Elementals: The Black Beast (IC, Sign-ups only)

[Kassaran]

Erosen almost started, he definitely knew Gallian now, but he wasn't going to say it if he could help it, so knowing the proper pantomime, he simply shook his head no and then frowned as he looked past him at the cowering demon behind Tristan, regardless of her friendliness, he obviously didn't approve of her presence. He was surprised that he hadn't really known she had been present before, but he had been so exhausted a legion of daemonesses could have marched noisily by and he would have been fast asleep through it all. Refocusing on young man with the red hair before him, he made a slight gesture towards his clothes, and then made pretend he was scrubbing them dry on a laundry rack, his clothes were grimy, and frayed, but to be honest, they probably didn't have much of a life left for them, so perhaps some work for him would be good to gain some money, and then, respectively, newer clothing, that was if none had the money to spare as was.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

During the whole 'photography shop' scene, Tristan had merely been standing off to the side, dumbfounded. Why was it, exactly, that these people were so eager to just seal their souls in a piece of paper, he didn't know, but he sure as hell wasn't going to join them. If there was one thing he'd learned it was that he shouldn't do something silly just because other people did it. That was how one got eaten by a white roar-roar, after all. Nevermind that he still did silly things on his own now and then, that was a different matter altogether. And, aside from that, why did those things take so long to "develop"? Was it that they were finishing some sort of sealing procedure? No, no, surely the others would know about it and refuse to sell their souls like that if that was the case. Oh! Maybe they were actually making it so the photographies didn't do anything harmful to his friends. It was certainly a relieving thought.

He was distracted from his erroneous deductions by Erosen's entrance. The wild man seemed to be changed, though Tristan couldn't quite tell why. Maybe it was the hair. Either way, he didn't know what to do, so he simply stood there. Lisoette seemed to be trying to get away from the wild man by standing behind him, so the Ice Elemental figured she was still scared of him, despite his apparent change. Not knowing what to do here either, he simply gave her a reassuring smile and then turned back to the others, wondering what they were going to do.

"I think... He wants... A back scratch?" The white-haired artist said, trying to interpet Erosen's hand gestures.

[Constaniana]

"Well I'm not scratching him; I don't fancy getting fleas, and judging from the look of his rags I'd say he's got half an army of them on his back," Aldraniri replied, frowning at Erosen. "I would say you wash them, but at this point you'd probably be better off burning them and getting new ones."

Kroisoto glanced away from the cameras to see who had come into the shop. "We don't have a limitless supply of coin, you know. Besides, I'm not sure the savage would understand what goes on in a tailor's; what if he lashes out when someone tries to take his measurements, thinking they're wrapping a snake around him or something like that?" the nobleman commented, before returning to his task of helping Charlie pick a camera.

[Kassaran]

"Well I'm not scratching him; I don't fancy getting fleas, and judging from the look of his rags I'd say he's got half an army of them on his back," Aldraniri replied, frowning at Erosen. "I would say you wash them, but at this point you'd probably be better off burning them and getting new ones."

Kroisoto glanced away from the cameras to see who had come into the shop. "We don't have a limitless supply of coin, you know. Besides, I'm not sure the savage would understand what goes on in a tailor's; what if he lashes out when someone tries to take his measurements, thinking they're wrapping a snake around him or something like that?" the nobleman commented, before returning to his task of helping Charlie pick a camera.

Erosen was almost thoroughly annoyed with Kroisoto's behavior, but he understood his sentiment. Tapping the young man on his shoulder, he indeed settled for going with what the red-haired Gallian had said, gesturing with his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. He only prayed that he'd actually try to speak to him and ask him yes or no questions, perhaps they'd think him a mute, which would be ideal for his purposes, though they'd heard him growl and speak before, and indeed he had been quite the savage, but now he knew how to act. Looking disdainfully at Kroi though for his comment that he needed a bath, he shook his head as though disappointed, and then turned back towards the nobleman to try and persuade him to think otherwise, however there still were the older men in the shop too who might actually be more successful in helping interpret his pleading for the rest of the group.

Oh how amusing he must have appeared to the rest, and most of all, to the Daemoness whom he was certain had her eye on him from her throne in the nether.

