Room with a View

[visualspice]

OOC: This thread is open to anyone interested in plots found here.

The collected whits of like minded individuals was a rich commodity. The people of Uthlyn were a well educated bunch, if anything, but a bunch who were still at a point in their lives they were still forming their political opinions. It wasn't a surprise that most scholars were still in support of the Grand Duke, finding his reasons, although, perhaps rash, were exactly what Ansgar himself might do. After all, they were a country built on strength of the people, their minds and their creations-
Not the 'magics' most of those praise in the south.

For it, many new infrastructural ideas were coming into bloom, which had lead to the great building of the New Church of Ansgar in the capital. It had become an overwhelming success as far as architecture was concerned and propaganda. It provided many jobs and a means to pray in a church with new style for the citizens of Reajh.

Uthlyn took this very idea to mind, and was concocting a new set of towers to the west, where a pair of bridges would join them in a new architectural feat. There would be a bridge over the land that no only offered more defense, but a boastful superiority on what Connlaothians were best known for. And in this key time in it's history, Connlaothians were truly looking to make marks on the world.

First thing was first, was to even get the idea approved and funded. The towers would be a twin tower, both mirroring the other in the North and South of the area. They would both be located on the outside of opposing Matron rivers, and allow a taller outlook over the flat lands. The uthlyn tower was currently the only structure that allowed such lengthy sites, and with more height and prominent location, the towers would surely add to the great landmarks that made up Connlaoth as a whole.

This idea was being proposed now in the city square, where many people were congregating outside the tower of Uthlyn and the college nearby. The speaker there had many good key points, and while many in the streets were listening, Cullen preferred his view to be a bit higher in prospective. So he had taken to the Tower in Uthlyn, and moved to one of the top most floors where he was high enough to over hear the proposal, but not be too high so the winds would drown it out.

He also was no fool, and knew too many knew his face in such a location. He had taken to greasing up his hair in black oil, and painting his eyebrows and lashes the same in color. ANd with his long hair now back in a tail, he looked completely different than the wanted criminal he had become. But he looked handsome, and very proper in his blue suit as he peered out from the stone window, while scholars, too busy studying for their exams, were still nose deep in their books- though had one ear open to the murmurs from the crowds below.

[TreeFolk]

Again. The image of her family members being dragged away lit again in a wholly new horror, this time not of her mother's death and loss of her sisters, but of her father and younger brother being taken away. Ailbe's father had just enough time to tell her to run. And run she did, all the way to their humble shack where she lit it ablaze and left the village she had since known as home. All she could do was pray that Lorcan would see the burnt hull of their home and stay out at sea. That he, too, would not be captured by the soldiers and taken forcibly away, perhaps to be killed.

Shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her oilskin fisherman's coat, Ailbe refused to believe that her long ago captured sister, nor her recently taken father and brother, were dead. They were all still alive, and all she need do was seek help to rescue them! And the only one she knew for certain that could help her now was the handsome man who had delivered the recent families of mages to be smuggled away by her brother Lorcan on their fishing vessel.

And so here she was in Uthlyn, sticking out like a sore thumb among the crowds surrounding a speaker in her raincoat and rainboots. She bent to pull the wool socks further up her legs, sweating underneath the stuffy raincoat as she looked up to the sky, eyes squinting as she wished for rain. She had not had the time or presence of mind to take her dress or a pack with her, only what money she could scrounge together and a few fishing knives and such.

Now that she was here, she was quite beside herself on how to go about finding the man. He had called himself Cullen, but she certainly could not go around asking folk if they had seen or heard of him. As young as she was, she still knew the danger that would bring to herself and the man. Shrugging out of her heavy raincoat, Ailbe's tight-fitting sleeveless undershirt damp with sweat, she placed the jacket beneath her as she sat perched on the steps of a building on the outskirts of the crowd. She clasped her fingerless gloved hands together, staring down at them as she fought back the hopeless, angry tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

[Jounin64]

Meanwhile in Reajh

"Aldwin, sir, you requested my presence. Is there another mission for me?" The young artificer looks nervously around The Clinic, she never felt comfortable getting missions from the infamous Witch Doctor, but she never disobeys. Glancing down at her wrist, she shutters, remembering what happened last time she did. Besides this was apart of their arrangement.

The masked man of Thanati descent adjusts his coat then looks at her. The tinted goggles to his plague doctor mask only increases the discomfort of looking him in the eyes. "Yes I do, but very different from my previous tasks." He begins pacing. "Other agents reported troubling news that Uthlyn is planning on making a new landmark."

Confused, Lynette interrupts him. "How will that concern us? We've never operated out of the capital."

