least somewhat.  After all , I’d like to know if something has the chance to blow up, or the capabilities to bring harm to anything or anyone. Not that I think your gadget would fall into either of those categories…  It’s more a force of habit. My apologies if I offended.”

Zet watched on as Ven burned the designs of the gadget he made. It was a shame as he said, especially because without it written down, he can’t even pass the knowledge down to an apprentice in the future, or even have the basic drawing to make enhancements too. It was Ven’s business though, and Zet wasn’t about to try and talk him out of doing what he thought was correct. “Hmm… Taking on the whole army by ourselves or not, it’s still a tough mission. The Gem Spirits may have picked us well, and may even have picked the most capable of wielding their power, but no matter what anyone does, the will and drive of each individual just can’t be foreseen.  If even one of the hosts don’t live up to expectations, or we fail and let them fall in combat, I fear that the mission is lost and we won’t stand a chance.”

Ven nodded, putting his hand to his chin before shrugging, “Then we don’t. I don’t see much margin for choice, really. It’s as simple as we don’t let them fall in battle.” He said, before sitting back a little, putting his boots up on the table, “As for interest, hell, I’d be happy to share or talk about anything I make with just about anyone. Usually people simply aren’t interested. I find it interesting that someone in your line of work specifically would take interest in it. No offense intended, of course, I just don’t see a lot of assassins or mercenaries interested in machines…then again, I don’t see a lot of assassins, period, so I suppose that could be part of the problem…” he put his hand to his chin for a moment, as if to think, but then shook his head, “But I digress.”

Zet began to laugh a bit. “Well if you did see many assassins, then they wouldn’t be very good assassins, would they? I guess it’s as simple as not letting them fall, eh? I suppose I can’t argue with that.” He thought for a few minutes on why he was so interested. “I’m not a typical assassin. I only kill the wicked, requiring proof before each job. However, I’m very good at what I do. Part of that is because of my abilities and training but another part is because I’m quick to think on my feet. I guess I’m just interested in this stuff so it can benefit us in the future. Also, you never know when the smallest detail about something can be applicable to something else. It’s good for determining strengths, weaknesses, stuff like that... Guess my mind is a bit weird...”

Ven shrugged, “No, it makes perfect sense to me. But then again, I've always been called weird too.” He paused for a minute, shrugging again, “What do you think of our little rag tag group? If you look at strengths and weaknesses and all that, what do you see in our little team?” Ven asked, genuinely interested. Zet hadn't gotten to see them all in the bandit fight yesterday, but initial impressions could be important. He didn't know, but if he could be of any help, he'd make sure he knew about it before he was truly needed.

Zet sighed. In truth he wasn’t all that sure how his impressions on everyone was. “Scarlet and Kassidy don’t seem to be much of an asset on the battlefield yet. I have no doubt after some training, both physically and mentally, that they can be the legendary warriors they’re supposed to be, but they need work. A few of the Gem hosts seem competent and quite skilled, such as Jet and Arienna, but with how volatile the gems have been already, I don’t think we can afford to rely on those fighters yet. Then there’s others that are a complete mystery, like Edwards. While it’s rough to gauge his competence in battle, being a gem host it’s still difficult to rely on them either. That leaves us Guardians. I’m a trained killer, but Stealth is more my specialty. Not that I can’t hold my own in a group fight, it’s just not what I’m used too. Nadanna I’ve yet to see fight, but a Combat Medic for the Pyrian has to be able to hold her own out there. After all, they’re the ones holding the Shadelians back at this point. Not to seem rude to you, but I’m not really sure how or if you can hold your own well enough in a fight either. Inventors usually stray away from combat training and such, don’t they? Then again, I’ve never met many inventors either.”

Ven laughed a little at Zet's closing statements, “Don't underestimate me yet, my friend. Let me show you something.” Ven reached into his duster and pulled out a little glass bottle, roughly the size of an ink well, with glass just as thick, “These are concoctions of my own inventing. Come on, I'll show you what they do.” He said, getting up and stretching, before looking to the door, “The bottles are harder to come by than the chemicals in them, funny enough, but they aren't much of a hassle. Your simple apothecary generally carries everything I need. Sometimes I need to hit up an alchemist, but other than that, I can mostly home brew this stuff.” Once they were out of the town and a little ways into the forest, Ven bounced the little bottle in his hand. After a moment of contemplation, he cranked back and threw the bottle at a rock. The glass shattered and a shimmer green liquid splashed on a rock, dribbling down the sides and making hissing noises as the acid ate away at the rock, “That's just one of my little toys.”

Zet followed Ven out to the woods. He listened to what he said, and watched what he did. While the strategy seemed viable, it wasn’t very practical. The bottles were thick, there’s a chance it wouldn’t break if hitting flesh. Then even if it melted armor, without some kind of weapon, he wouldn’t be that much use either. “Your toys as you put it, are interesting. I still think we should train you with some kind of weapon though. It can’t hurt to have a bit of a backup, in case your toys don’t work too well for some reason. Not that I doubt the abilities of them, I just like to have a backup.”

