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Linde Xe' Almna

"Kyero is the Red-Eyed Demon, but he's also a human being."

0 · 3,451 views · located in Cre' Est

a character in “Assassin's Pledge: Awakening”, as played by KumoriRyuu

Description

Linde Xe' Almna

Image





Age: 21
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 135 lbs
Voice Example: Linde

Basic Personality: Linde is a very kind and compassionate woman who, as a doctor, seeks only to heal and do right by others. Her love of life drives her every decision, and she would sooner cut both her hands off than allow them to be used for killing someone else. However, she does have an edge to her. As the daughter of a Cre' Itian general, she has been taught confidence, self discipline and self respect, and the mindset of a proud warrior. She will kick your ass, and tend to your wounds directly after no matter the circumstances. To date, Linde has only let one person die in her care... And it is a death that haunts her every day.

Basic Background: Linde was born as the daughter of a Cre' Itian general who taught her a warrior's discipline and pride, and a mother who was a doctor and taught her nurturing and kindness. Blending the best of both worlds, Linde became a doctor herself and a self-appointed protector of her community in the capitol city of Cre' Est. She earned the nickname the "Angelic Knight of Cre' Est" for her kindness and tenacity in combat whenever her community was threatened by bandits, rogues, thieves, or whoever. Linde's most famous feat was defeating a mercenary named Carnal, and after soundly defeating him took him to her clinic to tend to his wounds before sending him on his way. However, Linde has one bit of baggage hanging onto her... Which you'll learn about in the RP.

So begins...

Linde Xe' Almna's Story

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Linde ate quietly as Lonan and Aetrius made small talk and spoke about what they were going to do. And, as luck would have it, she was finishing her meal as Aetrius asked for comments or suggestions.

She took a sip of her milk, finishing off the glass, and set the empty bottle on the table.

"I do have a suggestion or two." She said, gently setting her plate aside and putting her hands on the table.

"I believe it would be beneficial for us to compartmentalize our work. Today, Lonan can observe nobles and take notes on behavior, accents, posture, etc, while Aetrius and I work on gathering nobility clothing, especially the clothing they give their slaves. I am no expert, but I believe slaves are dressed a specific way that marks them as such here. This is all information and materials we should focus on."

She sat up a bit straighter.

"So. Lonan observes behaviors while Aetrius and I gather materials and take notes on presentation. Does this sound good to you both?"

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Aetrius nodded all the while Linde spoke and gave out suggestions for the day's plans. She agreed and nodded silently, and thought about how to go about things. Linde and her would need to observe nobles in a way to not bring about suspicion, and follow how they act and talk and just over all present themselves. She nodded as they discussed things with low voices as to not raise suspicion on them.

"I agree, Linde. We'll observe and look around for clothing options for the auction. If worse comes to worse, I can always just borrow some clothing and alter them to fit our looks so we don't raise awareness on the fact that we borrowed said things. As for Lolan, I say go to some of the more upper class parts of Valoc, and study there. Keep your wits about you, friend. And be safe. We'll meet back at the inn later tonight, or whenever we're done. Just knock on the door if you get back late, I'm sure our part won't take all too long, unless something....unexpected arises." she gave Lolan a knowing nod and stood to her feet, she'd need to dress more properly before they would go out for the day. If she was to act and look the part of a Veilbrand noble, or at least a slave master, she'd need to start looking the part.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Lonán nods at how the plan was formulating together and gave a smile to Linde. ”I was planning on trying to observe them anyhow today. Seeing what happens.” he smiled as he said that, finally ready to head for the upper crust of Valoc life. ”Wish me luck.”

He then stood up and went to his room. There he cleaned his hands, face, and hair. Then he got dressed into the an outfit that made him look the part of a Noble’s servant on an errand, whether from Saharan or Local, he was sure to blend in somehow. He looked at himself in the mirror and tied his hair into a manageable tail. Nodding in satisfaction he headed out of the Inn. He gave himself a final once over. He looked a bit plain, which was the point. A servant would never truly dress fancy for an errand run. Only if there was a party their master would be hosting. Or Mistress, if they were a woman.