Rubbing his temple, Aldwin stops pacing. "Lynette, Lynette, Lynette. You've seen how this new church of Ansgar has been a central point of propaganda and brainwashing here. Ms. Norville please use your deductive ability and see that this landmark is another subtle way for the nobles to sway support to their side. They are trying to make themselves seem unbreakable." He pauses to let this set in to Lynette. "I will be the one to break them. I will take my experiments and show them what all their friends and family have become. I will show them what happens when you kill and enslave innocent people."

Though his voice was calm, a distinct venom was laced with every word. "So that is why you, my most trusted agent, will be guarding the home front. Whatever you do make sure no one finds The Clinic's location. Do you understand?"

Gulping, Lynette nods. "Yes sir, I can do that." Her feelings were mixed about this. She for one is happy the those flesh monstrosities won't be under her feet whenever she enters The Clinic, but she doesn't know if its the right way to go about it. But like every decision she's doubted her boss on, she shoves the thoughts to the back of her mind." 

Aldwin smiles under his mask. "Good, I will try to be back within the month, I already have other agents keeping the tunnels clear." And with that Aldwin steps down to his dungeon. Within it holds a dozen former humans in cells who have become more or less feral, and see Aldwin as their alpha. Unlocking their cells, the flesh monsters slowly creep out of captivity. "Come my subjects, we have a statement to make."

[Saber-Five]

A cloaked figure hidden himself in the shadows of alleyway close to the college. He watched in silence as the crowd that gathered in the city square, listening to the speech about the Regime's latest project. Nemesis had no love for the Grand Duke and his cronies but he realized there were plenty of good and honest people of various classes who blind themselves to the injustices their rulers had committed.

In many ways the vigilante understood why, the fear of the unknown, the fear of change, the fear of magic. Yes magic can be dangerous...when abused the same as you would with political power. It's not the powers or abilities that are the problem it's the wielders who choose to commit wrongs that are at fault. A Mage did kill the last Grand Duke was it a crime that the whole nation had to pay for? Many times since he opened his eyes to the truth that Nemesis asked himself that question.

The crime fighting crusader guessed that no one really knew the answer.

This would be an excellent chance to pull another stunt.

Nemesis thought but he decided not to avoid making a scene unless there is a need for it. So far he didn't see one. Yet Nemesis had been hearing rumors of something big was going to happen here today and it wasn't the event he was watching now. The information was vague but Nemesis felt there is a storm coming, one born of trouble. The vigilante intended to stay in the city until that suspicion is proven true or not

"Ansgar, I hope I'm wrong." Nemesis whispered softy to himself.

[visualspice]

He and Fiona had been on the road for forever, or at least the past few days felt like forever. He was grouchy, grumpy and any other word one might think to describe it- he was . So when he was making his way towards his home, and noted a large gathering in the town square, he rolled his eyes and grumbled over to his traveling partner,

"God, don't people have jobs to do?" Although he didn't realize it was nearing the holy Day of Respite. But then again, he wasn't much to attend church, or really believe in all of that. Church seemed like a thing for those with money. "Looks like we might have to take another way to get to my place," he grumbled. He hadn't been home in months, and since he had been greeted with a draft paper by the soldier's at the town gate, and now had to deal with this group of people in his way, it only made the already soured mooded Jack, well... sour-er...a nd... moodier.

[DragonSong]

Fiona tilted her head, shifting unconsciously a little closer to Jack as they approached the large crowd. He may not be the most palatable of companions, but he was still safer than a mass of people she didn't know.

"Don't you think they're all going to church?" she murmured. She may be a bit of a shut in, but she at least knew the holy days of the calendar. Well, most of them anyway.

[visualspice]

Jack made a face and rolled his eyes at Fiona.
"Oh, please. You think there are this many faithful ruffians? And the church is the other direction, the one we had come from remember? You think their so devout with their backs to it?"

He was still pushing through the crowds, which was annoying but easier for him than it might be for most. He had rather strong shoulders. As they moved in a chaotic but intimate pattern through the masses, he was beginning to hear bits of conversation over a concern that seemed to be creating a tense, growing presence over all.

"Matron's Hallow is scarred, the bridge needs repaired, yet here we all are on the streets listening to proposals for two new bridges? We can't even keep the ones we have, what's stopping the traitors from offing these two once they're built?"

"Yeah, and who knows how long Uthlyn will even be safe for us to keep pretending the war is outside and not in."

"The draft is already taking the remaining men. Soon the women will be running the home and the jobs."

"And soon we'll all be bowing down to that Duke from Turgall!"

These such murmurs from the crowd drew attention away from the speaker, as he went quiet and looked out towards the people.

"Are there comments you all have about the proposal?"

[DragonSong]

She screwed her face up at him, huffing indignantly, but kept her mouth shut as she followed him through the crowd. Well how was she supposed to know where the church was anyway?

Fiona couldn't help listening closely to the snippets of conversation her sensitive ears manage to pick up. They seemed like reasonable complaints to her. Perhaps these people were going to try to make some sort of change.