[Constaniana]

Erosen was almost thoroughly annoyed with Kroisoto's behavior, but he understood his sentiment. Tapping the young man on his shoulder, he indeed settled for going with what the red-haired Gallian had said, gesturing with his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. He only prayed that he'd actually try to speak to him and ask him yes or no questions, perhaps they'd think him a mute, which would be ideal for his purposes, though they'd heard him growl and speak before, and indeed he had been quite the savage, but now he knew how to act. Looking disdainfully at Tristan though for his comment that he needed a bath, he shook his head as though disappointed, and then turned back towards the nobleman to try and persuade him to think otherwise, however there still were the older men in the shop too who might actually be more successful in helping interpret his pleading for the rest of the group.

Oh how amusing he must have appeared to the rest, and most of all, to the Daemoness whom he was certain had her eye on him from her throne in the nether.

"Oh? You know how to beg too?" Kroisoto seemed genuinely surprised by the revelation, slipping from his usual demeanour of calm surety for a few moments. "I didn't think he would have learned it from whatever beasts in the forest raised him. I suppose he might have picked it up from whatever beggars he might have seen in the villages or wandering the roads..." He paused to study the wildling, trying to discern what he was begging for. "What is it you want? Food? A camera of your own? I can't buy one for you too; there's only so much coin we've got."

"Yes, as you can see our good lord here holds himself to the highest standard of frugality," Aldraniri said with exaggerated gravitas in his voice.

"Yes, certainly," affirmed Kroisoto.

"Unless it's for a pretty Southemen girl, in which case he's much more willing to part from his money." It took nearly all the smith's willpower to refrain from adding "And his clothes" to the end of his sentence.

"Quite s-wait, I beg your pardon? You're not starting that rubbish argument up again, are you?" Kroisoto sighed as a cheeky grin spread across Aldry's face.

"A true Northemen never yields!" The redhead triumphantly proclaimed, folding his arms across his cuirass and standing a bit at attention.

"A true Northemen should also strive to not be a twit, you know," Kroie softly replied, still doing his best to remain calm and dignified.

"Well, I can't be expected to get every bit of Northemen conduct right," came Aldraniri's retort, and the blue-blood couldn't help laughing a bit at it. "Well, I'll go ahead and get started looking for that Walter bloke by the docks. They should just be further down this street, right?" The sales clerk nodded at the Albrian, and Aldraniri exited the shop, headed eastward towards the docks of Erilhall, a place where hopefully amidst all the people, ships and fish there was a man with information on Watchtower. And while he was looking for Walter it couldn't hurt to seek out an armourer like Kroisoto had suggested to get his armour fitted properly.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan merely observed the others throughout their exchange, not understanding much of it and figuring it really wasn't very important, either. Those two seemed to get along very well, in any case. They also seemed to be ignoring the wild man's request, but, regretfully, the Ice Elemental himself couldn't discern what it was that he wanted, so he would be useless in that regard. Thus, when he noticed that someone was leaving to look for Walter, namely Aldraniri, he decided that he could better make himself useful by helping out with that. Turning to face Lisoette, who was standing behind him, he spoke.

"We should go help him look for Walter." He said to the Daemonness, before following after Aldraniri, towards the Erilhall docks.

[Constaniana]

Lisoette was glad to leave the shop and the presence of the ferocious man. However well he had calmed down now, she had seen the demon blood caked on his face, and the predatory glances he had kept giving her, and thus come to the conclusion that it was best to keep her distance from him, preferably keeping a friendly companion like Tristan close by as much as possible. She eagerly followed him out onto the streets, soon catching up with the Fire Elemental.

The docks were a great throng of people, animals and ships. Stalls crowded around, their inventories diminished from all the trade that had gone on during the day, with people still weaving their way in and out of the mercantile labyrinth to buy bread or cloth or fish or a new book. There were street performers off to the sides, hoping to earn a bit more coin than usual through the generosity of pilgrims for the holiday who hadn't seen their act a hundred times before. Here and there were a few sailors heading down dingy alleyways to houses of ill repute, obscured from view by the more wholesome establishments like restaurants, money-changers or taverns. Knarrs and cogs were the most seen type of vessel, but there were a few carracks and longships moored as well. The shopkeeper had been right when he said there were ironclads docked in Erilhall as well. Three of the metal ships were there beside one another, with a cordon of Federal troops blocking access. The dozen musketmen had their muskets slung over the scarlet cloaks dyed in the shade that Villdernby had given over for the whole Federal army to use, short swords hanging in grey, unadorned scabbards or iron maces at their plain brown leather belts, and arms crossed with bored expressions on their faces. The sailors helping them stand watch were less armed, only carrying dirks, but the people gave them a wide berth of space anyway. The cordon only parted to grant access for a few carts of coal being carried on board.