Lonán Mentally slapped himself. ”Okay! Relax there! By Heresta, you’re happy your friends started courting and all of a sudden during work you get women on the brain. We got a job to do Lonán!” His common sense banged on his head like a hammer to get him to focus. The main thing was, he would traverse the upper class area and not attract attention. It’d help him observe Passerby Nobles. So adopting a mellow face and keeping his confidence in his head, he headed towards the upper class areas.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Linde nodded.

"Good luck, and stay safe Lonan." She said as she stood up.

Linde dressed modestly for her journey with Aetrius, and once she was ready to go she waited near the door for her companion with a smile.

Once Aetrius was ready, the pair of them left the inn and departed for the Noble District. It took around twenty minutes to walk there as it was deeper into the fortress city than they had expected. But once they were there they stuck to the market area to start to simply and casually mingle among the townsfolk and listen in on conversations.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna
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After they all agreed to their set plans, Aetrius and Linde returned to the room to change, and once they were in their more formal and Noble role clothing, they exited the room and Aetrius smiled and then nodded for Linde to follow her suit. Once they exited the inn, Aetrius clasped her hands together behind her back and made their way towards the Noble District. They made small talk on the way there, but once they arrived they put on their best efforts for being a noble and servant. Aetrius had her fair share of listening in on nobles in the past and knew some of their mannerisms and body language. Aetrius did her best to come across as a noble, straitened posture, hands clasped and walked in a more well kept manner. With Linde in tow she made her way through the district, trying her best to act the role.

They made their way to a small outside food area, and sat down. A small group of nobles were talking, and Aetrius tried to listen in on their conversation without it being in an out of place way, that would bring attention to them, and if it did, she'd easily play it off as her being new to the area and would appreciate help, but that is only if things went down hill for them, hoping things wouldn't go south that quickly. She remained listening in on their conversation, and looked to Linde for some help to keep them out of suspicion.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna
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After arriving in the Noble District's Marketplace and taking a seat near some chatty Kathy nobles, Linde looked around and saw/hear other nobles talking amongst themselves as well. And, returning to her student days, she brought out a journal and took notes with her pen and ink.

The primary traits that she picked up on immediately were their posture and bearing. There was an unyielding sense of confidence to them. Like nothing could ever make them look bad and they just walked 'above' everyone else. As well their posture was almost perfectly straight... Unnaturally straight. There was a natural curve to the spine, particularly in the lower back. But they seemed to be trying to force their backs entirely straight here which was an odd choice. That'd cause back problems not too far down the line if this was their 'natural' way of standing.

The next thing she noticed was language. Nobles here, across all of the groups she saw, spoke using the same general terminology. "Darling" was a very common word used by noblewomen even when talking to equal peers, it seemed. Though when it came to peers there was a genuine quality to it. An endearing quality. But when talking to a commoner, as there were a few here such as the merchants themselves, there was a condescending tone to it. "Dear" was used by men when talking to woman or, really, anyone of lower status. But amongst their peers, men referred to other men as "Sir."

The third thing Linde noticed was accent. They spoke with a distinctly hard accent with sharp "r's" and pronounced consonants like "t" and "k" especially. A sharp, hard tongue it seemed to match the fact that Veilbrand was the "Nation of Stone." It seemed appropriate that the Nobility would seek to speak in a way that mimics the hard and sharp nature of stone and gems that they coveted so much.

Next was clothing type. Noblemen seemed fond of robe-like garb with an over-shoulder cape. Or at least that was the most common thing Linde could see. Noblewomen seemed to, by and large, lean towards the finest dresses Linde had ever seen. They were tight to the frame up top and tapered out towards the bottom, but not overwhelmingly or obnoxiously so like some cities. They were shoulder-less, with straps from the chest wrapping around the neck. And not only was jewelry on their person such as fine necklaces and earrings, but it was part of their dresses too... It would be incredibly expensive to get clothing like that on their own. If Kyero didn't make it back with the funds they'd likely have to steal some using Aetrius' stealth abilities.