Ven frowned a little. Zet was right, he knew he was right, but he still didn't like the thought. Sorians weren't exactly famous close quarters fighters, and it wasn't because they weren't strong enough. Even the slightest injury to the wing was excruciating. He sighed a bit, “I really would like to stay away from my enemies. I've tried something like a bow before, but...I just don't have the dexterity for it. Not in a stressful situation, anyway.” Truth was the best policy, wasn't it? He hoped so. After a moment, he smiled at Zet again, “Anyway, that's all I really had to show you. The other ones are a quick freeze solution, a extremely flammable one, and one that causes more of eh...you know...boom. Unfortunately, the ingredients for those are slightly harder to come by, and I couldn't find enough to distill anything worth using.”

Zet shrugged a bit. He didn’t really get all these chemical mixtures and stuff, although they sounded effective. “Sounds like you need to try something like a crossbow, or maybe throwing knives. Of course you could always invent something that could allow you to fight as well. I mean, a weapon doesn’t need to be conventional to be effective, and we are far from conventional. Who knows, maybe you’ll turn the tides of future warfare.” Zet smiled a little and started to walk back towards town. “Come on, I’m sure we’ll find some way for you to have a backup strategy.”

“Crossbow sounds good, I guess. That's basically just point and pull the trigger, right?” Egh...arrows. The bane of pretty much anything with wings. You could never put too much distance between yourself and an arrow, “Alright. So, hey, I have to ask. What exactly is our plan here? I mean, where do we even head? We can't just waltz into Zevlya, we'd need a huge army, right? So...what?”

“More or less. I’ve never been too good at crossbows or bows, but I’m sure we can find someone somewhere to show you the ropes.” Zet sighed as Ven asked what the plan was. To be honest, he only really had one general plan, and it was quite flawed. After all, they were a mix-match of misfits, and they needed an army. Things wouldn’t be easy at all. “Honestly, it only seems like one plan to me. The Gem hosts are supposed to be the group that all races can rally behind, to defeat this evil. So the plan, travel to each kingdom, visit their respective rulers, and do what we can to get their military support. They can provide us an army that we can lead to victory. Without them though, I don’t see a way we can win.”

Ven nodded a little, “Huh...I guess it makes as much sense as anything else. It's not much, but at least it's a plan. So we're heading for this capitol first then. You ever been there before? I mean, you're a Lethalian and all, right? Plus, I imagine you get around with your kind of job.” He was wondering if their little rag tag batch of heroes could even pull something like this off. After all, they'd barely managed to fight off a few bandits only yesterday. What chance did they have against trained soldiers? He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “Even with an army, do you really think we can do this? I mean...no offense at all to them or anything, but some of the hosts...they don't exactly seem like mythical warrior material or anything, you get what I mean?”

Zet stopped, sighed, and leaned on the nearest tree. “Krovi’s aren’t exactly welcome at the capitol. A clan that’s said to be made of murderous traitors, I guess using that logic I can’t blame them for not wanting one near their king. I’ll be lucky if I make it through the gate with you all. I’ll probably be attacked, locked up, just plain thrown out if I’m lucky. I don’t see much of a better plan though.” Zet wished that he was exaggerating, but unfortunately he wasn’t. Especially in the Lethlian kingdom, Krovi’s were quite hated. Even as a child, they are branded as traitors, as if just having Krovi blood made you willing to kill anyone in sight to fulfill one task. “Honestly, I don’t know. If they can harness their power, and become the heroes of legend, it’s possible. Unfortunately there’s always that chance that no matter how hard we try, we’ll be annihilated. If we do get an army, and no matter how hard we fight, we all die, then Elenia as we know it dies. It’s on us, or we’ll all die. Unfortunately, that’s the cold, hard, truth. Doesn’t really matter if they seem like it now or not. If they don’t live up to the standards set by legend, we’re all dead.”

“Yeah...I guess so...kinda dismal when you really think about it, huh?” He asked, crossing his arms and shaking his head. Everything and everyone depended on them. Finally, he stood straight up and sighed, “Alright, so that's the long term plan. Traipsing through the hills and forests like a merry band of heroes. But what about now. What's our plan for now? You're the only one who seems to know this area by any means, when do you think we ought to leave? Soon as possible, or wait a few days? We don't have nearly the money to buy horses, so we're on foot. How much money do we even have, pooled together?”

“Dismal perhaps, but at least it’s a chance. Better then rolling over.” Zet thought to himself for a few moments. He hadn’t much time to think about things, but Ven raised some good points. “After getting everyone settled in last night I returned to the sites where we killed the bandits to take what they had. Their corpses had no more use for money. They had a decent amount on them, and coupled with what I normally carry it should last us for a week or so in this town. However, that leaves nothing for supplies. We can afford to stay here for about five days, with enough money for supplies to get to our next destination."

