ROLEPLAY

A ragtag group of homini listen to a huge Fyros in red armor:

_ "... Well homins, it's a cushy affair...

But, for the slow-witted: I'll say it again.

One: Zachio and your guys close the entrance to the Défilé as soon as it's sufficiently engaged.

Two: Zhiang your guys and my apple we close the exit and let him move on.

There are two options for him:
- It's reasonable and can be taken along without any fuss!
- He's unreasonable, so we knock him out and take him away.

Let me remind you, you ragged bunch, that we have to bring it back in good condition!

Any questions?

DEY ?

Geyùch... gey-gey-zakün!"

Tapis, totally motionless in his Be'Caugan hole, watches the matis pass over his Mektoub.

The tryker gently to the zoraï:
"P'tin c'est an Lor... ce toub de matis sort son fusil."

The two homins are barely breathing and still not moving.

When Le Matis on his mount finally decides to take on the parade of the psykoplas mound, the ruffians emerge from their holes.
They position themselves to close the entrance and threaten their prey, waving their weapons mockingly.

Suddenly, the Marauder on his toub stops.
He looks around, cocking his rifle with a snap.

The worried tryker said to the big Zoraï:
This white trash has understood.

The trap closes for good, as Xanion, his clevenyx axe in hand, steps forward to negotiate:

Good boy!

We don't want to hurt you...

Our customer, he just wants to chat with you.
So you're going to follow us without..."

The Matis shoulders his weapon and fires.

Xanion stares uncomprehendingly at the blood flower growing on his chest.
He drops his axe and collapses.

A shout goes up from the group closing the exit:

GEY-GEY-ZAKUN!!! guys!!! "

The charge is violent, but the distance leaves time to fire again.

Be'Caugan sees the great Zoraï collapse in front of him, mortally struck by a projectile.
With a loud battle cry, he throws his spear and mortally wounds the toub, who collapses, trapping his rider's leg under his weight...

By the time he arrives, the homin is knocked unconscious by Staldo, laughing his head off:

And Paf le matis!

Hey Hey
...Paf le Matis! "
[...]

With Xanion and two guys in Res who knows where, the operation wasn't a great success.
Without a leader, the disorganized group of mercenaries is in chaos.
The completely passed-out "package" was carelessly thrown into a hollow stump.

Between the members of the "commando", tempers flared.

A large Fyros yells, waving his axe:

RAMECH! I'm telling you, I'm the boss until Xanion comes back!
So, Mai'tnant we do as I say!

Yeah, that's it! We're going to follow a Ktheros who has to count his fingers to find out how many he has!"

A tryker bursts out laughing, pointing at the fyros.
The fyros fiddled towards the tryker:

DEKÜNOS DEKÜN? YOU WANT MY RETCH IN YOUR STUNTED DWARF FACE?!!!"

The Fyros turns sharply towards the Matis:

KTHEROS? DID YOU SAY KTHEROS? FAZDEK ORSKOS!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! T'FRA LES PIEDS!"

The Matis hits the Fyros with his mace. But his target dodges, jostling the Zorai who steps on the laughing Tryker's toes.
The latter kicks the Zoraï in the shins, and the Zoraï yells at the fyros for being so clumsy.

Be'Caugan stands in a corner away from the discussion.
It's the best thing to do when you want to avoid bad luck.
As he's a little hungry, he takes a cold bhyre and a Ch'tit fritchi out of his bag, enough to wait it out.
In the stump, the Matis doesn't move.
The tryker, bottle in hand, enjoys his crispy larvae as he observes the turmoil.

A Zoraï braille:
_"...WHEN WILL XANION BE BACK?
WE HAVEN'T BEEN PAID!"

The panicked tryker:

WHAT? WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET PAID?

YOU WILL ALL CALM DOWN! IF NOT?
IF YOU DON'T: I'M GOING TO SMASH YOU ALL IN THE FACE IF YOU ..."

The Matis slyly strikes the head of the fyros, who staggers backwards.

Be'Caugan laughs...
As a matter of conscience, he glanced at "Cirrus".
The latter has regained consciousness and is holding something shiny between his fingers.