Linde looked to Aetrius and leaned close to her to whisper for her.

"The women's clothing seems insanely expensive and well-tailored. I don't see a single noblewoman without a dress like that anywhere... This could be a problem unless you think you can steal a dress and we can re-tailor it to your proportions." She said quietly.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna
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Aetrius sat there silently and took everything around her in, taking mental notes of the way they spoke and how they pronounced certain consonants and vowels, more so leaning on the former. She also noted the clothing they wore, far more formal and form fitting than she had expected, and felt a bit out of place as to what she decided to wear. And she knew she'd looked abit off with the dark rings around her eyes since she had broken her nose, but thankfully she was healing rather quickly and the bruises managed to only make her look as if she was only sleep deprived with a few scrapes and cuts, but thankfully no one questioned her too much, few odd looks here and there but that was it at most.

Aetrius leaned in as Linde got close and spoke to her nodding at what she said, "We can try to save up for one, but if it gets close enough to the auction day...I'm sure I can...procure us some clothing." she answered back, and then looked around casually and then stood up. She corrected her posture and crained her neck as she stretched all too casually, but in reality she easily slipped a piece of jewelry off of one of the nobles that was sitting down and had thrown back her head in laughter while the others were busliy laughing as well, a light weighted, high quality ruby tear drop and diamond covered necklace and procured it in her pocket and stretched more to seem as though nothing was out of the ordinary. She looked back at Linde and gestured her to follow her suit and began to casually walk away.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna
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Linde nodded and followed Aetrius as she walked away. Linde hadn't seen the snatch of the jewelry, so she was no wiser to it than anyone else. She wasn't that adept at spotting pickpockets.

As they walked, Linde happened to spy a Master and Slave a short distance away. She tapped Aetrius' arm and looked in the direction of the pair, and she jerked her head towards them indicating she wanted to go see them.

Leading Aetrius, Linde walked her over to a building corner to stand idly faking a conversation as they watched the pair go shopping.

"Leila, purchase the fruit for tonight's meal and return to me immediately darling." Said the Noblewoman Master to her Slave.

"Yes, milady."

'Milady.' So that was the appropriate response to her Master? Linde thought.

A few minutes later the woman was talking to one of her peers, and they began talking about Leila.

"She's a darling, for sure. She's so obedient it's almost endearing."

"Ah, so she is an obedient one then."

"Oh yes. Completely. I dress my servants appropriately for their behavior."

"Heh. Some do not do so, my dear. I know my neighbor dresses all of his slaves in full dress regardless of their obedience. He doesn't seem to care to show the skin of the obedient ones as is custom."

So obedience equals less clothing... She thought.

She turned to Aetrius and nodded, walking away with her to a more secluded spot to summarize what they'd seen and done.

"So, from what we just saw I have concluded that obedient slaves tend to show more skin. So if I am an obedient slave to you as my master, we'll need to find me an appropriately revealing outfit." She said quietly as if it was nothing.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna
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Aetrius silently nodded as Linde gestured to an obvious master and slave a few feet away, and followed suit to their direction and stood and acted as if she was having an in depth conversation with Linde, while in reality if anyone else was watching or listening, not a word was actually said. Aetrius was one to know how to fake many things, conversations was one of them, she had picked up on their conversation and understood what it was that Linde wanted. Eventually when they had heard enough, Linde had pulled Aetrius into a more secluded part of the district and spoke, causing Aetrius' face to turn a light pink.

You....You want to what? H-how r-revealing are we talking about?" She asked as a stutter came forth from her mouth.

She could feel the blush slowly creep across her face more and more as several different ways went through her mind.

At Aetrius' question, Linde looked over her shoulder to the slave girl who was just now coming back to her master.

She wore an... "outfit?" If it could be called that?

Linde blushed slightly at the sight of it, but if that's what she needed to wear...

"I think that's how revealing it needs to be."

Aetrius listened to what Linde said, and peeked back over to the aforementioned slave, and felt her face drain of all of its color. The thought of Linde having to dress like that sent a mix of emotions through Aetrius, mainly worry and fear, and also curiosity. But more so of the two former feelings. She shook her head of all the thoughts that she had and felt her blush worsen by the second.