When the speaker addressed the crowd, she automatically shrank back against Jack's side, ducking her eyes. "What proposal is he talking about?" she whispered, hoping no one else would overhear.

[visualspice]

"Hell if I know, I wasn't paying attention. I just want to go home," Jack complained. He looked around, dark eyes still grumpy, as was his disposition. "Come on.." He grabbed her by the hand and began to pull her through the crowd.

"Yeah, how about we stop ignoring the real problem!" A man from the crowd called out. "Matron's Hallow was just under attack! How can we be sure we're even safe here when the next city over is war torn?"

"The Matron Bridge should be our concern! It was blown up!" A woman chimed in.

"Are there plans to fortify the city border? A lot of scholars, both local and foreign alike live here!" A well dressed man added in.

The crowed continued to grow restless, more words being spat forward until so many people were talking, it was hard to even know what was being said anymore. But as tension's continued to grow, Jack's grip on Fiona's hand tightened and he continued to pull her along- that was until he ran into some strange woman in a fisherman's coat and boots.

"Hey!" Jack growled. "Watch it there! We're trying to get through!"

[Saber-Five]

Legitimate concerns Nemesis thought, listening to the crowd as they voiced their complaints. The Turgall army is dangerously close to the city. Considering that fact, he is a bit surpsied that the Regime had been letting such armed opposition without a counter-attack. Perhaps they're more deserpate than he thought.

The vigilante scowl underneath his mask. For his blustering, the so-called God of War, Krah seem to be no where in sight to fight the threat. Was he truly a coward, Nemesis didn't think so that unless he see with his own two eyes. He hoped that the General Krah wasn't dead yet. Not because the crime fighter cared for the man because he personally wanted to avenge all the victims Krah had butchered in his so-called victories.

I swear Krah you will answer for your crimes. One way or another.

Nemesis squeezed his hands into fists at the very thought.

[Jounin64]

"Grrraghh....Herrrghh" The subjects continue to growl and grumble. Though they had no sign of discontent. These things did their part, helping him learn about human anatomy, and now they're going to help him in another way...a way that will cost many lives, but how Aldwin sees it, this is only an eye for a head.

Checkpoint after checkpoint, Aldwin treks through his underground tunnels. Eventually he reaches an opening, where one of his agents is dutifully awaiting for his arrival. "Sir, the door above us leads to my music shop, I have closed it for the day so no costumers will see your arrival."

"Very good, I can't unleash these subjects quite yet, its foolish to destroy without evaluation. Your music has been able to calm even the most wildest of beasts, correct?"

"That is correct sir."

"Very well, lull my subjects to sleep, I will wake them when the time is right." The agents nods, and Aldwin climbs up through the door. Exiting the shop, he begins his evaluation.

[TreeFolk]

The unrest amongst the crowd was what pulled Ailbe from her momentary lapse into self-pity. Although she was unclear exactly what the orator was talking about, it was clear that the public had opinions on it and quite a few other things.

Had she somehow found herself on the cusp of an uprising? She had heard that the larger cities in Connlaoth had begun to face the destruction of the war-torn country, but her small fisherman's village had seen next to nothing of the war. The closest the war had come to her village was through the mages, mostly the harmless and the innocent among them, who she and her family helped to sneak away in their boats to Serendipity and beyond. But here she was, and the tension among the people was palpable.

Standing up from where she was sitting, Ailbe tossed her mussed braid over her shoulder and tucked her fisherman's coat beneath her arm. She took a few tentative steps into the outskirts of the crowd to better hear what was being said, her heart hammering in her chest. There were an awful lot of people here... A lot of displeased people. Perhaps this wasn't the best place for her to wait to find Cullen... Perhaps she should leave and find some place higher up...

She had begun to weave her way back out of the crowd when she collided with a stocky man dragging a blonde woman through the crowds. Stumbling back a bit, Ailbe glared up at them both, her temper flaring. "Yeah, and me too! Not my fault you ain't got eyes!" She turned to keep forcing her way through the crowds, but she was fairly boxed in. She cleared her throat, trying her best to wiggle her way past.

[DragonSong]

"Oh!" Fiona winced and looked back and forth between Jack and the stranger. "Look, um, sorry. We just-"

She didn't seem to be paying much attention. Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair and tugged on Jack's hand. "C'mon, let's just get out of here."

[visualspice]

Still listening from his perch, Cullen's lips grew into a small smile at how the conversation in the square changed drastically.

"Interesting," Cullen mused. "Looks like the conversation has changed hands."

One of the scholars sitting nearby looked up from his book.He didn't need to ask for Cullen to inform him,
"Seems more of Uthlyn wants to talk about the war-"

A scholar cut him off, "What of it? What do they propose?"