Aldraniri first thought to go over by the ironclads to see if Walter was taking photographs of the ships and soldiers, but he then decided against it. They might not have objected to him milling around if he was still in plain apprentice garb, thinking he was simply an excitable lad drawn in by the prospect of seeing fancy uniforms and ironclads, but the fact that he looked more like a knight now might draw in questions about what he was doing, and he got the feeling that saying he was looking for someone to tell him about what an Elemental-hating cult might be up to in Erilhall wasn't a terribly good idea. And there was something a bit off he was feeling towards them now, largely in part because of Kroisoto's worries of them kidnapping him.

"I didn't think it would be this crowded..." Aldraniri said to his two companions. Haventown never seemed this crowded, even on the busiest of Market Days. But then, Haventown was more of a fortress than a city. She was on the Albras and had a canal down to where the Eridern River flowed from the Driegdern Mountains, and prospered from such a placement, but in the end the ports of Carogne and Erilhall were more compelling places to live and do business for many people than the old castle carved from a dead volcano. "Then again, maybe we can find somebody else here who knows about Watchtower. It's a big city, after all." the redhead said, as he wasn't too confident in his chances in finding someone in this crowd, even if they did have something as distinguishing as a camera on a tripod with them.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Tristan followed Aldraniri into the docks of Erilhall, noticing the massive ammount of people present, from merchants to performers to simplye bystanders, all of them either going with the flow or pushing against the tide in order to get to where they wanted to be, like the very ships that rested on the port did when they were out in the sea. Truly, it was more people than he had ever seen, and considering that during a good part of his life he had been used to being all by himself, it was a bit... disconcerting. The other places in Gallia he had been to never held this many people, and even though he had been to Erilhall once before, there were most definitely not nearly as many people there back then as there were now. This, of course, could be easily explained by the fact that Saint Vatlanmi's day was nigh, but Tristan neither knew nor particularly cared about that. He just knew that all these people were making him a bit nervous.

"Um... Do you think we should ask the first person we come across again? That seemed to work before." He said to Aldraniri and Lisoette, wondering if they thought it was a good idea as well, before something caught his attention all of the sudden. It was not a sound, or a sight, or anything like that. In fact, it was not at all something that his terrenal senses had perceived. Rather, it was something that, through unknown means, tugged at his mind and demanded his attention. He turned his head to look... But all he saw were the ironclads surrounded by Federal troops. He had never seen such things, indeed, but they hardly mattered to him either way. They were so... gray and dull and not very interesting, to someone such as him, at least.

Shrugging, he assumed that it had just been something odd, maybe his mind playing a trick of sorts on him, since there was nothing there, and instead turned back to Lisoette and Aldraniri. "Or maybe we could go to that other place the person in the shop mentioned... What was it... Collage of... Black fur?"

Meanwhile, behind the ironclads, a large white object, roughly spherical in shape, seemed to be approaching the docks ever so slowly.

[Constaniana]

"College of Bracksbure, you mean? I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a bit of a look around there..." Aldraniri replied, furrowing his brow in thought. He attempted to follow Tristan's suggestion of asking passer-bys for help, specifically for giving them directions to the college, but they hurried past, ignoring the strange lad in armour. After about a dozen or so attempts to get a stranger's attention Aldraniri gave up with a huff, eyeing the different shops, looking for one that would probably have a person who knew the way to the Bracksbure. "I'll pop into that tavern over there for a moment to get some directions," the Fire Elemental said, pointing to a good-sized building with three floors and walking away from Tristan and Lisoette.

The Daemonness quickly turned in the direction of the ironclads when she faintly heard a sound over the din of the crowd. A few Federal soldiers were pacing the decks now, muskets pointed out to sea. One of the ironclad's turrets slowly swivelled to face the approaching foreign object. Lisoette poked Tristan to get his attention and pointed at the scene, not knowing what the different activity going on the strange floating grey things meant.

[Minroz]

A ship from the lands of Sahranjja has finally arrived at the busy port of Erilhall. Those who ride on it, regardless of their backgrounds have disembarked onto the grounds. Among them are the two Sahranjjites of noble backgrounds, namely Jinmao Temujin and his adopted sister Guan Aisha, carrying their travel bags along with them. Stepping in, they stop at the harbour and took a good look around their surroundings with their curious gaze. Only the young man seems to be the excited about it. His female companion on the other hand didn’t seem to be interested.