"I-I....Uhm uh...D-don't think you need to be that revealing, d-don't you think?" She stammered out as she could tell she must have been as red as Lolan's hair.

And it caused her to feel even more embarrassed, which caused her to blush even more.

Linde looked at Aetrius with a light blush in her cheeks.

"The more obedient the slave, the more revealing the clothing. I don't really know how to act defiant or anything like that, so it's best I play to my strengths and be obedient. Wearing appropriate clothing is a necessity if we're going to pull this off."

She turned to face Aetrius.

"I um... I can just... Walk behind you most of the time if it helps at all. It's... Going to be embarrassing, kind of. Also, my scar..." She said, holding her chest.

Aetrius nodded a bit at what she said, it was true. By now Aetrius understood the odd customs were slaves here in Veilbrand, and sadly and reluctantly knew she'd have to go along with it. She sighed heavily and rubbed her neck.

"Yeah...I understand that....Just, don't want anyone staring at you, ya know..? I...I don't like the idea of that....But, like you said, for us to pull this off, I'm sure we'll think of something..." She said softly, and gently lifted Linde's chin when she held her chest after bringing up her scar again to Aetrius.

"We'll think of something, okay? No need to feel ashamed, right? Like you've always told me, after all." She said kindly, and then chuckled softly at the end as she gave Linde a reassuring smile.

Linde smiled in return to Aetrius' smile as her chin was lifted. She gave Aetrius a nod.

"I suppose I can fashion something up to hide my scar, if need be. Maybe just cut a tunic top to expose more of the belly and more shoulders... Do you think that would work better?"


Aetrius gently placed her hand on Linde's shoulder and gently squeezed, "We have plenty of time to think of something, okay? And if need be...I can play the part of the slave...I have experience in that field...More than enough...."

Her voice dipped again and she sighed, turning a bit to the side she looked and then nodded.

"We should be heading back soon, think we've gotten enough information for now. What do you think?" She asked softly as she looked back at Linde.

Linde kept her smile for Aetrius and nodded.

"Mm... You're right. Let's head back. We have the whole day to plan our next move."

Aetrius gave Linde a nod in return and turned on her heel and slowly made their way back to the inn. About an hour passed when they finally arrived back at the inn, and made their way back to the room. She tossed her boots into the corner after removing them and loosened her shirt as it was rather tight. She gave a light knock on the wall that led to Lolan's room, and would await for either a responsive knock on the wall or the door, whichever way Lolan would end up communicating with them. She looked back where Linde was and gave her a small smile when they made eye contact and looked back at the door, waiting for a possible response from their friend, hoping he made it back safely and without trouble.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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It was a long trek home, but after simply using the same route he used to get to the Noble District, Lonán had made his way back to the Prancing Pony and gave Hawk a nice one minute visit before heading into the Inn. For the next few minutes he had he spent it practicing his accent, trying to tweak it to make it sound as natural as he could possibly can, when there was a knock on his wall. It had to be the girls, back from their own recon. He sighed in relief and stood up and decided to knock on their door, just to signal them he was indeed back. ”Just in case they wanted to have an update or a report on my findings, but it’s possibly the same thing as I have so it could wait till tomorrow morning’s meeting. he thought.

Lonán exited his room, and walked to their door and hesitated for a moment or two. ”Wait a minute. They’re an item now, how do I know they’re not doing anything?!” He thought to himself, before shaking his head. Surely if they’re following Saharan customs in courtships they wouldn’t be at that stage yet! That’d be crazy. Shaking off that feeling of awkwardness in his mind he raises his hand and gave a light, yet somewhat noisy knock on the door given he hit the door with a knuckle. He then waited where he was at, hoping for either a reply, or no reply so he could either decide whether updating them today or tomorrow would be the best idea.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Linde heard the knock and allowed Lonan to enter. Upon his entry, she gave him a smile and walked back to sit down. Lonan took his seat, and Linde decided to get things started.