Many others began to perk up now, looking towards Cullen.

"Its hard to hear from way up here. It might be easier to listen on the ground."

At Cullen's suggestion, most of the students left their studying and began to make their way quickly down the tower stairs. Cullen remained perched at the window, studying the crowd to gagde its demeanor. He was also scanning the crowd for familiar faces, be them friend.... Or foe.

[TreeFolk]

Ailbe was beginning to feel rather claustrophobic as she continued to weave her way out of the crowd, in the same direction as the man and woman who had just bumped into her. This was the path of least resistance through the crowd.

Finally emerging from the crowd, Ailbe leaned forward on her knees and sighed in relief, using her rainjacket to wick some of the sweat from her forehead. She straightened up and looked around, finally angling herself in the direction of the tower. She looked it up and down, and could just barely make out a figure in one of the higher windows of the tower.

[Cambie]

It took his carriage the better part of an hour to traverse the tightly packed streets of Uthlyn, and by the time the horse drew the vehicle under the College's portcullis and into the cobblestoned quadrangle, Fletcher was nearly fuming.  "What the bloody hell was that about?" he asked his driver angrily as his boots hit stone, a handful of bound scrolls under his arm. 

"Some sort of demonstration, my Lord," the driver replied with a shake of his head as he went to tend the horses.  "But it looks like the people are restless. I've never seen so many packing the streets.  And none o' them sounded happy.  It might be that bridge they're planning to build."

"Perfect," the young Master said with more than a modicum of sarcasm. "Late shipments, disrupted trade lines... I'm already behind schedule on my next order.  If my luck holds up, they'll be rioting and looting next."

The driver said nothing, but the concerned look upon his face betrayed his fear.  Fletcher sighed and patted the man on the arm.  Truthfully, he felt the concern too. "I know the war's getting a bit close, but we'll be fine, Janus. Here, bring my lockboxes and notes into my workshop and take the rest of the day off. Go spend time with your sons."

He had to figure out what was happening though, and while it felt relatively safe behind the walls of the College, he needed a vantage point.  Making a beeline straight for the Tower, he bounded the stone steps two at a time even as all manner of scholars descended past him.  The top floor of the Tower was nearly empty by now, books and papers still strewn across tabletops where they'd been abandoned.  Fletcher could hear the sounds from outside though. 

There was a man perched in the window with the best vantage point, and he quickly stepped over to the opening. "Excuse me," he said abruptly as he extended a looking glass and began peering down at the crowd gathered in the City square.

[Saber-Five]

Nemesis had stopped wasting his mind in anger at the Krah the criminal by this point. The crowd's mood had stolen his attention. If this keeps up they will reach a boiling point. As much as Nemesis sympathize with the people's frustration, he was concerned what their fury will possibly wrought if enraged further.

Riots can be messy affairs, people regardless if they done wrong or not end up suffering. Nemesis doubted if he can prevent one here as much he hated to admit it. Still if worse comes to worse, he didn't intend stand idly by.

Time to find another spot.

Finishing that thought, Nemesis drifted further back into the darkness.

[visualspice]

Cullen by no means hid his curiosity as he studied the man who came to share his window, or rather, was attempting very openly to take full advantage of it. He smiled at that and simply studied the man a he got to work putting some sort of scope together and looked down at the crowd.

"Seems the bridge talk's got them all mighty restless," he commented, looking from Fletcher then back out the window. "Hopefully they'll calm down soon. I'd hate to remain up here and have to piss in the school's chamber pots."  He moved to a nearby table and poured himself a glass of whine. "Care to share a cup? It's a good vintage, good year."

----

Elsewhere, down below, Jack simply stomped off through the crowd, pausing near the tower himself to scratch at his head. "I think the angry mob here is drawing out more people," he went on bitterly, and paused a moment when he saw the strange fisherman's jacket wearing woman from a moment before. Never a man to consider someone a spy, he couldn't help but wonder...
Was she a spy and did she know he and Fiona were mages? And so there he stood, quite obviously staring at her like some sort of frayed haired weirdo.

[TreeFolk]

Ailbe had a strange feeling somebody was watching her, and as she turned her head she found herself looking at the rude man from before. Was he following her? She swallowed heavily. Did he somehow know that she had been part of the team smuggling mages out of Connlaoth? Was he here to take her, too?

Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Ailbe turned and walked as quickly as she could away from them, peering over her shoulder as she did. She wanted to run... Oh she wanted to run so badly! If they caught her, too, then there would be no chance to get a hold of Cullen and to somehow find a way to rescue her father and brother!

[visualspice]

"Did you see that?" Jack asked, grabbing Fiona's shoulder and giving it a shake. "The woman from earlier..." He looked around, then to where she was disappearing. "I don't normally think too much into things, that's not my thing, but don't you think the way she was... looking at us? That it was a strange look?"