“Fascinating place isn’t it, jiejie (big sister). Gods, the things the foreigners built have never failed to amaze me.” Temujin beams his enthusiasm for discoveries. Being a nerd, he came enthralled by everything he saw in Erilhall.

“Temu~ you’re always saying like that whenever we visit foreign cities and towns. Honestly, it never gets old.” Aisha said in amusement.

“Oh Big sister Aisha, I can’t help it, you see.” The boy chuckled light-heartedly.

“Remember, I only accompany you for your protection. Father, big sister Ai and brother Wonggu entrusted me with looking after you.” Aisha reminded him as she ruffled his hair playfully. “And you’re our cute little thing~” She gave out her mischievous smile.

“Jiejie, I’m not a kid anymore.” Temujin whinge.

“Oh really!? Want to me to tell you about how you wet yourself in bed?” The black-haired maiden teased him.

“That’s not funny!” He puffs his cheeks indignantly. A few seconds later, the two then burst into jovial laughter. Like any brothers and sisters, they argue and banter with each other.

“Oh my, we haven’t change at all. Aiya, I don’t know if we’re able to. Just the two us.”

“Haha~ without a doubt, Temu. Gods, time sure flies for us. Here you are, hitting puberty and now you’re one of our greatest minds the Empire can offer. Strange life is isn’t?”

“Hypothetically-speaking and in laymen terms quite so if I say so myself.” Temujin smiled.

“Maybe. Now then,” The Sahranjjan girl took a good look around. “We need a place to stay. However…” She frowned. “I’ve heard rumours of anti-elemental cult have sprung in this city recently. We should be careful.”

“Pray we don’t run into them. It’s fine, besides, you’re my strong big sister ever!” Temujin reassured her.

Aisha chuckled in response. She’s glad her little brother had put in great deal of faith into her. As his big sister figure, she’ll not disappoint him.

“Let’s go.” She beckons.

They went off for their adventure. Unaware to them, their fate is going to be involved and tied with the certain band of adventurers.

[Agritum]

"Well I'm not scratching him; I don't fancy getting fleas, and judging from the look of his rags I'd say he's got half an army of them on his back," Aldraniri replied, frowning at Erosen. "I would say you wash them, but at this point you'd probably be better off burning them and getting new ones."

Kroisoto glanced away from the cameras to see who had come into the shop. "We don't have a limitless supply of coin, you know. Besides, I'm not sure the savage would understand what goes on in a tailor's; what if he lashes out when someone tries to take his measurements, thinking they're wrapping a snake around him or something like that?" the nobleman commented, before returning to his task of helping Charlie pick a camera.

"Oh, this looks quite cheap and easy-to-use, Kroie." Charlie said, eagerly picking up a small, cardboard box-shaped camera, along with its required rollfilm. "It's even got an integrated flash! That could be good for when we are indoors, or when it's dark outside. Quite smart, isn't it?" she added enthusiastically, loading the film into the camera, turning the lenses towards herself and clicking on a small button.

"I guess I just made my first photograph! Mmh...maybe I could put it in the 'Author's Bio' part of my book?"

[Constaniana]

"Well I'm not scratching him; I don't fancy getting fleas, and judging from the look of his rags I'd say he's got half an army of them on his back," Aldraniri replied, frowning at Erosen. "I would say you wash them, but at this point you'd probably be better off burning them and getting new ones."

Kroisoto glanced away from the cameras to see who had come into the shop. "We don't have a limitless supply of coin, you know. Besides, I'm not sure the savage would understand what goes on in a tailor's; what if he lashes out when someone tries to take his measurements, thinking they're wrapping a snake around him or something like that?" the nobleman commented, before returning to his task of helping Charlie pick a camera.

"Oh, this looks quite cheap and easy-to-use, Kroie." Charlie said, eagerly picking up a small, cardboard box-shaped camera, along with its required rollfilm. "It's even got an integrated flash! That could be good for when we are indoors, or when it's dark outside. Quite smart, isn't it?" she added enthusiastically, loading the film into the camera, turning the lenses towards herself and clicking on a small button.