"So, what we found out today..." She began, taking out her notes and putting her journal on the table with the page she wrote in turned for Lonan to read.

"We found out that there are several key traits of the behavior of nobles, and I jotted them down for you. No doubt you saw many of the same things, but still the extra confirmation will be good for all of our confidence."

She looked slightly away.

"When it comes to slaves... It seems the less clothed they are, the more obedient they are." She muttered.

"We have plenty of time until the auction. 11 days total still... But I have to admit that the idea of wearing as little clothing as I saw the slave girl today wearing has me a bit... Self conscious." She said with a light chuckle, and a bit of pink in her cheeks as she glanced to Aetrius.

"Still. I'm a terrible actor, so it's best I not play the part of a noblewoman." What did you find, Lonan?

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Aetrius sat silently and listened as Linde spoke and nodded, "If Kyero doesn't come back soon enough with the clothing we'll need, I can easily procure us clothing for the parts, it won't be too hard, especially considering I took this as proof." Aetrius said as she took the necklace from her pocket and placed it on the table.

"This can be either used for money or for gaining clothing, whatever you think it will be the better use of. I know of a store I can probably bargain for a higher price. Just let me know what you'd rather it be aimed towards, and I'll do so." she said as she folded her hands in front of her on the table and looked at the others, waiting for their opinion on what she had brought up

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Lonán went inside their room and listened to Linde’s update with a nod and looked at the notes. Then his eyes nearly bulged out when he heard what clothing the slaves had to wear. ”Well, that’s interesting to know. I learned that the noblemen look down on anything and anyone lesser then they. If you’re shorter or younger then said noble man in the same circle, you’re given a cold shoulder. So in laymen’s terms, they’re arseholes to everyone lower then them, especially to each other. I’ve probably got a way to get myself in the mindset of that.” he explained, giving at least his feelings on how the Noblemen behaved.

Then Aetrius brought up the matter of clothing and how to procure them if Kyero hadn’t returned. Lonán nodded at her explanation, but all thoughts ceased when she procured a necklace from her pocket. ”Well, that’s a horse of a different color.” Lonán breathed out. ”If we can get something out of it, we’ll get something out of it. But let’s not worry about naming a price and just focus on some fancy clothes for the time being. Either that or finding out the actual Auctions’ location.”

Both had equal importance, as it was alright that they were dressed for their roles, but Lonán knew that sooner or later they had to find out where it was taking place.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Linde looked slightly wide-eyed at the necklace.

"When did you-... How did you get that?" She asked.

But it didn't seem to matter. She had it, and that's what mattered. Linde wasn't one for thievery, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The noble who lost it today would very likely be able to get it back or earn the money to replace it before long.

In the meantime, Linde nodded to Lonan's suggestion.

"Mm. I believe another day of studying the nobility is in order. We got some of the basics, but there are bound to be further intricacies we haven't seen yet. The clothing can wait for another day."

She stood up and walked to the door.

"Would anyone like to go downstairs for dinner? The sun's going down so now would be the best time to eat, don't you think?"

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Aetrius grinned at Linde's inquiry of how she got the necklace she had showed, "I borrowed it from a noble, all too easily. But that's neither here nor there, Linde." she gave a chuckle and sly grin as she looked at Linde. She knew she shouldn't have taken it, but they were in desperation for money and supplies, and she'd do what she could do.

She too stood up as Linde mentioned food and joined her at the door. "Food sounds great, actually. I could go for a meal about now, actually. As for Lolan, studying as much as we can is indeed a good idea, and we'll keep it up. Learn as much as we can and practice just as much, for this to go flawlessly, we'll need as much practice and information to use as we can get. For now, we can eat and gain some well deserved relaxation. Then we can move on from there." she gave the two a nod and began to slowly walk out of the room's door to downstairs for search of food.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Lonán took in what the others suggested and gave a very brisk nod. ”Alright. I’ll see what I can do about further studies. Might take me a day or two to learn about other things we may have missed.” he said, scratching the side of his face a bit. He leaned in his chair and then realized by the way he was sitting, he had just the thing to study Nobles on tomorrow. ”Like posture.” he added quickly.

