video ✨ seelie/unseelie

[gandere]

[ As it's still early in the day, Rin's at The Barrel finishing up her packing. The past couple days have been busy, full of codes being cracked and opinions being shattered thanks to Lady Alyosha's information. Now that she's had a chance to look outside, she notices something has gone missing. So popping her locket open on her desk, she continues to sort through her precious gems and minerals while addressing everyone at whole. ]

Hey, it's Tohsaka here.

Has anyone seen a boat? [ She visibly cringes with a quartz in hand at how vague of a question that is. ] It isn't very large, has a brightly multicolored sail, and was a gift from the monarchs. Overall it's a very nice boat.

[ Only Rin Tohsaka can lose an entire boat that was previously in her back yard. Revel in her misfortune or don't. Maybe help her locate the stupid thing. That would be a lot more helpful than laughing at her. ]

I figured with how many of us are traveling for the holidays and various other reasons that someone was bound to see it. So could you just let me know?

There's no reward because it's just a stupid boat. It unsettles me that it's gone missing, but if someone wants to hold it hostage, don't expect me to actually pay anything for it. Thanks, I guess. [ This is the last thing she needed before heading out!! ]

Comments

[gandere]

I have a couple ideas myself, but we'll just have to see if they're feasible. After speaking with a couple of other pilots who are used to flying in the skies, I'm able to determine what mechanics will be useful here in this world.

Anyway, it's not my intent to be direct in my goals--at least not yet. There's still a lot of planning to do and there are, er, other things that have our attention.

[ Which leaves her to be curious about his own. She's only heard of Saber's plans so far. ]

Private please?

permaprivate

[dragmire]

Very well. [He makes the adjustment to the conversation.]

I presume you wish the speak of grimmer matters. What are your intentions?

[gandere]

My skills aren't being used to their fullest and it's unsettling. I'm asking if you have any use for someone who is willing to go out. So far my allies believe I'm running a trade route around the Station up north beyond the troll-lands back into Caer Scima.

If I'm able to help you, it'd make me look favorable to the monarchs. I'd like to get their attention before I push forward with my plans for the skies.

[dragmire]

[Ah. An interesting proposal. The truth of it is, he intended to only contribute as much as he needed to prevent the Seelie from gaining a victory. He had no desire to expend his forces more than he needed. This was not the battle he'd been preparing himself for.

Still, if she wishes to lend her services...]

I might ask you to help defend Mair, but doubtless you would find that a poor opportunity for your talents. So... perhaps you would prefer a more difficult opportunity. I mean to provide some support to the front lines, in person. There will be barriers to strengthen, spells to weave, and destruction to sow. A task suited only for a warlock or magus. Dangerous, but necessary. Have you the stomach for it?

[gandere]

Will it be your personal banners that fly wherever I go? If it just ends up being a situation where I'm another Unseelie in a sea of them, it'll do little to help me stand out.

[ Barriers to strengthen--easy enough, she's proven to any who have come to The Barrel that she's capable of doing that. So long as she has a necessary amount of gems with her (which she does), the rest of the craft comes easy. ]

I'm asking for a chance to prove myself. Saber won't give it to me for personal reasons so I must seek it out through another.

[dragmire]

[He supposes it makes sense that Saber would keep this obviously young and inexperience friend away from the core of it. No doubt he will earn her ire for involving her at all. But the truth of it is, he cares little for Saber's intentions. She has not deigned to speak to him on the matters of Caer Scima's forces, even though he has been holding the border for half a year.

But Rin's reasons leave much to be desired. They are not so different than his own, but they lack... subtlety.]

There is more to war than your personal vanity. I do not fault you for wishing to rise, but even the longest stride cannot scale a mountain all at once. But if it's glory you seek, how far will you go for it? If I asked you to plunge into the heart of Caer Glaem for a chance at favor and fame, would you do it?

[gandere]

I know there is. [ They've spoken briefly of the war she was involved in before, but he's clearly experienced. She swallows her pride, and applies a more grateful approach. ] But thank you for reminding me of that.

If I can't scale the mountain with my own feet, then I'll simply tear it down. They'll speak for centuries of the hero who did that instead of the one who simply climbed it, wouldn't they?

So if you ask me to go to Caer Glaem, there better be an opportunity to win or else I'll turn you down. I seek to win, not kill myself via gambling.

[dragmire]

[A bold statement and one worthy of some respect.]

You are ambitious. [He exhales.] Very well. I will find something for you that you can perform under both your own banner and mine. I cannot speak for the shape of this battle yet, but we will soon have need of anyone competent enough to act. If you're with me, your moment will come.

[gandere]

[ One has to be if they're to gain any footing here. Being outdone by her peers her age and those who arrived the same night is embarrassing. There's nothing like high school or her education to blame for her shortcomings; she's the one responsible for falling behind. Now she'll fix it. ]

I'm with you. [ It feels... nice? Rin's not entirely sure how to feel right now.

A small part of her feels consumed with guilt over what Waver might think, but he's already risked his own reputation for a person in higher power. Why can't she do the same as his partner? ]

Should I change my plans and fly south towards your lands?

[dragmire]

Things will begin to move quickly soon. If you can manage it, a swift arrival would serve you better. [He pauses, thinking.] And... it would be wise if you had some chance to begin making use of that shard inside you. The Seelie have had longer to begin using their own. If you're to rise, you will need every advantage afforded to you.

[He would not be the gentlest of teachers, but he would certainly be among the most efficient.]

[gandere]

[ Wouldn't it be rude to turn down what is clearly an offer? Rin thinks, wondering if she should tell him that she's been practicing since November, that she learned from a Seelie Shardbearer herself. What if rings in her mind, as she wonders if there was a possibility Lancelot didn't teach her everything he knows. ]

I accept.

It'll take me a couple days to travel on my own, but you can expect me from the sky. The room I had before--is it available still? I prefer to stay in the same place each time so I thought I'd ask.

I wrote to Lady Alyosha in regards to finding a Shardbearer who knows how to convert power into the bits of the Uaine Cridhe within us. I hope to hear from her soon. My specialty involves that--conversion of power from one source to another. If I can store it within over time, then it should make the output increase.

[dragmire]

I'll send word to have your old quarters prepared. [Mair has so much spare room because he does not generally keep courtiers in his halls. There's always room for guests when he bothers to invite them.]

As for this business of converting power, I'd be pleased to learn your results. I have learned to substitute my shard for my own wells of power, so that I might yet still cast my magic even in the influence of Blood Granite. But such manipulation could prove useful.

[gandere]

Whoa--you can do that? Still use your magic around Blood Granite?

[ What experience she has doesn't come close. ] Can anyone learn to do that? If I can use to use my craft around Blood Granite, then I can better utilize that stuff as a weapon.

[dragmire]

Many of us had to learn that skill when dealing with Reynard. [Many from her own world in fact...] But it can be learned. It will take time, but exposure to Blood Granite will hasten the task.

[gandere]

I have some that can be brought along with me provided you don't mind having it near your castle.

[ It seems polite to ask even if she's not really phrasing it in that manner. ]

[dragmire]

I have my own supply that will more than suffice. [Indeed, he had more than anyone would have guessed. But to that he won't tell to her. Only Waver knows that now.]