"I guess I just made my first photograph! Mmh...maybe I could put it in the 'Author's Bio' part of my book?"

"That was rather quick," Kroisoto noted with surprise in his voice, "I remember my father would complain whenever he had to get a photograph of himself taken, saying they took too bloody long. Though he didn't seem to complain about getting his portrait painted as much, since he thought pictures on canvas were better than ones on film; something about them being more majestic and emotional or something of that nature." The blue-blood shrugged as they paid for the camera and walked out onto the street, intending to follow Aldraniri, Tristan and Lisoette down towards the docks, when Kroisoto noticed the Federal troops on watch and their ironclads. The black-haired boy stopped, a worried expression spreading across his face. He was aware there was an increased Federal presence in the city for whatever reason, but he didn't fancy getting close to such a concentrated number of soldiers. It was most likely that they were simply there to refuel their vessels, but Kroisoto didn't want to push his luck. He glanced around to see if there was some other way he could go. Most of the other routes led into dark, winding alleyways, and Kroie wasn't going to trust them any more than the Federal army.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"College of Bracksbure, you mean? I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a bit of a look around there..." Aldraniri replied, furrowing his brow in thought. He attempted to follow Tristan's suggestion of asking passer-bys for help, specifically for giving them directions to the college, but they hurried past, ignoring the strange lad in armour. After about a dozen or so attempts to get a stranger's attention Aldraniri gave up with a huff, eyeing the different shops, looking for one that would probably have a person who knew the way to the Bracksbure. "I'll pop into that tavern over there for a moment to get some directions," the Fire Elemental said, pointing to a good-sized building with three floors and walking away from Tristan and Lisoette.

The Daemonness quickly turned in the direction of the ironclads when she faintly heard a sound over the din of the crowd. A few Federal soldiers were pacing the decks now, muskets pointed out to sea. One of the ironclad's turrets slowly swivelled to face the approaching foreign object. Lisoette poked Tristan to get his attention and pointed at the scene, not knowing what the different activity going on the strange floating grey things meant.

Tristan listened to Aldraniri as he said he'd head to a tavern to see where this 'College of Bracksbure' thing was after failing to get directions from the people walking by. They were much ruder than he had expected them to be, now that he thought about it. Maybe it was related to how there were so many more people than usual? Or maybe that man with all the fish they'd met earlier was an exception and these people were just that rude. He had no idea, but either way, their manners were poor, that much was evident. Either way he simply stood by and watched Aldraniri head off, not sure of what to do while he returned.

However, when Lisoette poke him, he turned to her and then to the gray armored things the soldiers were custodying once again, noticing that both they and the thing seemed on alert because of something. Maybe it was related to what he felt? He didn't really know, but maybe paying attention was for the best right now.

The white sphere continued approaching the docks. However, it was not on collision course with any of the ironclads, it was merely approaching in such way that the ships concealed it partially, though that was beginning to change as the sphere drew closer and closer. As it did so, the soldiers would undoubtedly be able to tell that it seemed to be nothing more than a sphere of ice, though there seemed to be something inside.

It was almost at the docks by now.

[Constaniana]

A few of the soldiers fixed bayonets to their muskets, keeping a wary watch on the approaching foreign object. The sight of ice floating freely in the Bay of Ereslia in springtime was a very curious one indeed. There had been no storms as of late that would have sunk a cargo ship loaded with ice, and there had been no reports of a missing vessel either, so it was doubtful it came from a ship lost at sea. Besides, ice was shipped in precise cubes, and even accounting for melting the object seemed too expertly round to have been made that way by nature. And most critically, ice never had things inside it, unless it was being used for making the curious Halvefori desert known as Gelatobet, where it was crushed and mixed with cream and salt among other things, before strawberries or colcao beans were added. However, the U.G.F was a sensible country, so such a silly dish had little popularity there, casting doubt on the possibility that it was a half-done batch of Gelatobet coming into port. A Federal officer emerged on the deck of the ironclad on the left side from the perspective of the people on the docks; a new ship dubbed the F.S.S Palisade. He was dressed in a long, dark blue long coat that was unadorned save for the two rows of well-polished brass buttons running down the middle, and both his hands went behind the coat, resting on the two pistol holsters hanging from his black belt. The officer's sole brown eye looked at the approaching object with curiosity, his countenance as hard and expressionless as the plain, clean metal side of his ship.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The spherical, hollow ice construct continued approaching the docks, unimpeded by the Federal troops stationed there, who were seemingly not willing to make any effort to stop it from reaching its apparent goal. Perhaps it was because the object had not made itself appear as any sort of threat to the people of Erilhall, or perhaps it was simply because they wanted to ascertain the nature of such an odd sight before taking action against it. Regardless, the sphere, and whatever was inside, didn't seem to care very much, and just continued on their way until, eventually, they came to a stop right next to the city, almost touching it, but not quite.