HAIIIIII!!! GUYS!
IL EST RÉVEILLE L'GUS ET...."

The Eclipse

"Cirrus" waited in the pouring rain. A strange grin twisted his face. Dripping, he blessed - who? Jena? He believed as much as a Yubo in Lutrukyn - for such a thankless time. All the conditions were right, and events were pushing him to it.

"We" had found out. It didn't matter to him who it was. His entire infiltration was in danger.
"Cirrus" had therefore taken the decision to disappear, he and his spy.

He patted his dagger beneath his water-soaked cloak. Then, as the wind blew a strong gust, the spy dashed forward. The Avalae guards did not see the shadow, as dark as the starless sky, stride alertly across the space between the edge of the alder grove and the city fence.



Staeflina smiled. It was good to sleep at home. The clammy, suffocating smell had left the apartment. Now it smelled of fragrant wood. She had taken some seeds, the ones Serae Liosta had recommended. The lack of hallucinogen tormented her a little, but - thanks to Jena - sleep was not disturbed. Sleep was not long in coming, covering her eyes with a restful veil. The embers in the fireplace were giving off their last glow. Then thoughts began to tangle, telling tangle-free stories. The head empties of worries. And you sink...



It was better not to warn her, not to wake her until the last moment. Everything had to be done quickly, very quickly. Nonetheless, he lit a candle and, spotting a parchment on a chest of drawers, set about aligning a few words. He knew Staeflina's handwriting better than anyone...

However, he couldn't have known that his spy had abandoned her Zoraic ways of expressing herself, which she had adopted to appear more naive.

So he wrote a vague letter of apology, borrowing words from the Taki zorai.

He turned to the woman he still believed to be his accomplice. He noticed the Karavan teleportation artifact Staeflina was using. She wouldn't be needing it anymore. However, it would have been foolish to leave it behind. So "Cirrus" threw it into the embers of the fireplace.

It was amazing, the calm waters of dreams, where sleepy homins usually drift ... had suddenly turned into a raging ocean! In Jena, the peaceful starry sky! Now it's a hurricane! The dreamer's boat is tossed in all directions...

Staeflina opened her eyes, awakening from sleep. She was surprised to find that the tossing was real and not the result of an illusion. She was placed on a mektoub, and behind her, seated on the saddle, a stout homin was guiding the animal. Glancing over her shoulder, Staeflina recognized... "Cirrus". Cirrus"

Far away, the embers cooled, leaving a strange object almost intact among the ashes, on which one could still make out a Karavan sign...
And on the threshold of the apartment a green badge, fallen from Staeflina's collar.

Duke had finally obtained the information he wanted from the herbalist about Cirrus's drug:
- It's just as we told you, transformed Gibbai flesh.
The dark-haired Matis, still impassive, added:
- But here, the process of making the substance is highly ingenious and difficult to reproduce. Who made this?
- The product seems to be circulating among marauding clans.
- hmm, sounds a bit too elaborate for non-Matis. Vaporization gives the drug more potency, and above all makes it much simpler to administer. It's a wonder they have such mastery...
He said nothing more, and Duke didn't insist, given the difficulty he'd already had meeting this discreet character.
After a long pause in the conversation, Duke bowed to his indecipherable interlocutor:
- Fila Ser...
The homin cut him off as he replaced his black helmet:
- Deles necat.
He soon disappeared into the forest as he had come.
Strange.

Duke hadn't been back to Avalae for quite some time. Between the Yrkanis market and excursions to the lakes, he had taken little time to rest. He wanted to talk to Liosta about Cirrus, but as he couldn't find her, he decided to pay a visit to Staeflina to check up on her.
Arriving at the foot of the tree house, he spoke to the janitor, who hadn't seen Staeflina for a long time and initially refused to let him up.
- I'm telling you she's suffering, I must speak to her without delay, and preventing a Noble Matis like Me from accomplishing His mission for His House and the Kingdom will only get you into trouble, believe me.
Despite his slightly overplayed threats, Duke did not spare himself a few dappers, but was still able to gain access to the upper floors...