Zet cleared his throat and sat on a nearby rock. “About a three day walk away from here, we’ll come across the home of a wealthy noble that owes me a favor. I was about 13, out on a mission with my father and cousin, when I came across some bandits attacking a young woman. I killed the 2 eldest, which left the rest too young to fight back. Ironically, the Roland family, whom I had to finish off last night. Anyway, I returned the young lady home, who just happened to be the daughter of this noble. I guess she was about seven at the time, turns out she was kidnapped from her home. I came upon her trying to escape, naturally failing, and them teaching her a lesson for it so to speak. Long story short, they owe me a favor. They are honorable people, and I believe they will help us financially, being reimbursed by the Krovi’s once I send word. It should hopefully take care of things until we reach the capitol, in which hopefully the King will help us out. If things don’t go that way, we’ll have to improvise. Luckily the land here has streams and animals, allowing us to survive on the land if need be.”

Ven nodded, thinking himself. If they were going to be calling in favors and such, he knew a few people in the area around the capitol. Most only through mail, but he knew a few, “I have a few contacts all over the place. Some in Pyranous, some in Terramoure, some even in Yarevon. All over the place. I have clients everywhere, you wouldn't believe it, and suppliers. I think I can help with calling in favors if we ever need to. Gotta say, Zet, and maybe you aren't used to hearing it, but I'm actually glad we have you with us. We'd all kinda be lost as shit otherwise. Okay, so you can get us through Yarevon, I imagine Monroe can do Terramoure, Kassidy can get Aquaria, Nadanna or Scarlet can get Pyranous, I have Tyfonas, and Arienna can get Zevlya. Sounds easy enough.” He stopped a moment, thinking about something crucial, something that had been bothering him for a little while now, “How long do you think it's going to be before we start seeing other people aside from bandits and shit attacking us? You know...Rune's followers?”

Zet laughed a bit. Glad he was along? That was something he never got, but when you figure the only other Lethlian is currently blind from the Gem, it would make sense. Plus a traveling mercenary knew his way around pretty well. “I guess the Gems do know what they’re doing if they chose everyone to fit a current role. Still, a few more guardians wouldn’t have hurt, although then we’d have to shell out more money I guess. Keep all your contacts in mind, never know when we’re gonna need em.” When Ven asked how long until other people started attacking them, Zet just sighed. “I’d imagine we have until the capitol. After that, rumors will probably spread like wildfires, and we may start seeing enemies before we even make it to Terramoure.”

“Sounds like loads of fun, and I absolutely can't wait.” Ven replied sarcastically, shrugging a little. At least they had a rough plan. Something else was nagging at him too, but it wasn't quite as important. The question made him smile a little, “So, speaking of rumors spreading like wildfires...you ran off pretty quick after Kassidy yesterday. Anything going on there? You two were near inseparable the entire walk.” He asked, snickering a bit as he looked at Zet.

Zet looked at Ven and just shook his head. “She was curious about my family, and I got a bit harsh with her. I felt bad, we started talking, and I said I would protect her. After all, we can’t have a host die already, right? I knew we were being followed, I just didn’t want to cause a panic, not that it helped at all. There’s nothing more then a friendship there. There’s no time to even contemplate anything more. After all, I’m still far too young to think about binding myself down.”

“Binding yourself down, huh? Hey, I don't really think we're in any position to talk about being too young for anything. After all, we could die any day now if we fail. Anyway, I was just curious. I won't pry if you don't wanna talk. I'm not much of a pep-talker or anything, but if you ever just need to talk, I'm a great listener. Just so you know it's out there. After all, we're all friends here, right? Now come on, I don't like being out in these woods when we know bandits are lurking around. Besides, it's been about an hour or so since I woke up, the others are probably waking up too.”

“In Krovi culture, we generally don’t even start looking for a significant other, until at least 30, when we’ve proved ourselves as a serious mercenary or made a name for ourselves. I’ve not made a name for myself, nor am I near old enough to even start thinking of someone in that kind of capacity. I will keep in mind that you are a good listener however.” Zet got up and continued on the way back. “Don’t worry, most bandits aren’t bold enough to attack in the light, and those that are I could handle easily.”

Ven shrugged. As excited as he was to get more blood on his hands, he'd rather just head back to town. Once they reached the town's gates, Ven stopped and looked at Zet, “Alright. Well, I'm going to go and find some books, maybe a map or something and read up on things edible and not edible in the wild. After all, don't want anyone choking on poisonous berries or something stupid like that. It was good to talk to you, Zet, and I hope we can do it again in the future.”

As they reached the gate Zet just nodded to Ven. “That sounds like a plan. Oh and it was good to talk to you too. I may not socialize much, but if you need anything... well don’t be afraid to ask. I may be a Krovi, but I don’t bite.”