At the invitation to dinner Lonán smiled. ”Dinner sounds excellent. I’ll join you.” He said. He then got up and began to follow everyone out the door, happy at the prospect of having food in his gullet to steady his nerves and to steel himself for the days of study ahead. He wanted it to go smoothly but at the back of his mind he knew only one simple phrase his father, Heresta damn him, always said. “Where is the fun in that? Better to roll the dice and see where luck always stands.”

He was a bastard of a father, but he had a point. Only Heresta knew what tomorrow could truly bring. He’ll have to be ready for it, whatever it may be. For now, supper awaited.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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As the group found its way to the inn's main dining room, they found a rather pleasant surprise waiting for them. A rare, rare sight indeed... A traveling string, percussion, and harp (replacing piano) ensemble just small enough to fit in the space, but large enough to fill the inn and the surrounding streets with the beautiful sounds of music they produced.

At the moment only the string section was playing, and it was a very soft, slow moving meandering series of melodies for ambiance which made even this sometimes unwelcoming inn seem very homely and comfortable.

Together the group sat down at a table near a window and ordered an evening meal. They made small talk for a time, and Linde continued to look over at the orchestra with a smile which spoke of memories past. Eventually, as they all began to finish their meal together the conversation took a slightly darker turn as it was brought up how dangerous what they were doing was. The mood was beginning to sour with everyone expressing concerns about numerous things from Linde's course as a slave to the fact that what they were doing was going to bring them into contact with a former Te'i Sai member.

Finally, Linde's heart could stand it no longer. The draw of the orchestra. The souring mood among their trio... She stood up and walked to the orchestra, gently tapping the shoulder of the section master (lead violin player) and whispered to him about something. He nodded with a smile from ear to ear and turned to the others in the ensemble giving them instructions as to what they were going to play.

Linde took a position on a small stage platform only about eight inches tall for singers, and clasped her hands in front of her stomach.

The section master stood and turned to the crowd, which was now beginning to grow from people looking through the windows and seeing such an angel on the stage preparing to sing.

"We are pleased to announce the debut performance for this ensemble of a piece we've desired to play but never could due to no requests... Until now. 'Lost in Thoughts, All Alone,' a staple of Cre' Itian culture and a song of hope in the darkness, sung by miss Linde Xe' Almna!" He announced.

Linde smiled with a slight flush in her cheeks as a few patrons clapped while others looked on curiously, having never heard the piece before.

The ensemble prepared themselves, and the string section began to play Lost in Thoughts, All Alone, followed by the harp (replacing the piano) playing an arpeggio to begin the piece proper with Linde beginning to sing one given her cue.

The performance, by the time it was finished, had once again gathered a crowd as Linde seemed to do wherever she went. An angelic beauty from Cre' Est singing a staple of her culture drew a crowd that made the entire inn's dining area a shoulder-to-shoulder standing room only event. Over one hundred people crammed into the room to hear Linde's performance.

And when it came to a conclusion Linde gave a bow to thunderous applause and cheers before giving a gesture to the ensemble which stood behind her and bowed once again in unison with her.

Linde stepped off the platform and walked through the crowd back to her table, sitting down with the others as the room began to slowly clear of those who came to watch the performance.

"... I hope you enjoyed the performance," she said quietly, blushing rather thoroughly as her hands tucked between her legs and her shoulders curled forward, a classic posture of mild embarrassment.

"I've never sung it publicly before, but I thought it would help relieve the tension. We have much to do and a dangerous road ahead, but... I believe we will all be fine as long as we stay together." She said with a smile.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Aetrius was enjoying the dinner they were sharing and the conversations that were brought up, laughter and smiles all around, even from her. But as time had gone on, conversation turned to their mission, quickly turning the mood sour and awkward. Aetrius hoped to think of something to lighten and lessen the souring mood, but before she could properly think of something, Linde stood up and walked to the band that was playing, she observed silently as Linde was obviously requesting a song. But what surprised her next is that Linde got up on the small platform to perform the song, apparently. She didn't know that Linde could sing, but she would now, and she waited with baited breath to see how it would go.

