Dahja trotted Nystali out of her room like a prized pony, and the bar patrons were waiting to weigh in. It made the girl uncomfortable. She was used to be watched; the duties of lore keepers demanded a level of ease in front of crowds. However, she’d never been sized up quite like this. Her fog blue stare swept over the group, most clutching large steins of ale as they looked her up and down.
“Well, she looks right proper for a Cretse girl now,” announced a large, bearded fellow in the corner after a long moment. She wasn’t sure why the atmosphere had gone so tense, but the collective exhale that came with the man’s loud judgement lifted a weight from her shoulders. Nystali blinked, her own clothed folded over her arm, and then curtsied quickly in thanks. This seemed to charge the patrons with a delightful energy, and the clanging of mugs on tables and excited chatter expanded to fill the space again. “Come drink with us, girl! We’re nice folk here in Cretse. We’ll show you a good welcome.” The bearded man bellowed. There were a few whoops of agreement and Dahja prodded Tali’s back to urge her out from behind the bar. As soon as Nystali complied, the thick-armed woman was muscling the taps to send more alcohol around the room.
“What’s your name, girl? You look like you must be from far away. What’s it like outside of Jor Orpha?” A thin, wiry fellow seated to the bearded man’s left asked when she reached their table. Nystali was surprised. She’d never expected the other towns to be as isolated as Salynus. Or, at least, she’d not expected them to be so isolated from it. Salynus still commanded a reasonable number of traders from around the region, Cretse included. The forests bordering their town had been rich in timber and minor Spawn, which made for plentiful and appealing goods. In the end, people weren’t so inclined to leave comfortable spaces if they didn’t have to, it seemed.
“I’m from Salynus, so, not so far away. I’ve never been outside of Jor Orpha before, honestly.” Nystali admitted. “My name is Nystali Passeri. I was a priestess in Salynus,” she said, gesturing at her folded clothes in explanation. The bearded man whistled.
“Priestess! Well, that’s still exotic. Hell, that’s practically fairytale stuff around these parts.” He said. Nystali gave him a very small smile. She wasn’t the sort to judge, but she wasn’t sure how to feel about being cast to whimsy. She had lost her home for that whimsy, after all. She wondered what he might say if she told him she was Harbor Kin. In places like Cretse, where artifacts were a business, nobody saw the Kin. They were quiet about what they were and harvested behind closed doors. It was better artifacts didn’t feel organic, after all. Tali had not traveled, but she was well read.
“Well, thank you for the hospitality. Cretse has been a kind change of pace.” Nystali said, because it was an easy and complimentary truth, distilled like that.
“Take a seat, Nystali Passeri. Let us buy you a drink. Dahja here keeps respectable ale around here.” The thin man said with a gap-toothed smile. “Name is Toger, and my associate here is Lomi. We don’t mean to offend, Miss, we’re just simple home-grown Cretse folk. I’ll be the first to admit we haven’t seen too much past the city walls.” Toger added, seemingly a touch more aware than his friend. Lomi nodded, though his bushy brows raised in surprise. He’d certainly not meant to upset their pretty guest. Tali waved off the concern with one hand. She understood they’d meant no harm. She took a seat across from them and set her clothes on the empty stool beside her.
“You look right at home in those clothes. They must be Dahja’s girl’s, right? She’s a small thing like you. To be fair, I haven’t seen anyone around here with hair like that, though.” Lomi said, pointing at her long white tresses. Dahja had been kind enough to give her some ribbon to tie back the strands.
--
Aveline was caught in Eizel’s whirlwind immediately, but there wasn’t anyone in the room who wasn’t. She was fond of the knight, having spent a good deal of time under him on the Lasher Campaign. She hadn’t realized he’d been transferred to Cretse. “Ah, I’ve missed you, Eizel.” Aveline was able to get in, at last. Her casual demeanor with him should have said enough to Elvan, since Aveline was generally good about protocol. Eizel had lead by his heart, which was not to say he didn’t also exercise his mind, but the sense of brotherhood he offered his men was insisted upon and not easily forgotten. “You guess correct, of course. We’re here looking to have Elvan approved by an official ministry and I am here to vouch for his deeds in Salynus.” Aveline said.
It seemed Cougal would interfere with them again, though, as talk turned rapidly toward Salynus. Aveline, who was not a naturally good liar, went ashen at Eizel’s story. He painted a picture that conjured Tetha and was undeniably worse than the state they’d left Salynus in. “Only the general and one of his men remain?” she echoed, very honest shock in her voice. “I didn’t know.” She might not have left if she had. She looked to Elvan, reeling from the tale.
“We weren’t there to protect them…” she murmured, brow knitting. It was a conflict of morality for her then, though it would look to Eizel that she was simply upset over failing her post in such a drastic way. Stiffly then, “Perhaps nothing else could have been done, then, if the Star Blade could not have prevented it.” She seemed brought back to the reality of their present situation when Eizel continued and began to ask questions.
She thought for a moment before responding, unsure of what might put their case in dire straits. “Well, there was a horde that descended on the town before we left.” She started. If the ministry here worked closely with the Steelbacks, as he said, it was best to keep lying to a minimum. “But we were warned by General Cougal and his men. We fought back what we thought was the entirety of the swarm of Spawn. It is largely for Elvan’s valor in this most recent conflict that we’ve traveled here to see the ministry. General Cougal took Salynus under the protection of the Steelbacks as we left, so we thought the townsfolk were in… good hands…” she faltered on the last of her story, which was, at least, true in the broadest of strokes.
“We have heard nothing of a Midnight Spawn, though, and we did not know Salynus was further ravaged after we left.” She finished. She glanced and Elvan again and then gave Eizel a meaningful look. “Now, more than ever, I’d like to request the ministry grant Elvan his knighthood. In the midst of the chaos, before we left, Salynus’ Nightingale priestess bound two artifacts to Elvan for the sake of his effectiveness against the horde. In light of all of this… perhaps you might exercise your power…” She bowed her head, reaching to push Elvan a few steps toward the titanium knight.