Then, suddenly, and likely to the surprise of many of the people present there, a rectangular opening appeared on the ice, facing the city. It was large enough for a person to step through, and it was certainly large enough to allow people to see what was inside the sphere: It was a girl in a sitting position, a teenage girl with white hair, dressed in plain white clothes and wearing an ice cape of sorts. Her cold eyes scanned the area in front of her for a few moments, the girl finding hundreds of unfamiliar things before her. However, not intimidated by this, she stood up and stepped forward, a small bridge of ice forming under her feet to lead her to the city. She was barefooted, yet seemed indifferent to such a thing. She also seemed to be unaware of the several Federal soldiers who had been put on alert and armed themselves because of her peculiar method of transport.

[Ameriganastan]

"Well ain't that a nifty trick."

Never one to be off-put by something like a mysterious chick who spawned ice as she walked, Eric popped up beside her and strolled along with her.

"I'm getting a little chilly just watching ya. Can't imagine how you feel. Anyway, my name is Eric Lumen."

He extended a friendly hand.

"Ice to meet you."

[Constaniana]

The troops collectively groaned at Eric's pun, while the eye patch-wearing officer walked over to where the strange sorceress was disembarking, his well-polished black boots clicking slightly against the cobblestone. The musketmen and sailors might have been awed, amazed or frightened by the undeniable display of magic, but the man in the longcoat remained completely unfazed.

"Do you have papers, miss? Foreign or national?" he asked flatly, the wind slightly ruffling his closely-cropped greying hair. A few of the infantry seemed surprised at his sangfroid, but the sailors all seemed accustomed to it, though they too kept their weapons drawn and at the ready.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The girl, whose name was Trish, walked through her frozen bridge and onto the city proper. The moment she did, however, she noticed so many things adhering to the sole of her feet. The port was dirty, something that she found annoying. She did not mind the cold smoothness of the ice or the texture of the white snow under her feet, but this? She didn't want to walk on this. Thus, a thin layer of ice began forming wherever her feet rested, to keep the city's dirt off her.

However, there seemed to be something else demanding her attention. Namely, a strange person emitting strange sounds, as if trying to convey something. What, though? What was this silly man trying to say with his unintelligible noise? It was probably nothing important, given that he was using such methods instead of something more civilized, like hand gestures, so she decided to just ignore him. He seemed to be following her for some reason, though, and even extended his hand. Why was this silly person from the south extending his hand? What the hell was that supposed to mean? She pushed it aside lightly with her finger. If he wanted to convey something, then he'd have to do it some other way.

Then another person came forth, one wearing some funny black thing over his eye. By the tundra, these people had some strange customs, didn't they? He approached her, and began emitting dumb sounds, just like the other person that tried to catch her attention. This one seemed to have some sort of purpose though. A purpose that she couldn't quite discern due to his poor communication, but a purpose nonetheless. However, what caught the girl's attention was undoubtedly that black thing on his eye. Why was that there? What was its purpose? A person needed all the resources they could get to face the beasts of the land, and sight was definitely one such resource, so why limit it like that? Trish's gaze remained fixed on the eyepatch as she ignored the man's words. She even closed her own eye and scratched her eyelid slightly, as if to question it.

[Constaniana]

The officer silently waited for the ice girl to respond for several moments, but all she seemed to do was make a bit more ice around her feet and scratch an itch in her eye.

"Right, I'll assume you're a foreigner...dolve countrayle lou? Zhou birthier le placé? Aas you citienzen der Garmicciianreichire? Tu childé of Dalstras? Eo alluyi pat baiir Yuelkelu?" He asked, in Halvefori, the dialects of Yelhennei, Garmiccia and Dalstras, and the Yuelkelunah language. The man then noticed her morbid fascination with his eyepatch.