She watched silently as Linde sang an unfamiliar song, and couldn't help but smile all the while with a small blush to her face. She listened and couldn't help but smile and sway as she closed her eyes and listened. Eventually the song ended, and Linde returned, Aetrius clapped until Linde sat down, "Well done, Linde. Well done, indeed. Glad to see you're one for music as well. I'd offer, but uh...Not exactly one to sing in public....heh..." she rubbed the back of her neck and smiled shyly with an embarrassed blush spread across her face.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Lonán was eating his meal when his heart indeed grew heavy over the mission. The merriment seemed to stagnate and turn awkward. He felt tempted to tell one of the stories his mother learned from Grandmother Sigrun who learned them herself was a young warrior traveling around the continent with a group of warriors dubbed the ‘Lionesses of Heresta’. Trouble was... which tale could he tell that sounded more hilarious?

Then Linde stood up and approached the band. Lonán observed her as she then stood up on the platform as the band announced a song from Cre’est. Then she sang, and the beauty, sadness, and the hope behind the song softly rocked his anxieties to sleep, leaving Lonán to revel in its melody in silence. His mind replayed the more happier memories of his childhood, from the few friends he used to play with, the training with the Old Wolf, etc. Any regrets in those memories, any doubts, they were being drowned out by Linde’s song.

When it was over, he almost didn’t want it to. He looked at Aetrius and then at Linde, and gave a small smile. ”You’ve got a good one Aetrius. I’m almost jealous, but Heresta will guide me to the Mate meant for me. In time. It happened that way to the Old Wolf after all.” He thought as Linde came back as he joined in the applause.

”Well Done, Well Done. An extraordinary performance. As for what you said Aetrius, I’d do the same thing without hesitation. I know a few songs, and picked up songs from traveling with the Carnival of Shifting Sands.” he offered with a grin, leaning back on his chair with said grin, feeling like his normal self again.

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Character Portrait: Korriban "Aetrius" Borral Character Portrait: Linde Xe' Almna Character Portrait: Lonán Arzura
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Linde smiled as the others clapped and congratulated her on a fine performance, and she remained quiet and bashful about it for the remainder of the evening.

After they'd shot the breeze to relieve the tension for a short time longer, they all went back to their rooms to rest. Lonan back to his, Linde and Aetri back to theirs. And, as with the previous night, Linde cuddled into Aetri's arms, falling asleep with her head on her shoulder within minutes.

The next morning came all too quickly for the trio. Lonan would return to his studying of nobility while Linde and Aetri would continue studying the behaviors of nobles and slaves which meant another trip to the Noble District.

And on this day, Linde and Aetrius managed to observe several things which they'd either missed or not been fortunate enough to be shown last time including the following:

The nobility speak only to commoners in the event there is business to discuss. They do not speak to those of a "lower" social class than them. Lower nobility is fine, though there is condescension involved. But never to commoners unless they have some kind of business.

Secondly was that noble women in particular wore a decent amount of makeup when going out in public. If they knew they weren't going to leave their home for the day, or for more than one brief outing, they would wear very little makeup. But for extended trips into the city, heavy makeup was used including cheek blush, lip stick, powder on the face, and sometimes even face paints for family insignias or other cultural symbols.

Thirdly, they only saw two slaves today. But both slaves demonstrated a very particular action which was reflected by the one from yesterday as well... They walked with their eyes down watching their Master's feet, following directly behind them. And always at a distance of at least two paces (roughly 8 feet).

The day passed very quickly for the pair. They took a couple breaks here and there for meals and drinks, and overall caught two more things about slaves before the day was done.

One, slaves never spoke unless given permission by the Master or unless directly answering to the Master's request or orders. Two, Slaves never made eye contact with whoever they spoke to. It seemed like taboo for them to look anyone in the eye.

And that was their day. They returned to the inn in the evening and sat down to prepare for dinner, but first they needed to wait and see how Lonan's day went.