Arriving at the threshold of the apartment, he gently picked up the Firm's badge from the floor and looked at it sadly, understanding what it meant. The dust on it suggested that it had already been there for several days. Unfortunately, he expected to find no one there, but went inside anyway to make sure.
Everything in the room was cold and dark. The room was empty and apparently in order. Staeflina seemed to have finally decided to leave without saying a word, despite any compassion Liosta might have shown her. She would be saddened, no doubt.
Duke, lost in thought, didn't immediately see the note left on the bed. As he read it, his fears about Staeflina's departure were confirmed. He even smiled at the very pitoresque style of the young Matisse, who seemed to have learned nothing of the good customs of the Kingdom.
He was about to leave when he noticed the remains of the Karavan artifact in the fireplace. He reached down and pulled it from the cold ashes. Holding it in his hand, he stood up, then looked around carefully... Then he looked at the note in his other hand... He thought for a moment... An idea sprang to mind... What a mektoub he was making!

Canillia storms into her home.

She has just arrived from Avendale, where she met them:

Filira DucocinnioFilira Frerini sound wife as well as Nilstilar's replacement.
They were conferring about Staeflina's disappearance.

She held back the vindictive remarks that came to mind.
She knew the girl had been kidnapped, but bound by her promise to Ducocinnio she couldn't reveal that nothing had changed.

So she weighed up each piece of information she gave them.

Copal, like a good civil servant, was concerned that she hadn't seen fit to warn the officers of Avalae's security flaws.
How can you expect a city without fortifications to be defensible?

He was surprised when Irkanis The old Fyros stormed his home and molested his family?

None of them cared any more about her "bad habits". The most they could do was pay lip service to her lack of efficiency that time.
Anyway, his Ch'tit frippos aren't fighters, just Eyes and Ears...

Lyssan enters Canillia's office:

_ "Lyssan!

Several things:

• Arrange a discreet meeting with the Ambassador of the Lakes.
• I want to be informed immediately of any new developments concerning the Firm's Gamine situation.
• Where are we with Aelyne?

Everything will be done, Cani.
For Aelyne, according to information from Serae Kyriann: A maid matching Aelyne's description has been located.
She's in and out of D'Ore Altae headquarters every day.
Is there anything we can do?
Nec for the moment.
Anything else, Cani?
_ Nec"

Cinabre placed a black leather purse on his desk, its only contents a little air. He'd lost quite a sum, in the hands of a convict...

Still, he had obtained information about this mysterious "Cirrus" and his accomplice - former accomplice? - member of the Firm.
Serae Liosta Frerini was grateful, because judging by her attitude, she was determined to find her protégé.

"Cirrus"... Cinabre now had an interesting picture of him. Authoritarian and, according to the Bagnard guard, not very talkative, he would report directly to the Tribe's leader, Rocho Anichio...
He laughed for a moment at the absurdity of the situation: he, a young guildmaster from a modest merchant house, was burdened with information that should have been gathered by far more powerful noble houses.

Besides, Cinabre had to find someone to deliver his "harvest" to...

Le Cachot

"Cirrus" beckoned the guard to open the door. Resting his axe against the wall, the big homin took out a bunch of keys from his pocket.
Without a sound, the door opened, revealing a dark, narrow room.
Staeflina rose from her straw mattress in the corner, while "Cirrus" leaned against the opposite wall.


"Keeping quiet won't change your situation, Stae. On the other hand, if you give me a detailed report on the whole period of infiltration, we'll come to an arrangement. You don't want to stay in such a dark room until 'your' Jena decides you've suffered enough, do you?"

The master spy remained silent for a few moments.

"What else can you put on the market besides your release? What do you want in exchange? You know me, I'm not that cruel. I know good information when I hear it..."

The answer he got surprised him, but, he thought inwardly: "After all, if it amuses him..."
Emerging from the cell, "Cirrus" joined his valet, who was waiting at the foot of the tower with his mount.

"You will find me a scroll of the Messages from the Temples of Karavan as soon as possible. Strange as it may seem, our tenant wants some reading material."