"What, you've never seen someone missing an eye? Is it amusing or something like that?" The officer seemed a tad irritated as he yanked the eyepatch up, showing the colourless remains of an eye. "Does that solve your curiosity, miss?" he snapped.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Trish merely continued to observe the officer, and more accurately, his eyepatch, as he continued to make funny sounds in several different ways, probably used to communicate with different groups of people. Perhaps he was trying to see if she could use such a primitive language at all, but this wasn't the case, as the girl was both as clueless as before, and felt quite a bit of pity for these people, as well. Maybe they didn't know that making noises was an for the beasts? Perhaps they wanted to feel closer to their fellow animals, which was... admirable, maybe, in a way. But if that was the case, then why the hell were they surrounded in all these unnatural things that dotted the settlement? Truly, these people made no sense.

The officer then removed the black thing over his eye, showing that his eye was, well, not there. Perhaps some beast had mistaken his primitive speech for a mating call and bitten his eye off or something of the sort. Poor man. However, he was showing off far more hostility than she found acceptable, so she pinched his nose and pushed him away. Maybe that would teach him.

[Ameriganastan]

"Ha ha ha! I don't think the icy lass is impressed with you, chief."

Strolling over to a nearby fruit stand, Eric nabbed four apples from the purveyor. Flipping him some money for his purchase, he motioned at the ice lady.

"I don't think she understands our languages. So lemme try something."

That 'something' was one of his many largely useless talents/hobbies. Juggling. And he was oddly good at it for a crazy old hippie. His little performance went on for about a minute before he caught two in his left hand, one in his mouth, and one in his right hand. Which he offered to her. Just in case she didn't get it, he took a bite out of the one he caught in his mouth.

[Constaniana]

The strange ice girl would find that assaulting the military officer was a terrible idea. She would also find that the back of her head was now in a good deal of pain, as the officer had given her a rough smack upside the head.

"Unlawfully entering the country, and assaulting an officer of the United Galllian Navy. I'm not certain as to what the laws of your country say about such conduct, but here in Galllia that warrants being put under arrest. Sergeant, fetch some of the city guard and drag this sorcerous troublemaker off to the gaol," he ordered.

"Aye, Captain Banemount," one of the soldiers said, moving towards Trish with his musket.

[Kassaran]

The strange ice girl would find that assaulting the military officer was a terrible idea. She would also find that the back of her head was now in a good deal of pain, as the officer had given her a rough smack upside the head.

"Unlawfully entering the country, and assaulting an officer of the United Galllian Navy. I'm not certain as to what the laws of your country say about such conduct, but here in Galllia that warrants being put under arrest. Sergeant, fetch some of the city guard and drag this sorcerous troublemaker off to the gaol," he ordered.

"Aye, Captain Banemount," one of the soldiers said, moving towards Trish with his musket.

Now throughout this time one had sat back and observed the situation. He'd followed the red-haired boy whom he assumed was indeed a fire elemental, and his small menagerie to the docks, where he had seen the massive ironclads. He watched as the orb had approached, and indeed had felt no fear of it as it had approached. He could feel the power of another elemental, like the red-head, or the girl who moved in the wind, or like the white-haired boy who made ice from thin air. He however had also watched as she stepped out from her icy ball and had watched as the military officer approached her. Safe enough he presumed as he watched her interact with what was obviously a foreign culture, but then it escalated, quickly. The captain of the fleet (as he assumed the eye-patched officer was) had stepped in front of the girl and begun to yell at her. Obviously unaware of the language being spoken, she had simply stared at him and then pinched his nose and set him aside. This sent the officer into a rage, and calling for his own soldiers to arrest her, Erosen knew that now he needed to speak or else something could happen. The old man they'd been traveling with was to be of no help considering he was busy trying to offer the girl food and such through entertainment so he moved between the guards approaching the girl.

It was fast, like lightning, but he knew what had happened, in his haste, he had somehow brought forth more of the vines from before, but this time, they had hardened into new clothing over the old, and arrayed itself into what appeared to be fresh clothing, though green and roughly woven. He nodded in approval of the outfit, and looking up at the officer he let his voice carry in a timbre he had previously attempted to keep only for the most horrifying of animalistic call," How dare you deal with an envoy of the goddess Froenstia in this manner you uncultured and ignorant excuse for a military commander. You lift your hand against this woman and you lift your hand against those of the heavens themselves, and I would doubt your ability to win such a war if you start it. Your incompetence will go ignored however for this much, for the lack of communication here in this situation is quite profound considering that she obviously is of a different nation or would you rather begin a new war? Take back what you said lest you let such fury fall upon your shoulders and apologize to the woman for daring to call her a sorceress and a troublemaker for it is you who has instigated this conflict. I said apologize, now!"

He was shaking now, partly with rage, partly with fear, but not fear of the commander or his soldiers for he understood their abilities and he knew that he would be capable of killing at least the commander if it came down to it. However, he mostly feared his outburst would come at a cost to him, and it was for this that he cringed inside while allowing his external features to remain staunch. His stare appeared to pierce into the commander's mind and while it was simply the same stare as he used on wolves and other predatory creatures, it was also the fact that the vines around Erosen had slowly built up around him as he had spoken making his figure seemingly become more robust and indeed powerful. It was a slightly childish and indeed immature act granted the commander in Erosen's own eyes had also done so, that he'd brought forth the name of the gods and goddesses in such vulgar* of terms.
^{*vulgar in this sense means common and without reverence}

Looking past the commander, still not allowing himself to think of the potential repercussions for this rebuking of the commander, he spoke to the soldiers themselves," Stand down and lay your arms aside. No, actually, present arms, for you are in the presence of one who has traveled far to reach here and deserves the same respect as any envoy of any nation would expect!"

Erosen did admit he felt kind of good in letting his anger show through his words, but then noted with equal horror that this was perhaps indeed what the daemoness had wanted and it mortified him to think he'd indeed violated his vow of silence for a spat of anger at an officer.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The girl watched Eric continue his strange vocalizations and then pick up four roughly round red things that he began tossing around with remarkable dexterity. She couldn't tell the purpose of that, but it was fairly amusing to see him do something so silly. When offered the apple, though, she looked at it suspiciously. She didn't know what the hell that thing was, after all. Maybe it was some sort of precious rock? Doubtful. It wasn't even that pretty. When he bit it, however, she understood that it was probably a food offering. It didn't seem to do the man any harm, either, so she took it, though she still wasn't entirely convinced.

That's when she felt the smack, and looked in the officer's direction as she rubbed the spot where she'd been hit. That hurt. He'd pay for that... In due time, since he was obviously stronger and she was no idiot. She could have used her power to exact revenge, but there was the matter of this beast's (The violent officer had become little more in her mind) subordinates, the two-eyed underlings who wore similar garments and seemed to obey his every command. She figured it was better to just ignore this transgression anyway. It was not as if a fool's anger should upset her, she was better than that. Thus, she simply observed the approachign soldier with curiosity as she bit into the strange fruit given to her. Its taste was somewhat sweet, which was nice. She would have thanked the old man but he would probably not understand what she was trying to convey even if she tried, so she decided not to bother.

Around that time, another man came into the scene, vocalizing just like the others, though more angrily, more vehemently. Why, why did these people have to be so violent? Was it something about the lack of ice that made them so uncivilized? Then maybe her arrival had been set up by the higher powers to illustrate these people. It was a possibility, though she would rather not have to bother setting all of these men straight. Regardless, she simply stood by, biting into the apple once again as she observed these people's folly with much curiosity and amusement,.

[Constaniana]

Captain Banemount might have been captain of a new-fangled warship built of metal and powered by steam, but he had been trained as a sailor in the not-so-distant past when all mariners were iron men sailing wooden ships. He was obviously a veteran of the wars, and he had lost his right eye when he was only nine. He had military-grade, five-star balls of steel.

"Whoever you are, you are not in charge here," He said flatly to Erosen, shaking his head at the soldiers to instruct them to ignore the shouting man. "This is clearly not the envoy of a sovereign foreign nation. Let me explain why I am right here. I would have received notification that a foreign envoy was due to arrive, not to mention the Duke, the Lord Mayor, and the rest of the city government. The foreign envoy would have arrived in a clearly-marked vessel, not a ball of ice. A foreign diplomat would have made some attempt to communicate, and certainly wouldn't have accosted an officer of the host nation's navy. I called her sorcerous, and my usage of the word was accurate. Sorcerous implies a use of magic, which she is most certainly using. Whoever this young woman is, she instigated the conflict by refusing to adhere to proper procedure. I believe that addresses your concerns," the captain inspected Ero-san for a few moments, hands back at his sides behind his coat.

"Now, are you going to instigate trouble as well?" Banemount asked, raising an eyebrow at the Nature Elemental.