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 Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:35 am
Imani was back on her own again, picking up her spiritual journey in her mate's honor right back up where she left off. It didn't take long for her to fall back into her normal routine of wake up, travel for the day, trade/chat with locals, then find somewhere to sleep.
Might not have been the most exciting life to some but it kept her contest and alive. That's what was important to her.
However her lax attitude on taking living an exciting life was one of the main reasons for her and Maji to agree to go their separate ways once again. They left on good terms with each other, both simply realizing that they lived very different lifestyles that didn't suit having a companion around, despite how much they enjoy each other's company.
Ever since returning to traversing the low-lands in full force things had been...odd to say the least. People seemed more tense, sometimes downright fearful, and had a uncharacteristic shyness around travelers. Many of her normal contacts for supplies had admitted to being wiped completely clean of all stock only days prior. Whatever was out there it seemed to need a lot of resources at it's disposal, hinting that this was a relatively large threat roaming about. It left her on edge, paranoid about every little bump in the night now that she was back to fending for herself.
A few days ago she had mistakenly stumbled upon what was causing such a disturbance among the nomadic communities: Stormborn. Not just the normal group of Stormborn either. This was by far the largest company of vikings she had ever come across, it dwarfed the normal bands that roamed out from their territory to cause havoc from time to time.
Well now she knew where people's fear was coming from. If she had seen that large group roaming about by it's self most would turn tail and run in the other direction a swell. Yet they so vastly different their war-mongering counterparts. They acted strangely calm and she dare say friendly to those approaching without ill will. They didn't seem to hold the same ruthless and thieving tendencies that other war bands thrived on. They seemed almost...subdued and showing a great restraint, for their culture at least.
It was a bizarre site to behold to say the least. It piqued Imani's interest greatly to find out just what was causing such a large gathering. Migggght not have been one her brightest ideas, she seemed to be hell bent on fulfilling the warnings that her own curiosity was going to get her killed one of these days.
By per luck and chance alone it happened to be that they were traveling in the same direction. It gave her an rare opportunity to observe from afar. Yet the dark lioness was extremely mindful not to mistakenly get in their path or get too close to their camps. They might have been the most diplomatic Stormborn she had come across but their kind were still unpredictable and dangerous. The last thing she wanted to do is end up as a slave because she'd stupidly gotten too close. Yet at this point with so many eyes and ears looking for for any signs of trouble there was a goo chance some might have spotted her already.
Tonight wasn't one of the nights she was going to risk studying the group. Instead Imani had dashed as far ahead of the group as she could to catch a known traveling merchants in this area before the horde could come and clean them out like they had the others. There were some luxuries she was not willing to forgo just because vikings were on the prowl, dang it!
Epine de Rose Dis tag might not be my best but it'll do.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:58 am
...They'd even double took.
They hadn't come to him immediately, but eventually one by one those who had caught sight of her had eventually approached him with the standard 'uh captain?' and he had finally been alerted to her existence. Now there were a small number of possibilities as to why she might be out here, she could have run away (unlikely), she could have been sent here with a message (probable), or she might even have been sent out here to collect something, but this didn't seem likely.
Rather than dwell on the matter for too long the lion had therefore decided to gather his own wits. As the band returned to their outpost for the evening he took a brief leave of absence to go and find this particular individual. They had given him impeccable directions and it wasn't long before the lion find himself staring at the back of a lioness who was definitely the carbon copy of Nanabe. She even seemed completely at ease out here, like she didn't really expect to be found.
...But you couldn't really outrun the vikings if they decided to hunt you down, albeit unintentionally.
"I have several questions," he began slowly and raised a brow. "With the first being how you got out here so fast when it took us an age to reach here," he mused.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:15 pm
The deep voice suddenly breaking through the mild chit-chat between her and the merchant caused Imani to jump with a squeal of surprise, dropping the jar of sweet oils she had previously been inspecting in the process. "Oh son of a b***h!" Cursing to herself she stepped back, almost bumping into the captain to get herself out of the sticky liquid ASAP. Peering up to the unamused merchant she sent a silent plea to go easy on her in the form of a nervous smile. Trying to look as innocent as possible. Perhaps...he would understand accidents happen? Or at least provide her a discount?
Nope, of course not. The disapproving scowl the owner responded with sent the clear message that she'd have to pay in full for what she had broken. Well wasn't that just peachy keen.
Her attention finally turned to the source of her current financial woes. For the second time today a flash of surprise and mild concern jolted through her at seeing just who was now standing before her. Well, this day seemed to have taken a turn for the worse within a span of a few minutes. She knew this male, perhaps not personally but she had seen him countless times before in her observations. He was the one that the war bands parked in the low lands currently took orders from. He was...ah, what did they call them in that brutish pride. Warlords? No. Captains? Yeah, captains, that was it.
What she couldn't fathom is what in all hell a Stormborn Captain would need from her, to the point that he felt it necessary to track her down himself? Sure, she might have been observing them but so was half of the local populous! She had no connections, nothing of real value, and hadn't interacted with any of his soldiers one-on-one.
Well, might as well see where the imposing male was going with this. He had taken all this time to find her at the very least. "And I might have answers, Stormborn."
His question left her completely dumbfounded. All he got for a response for a few moments was her slowly blinking up at him confused. How had she got out here so fast...? From where exactly did he believe she came from? The question clearly had the unspoken idea that they had both started from the same place. And lassst she checked at least she hadn't wondered into Stormborn territory...did she? Nah nah, of course not. She had made it a point to avoid the mountains in general just to avoid accidentally overstepping her bounds.
"Well, I had already been in this area, longer then I suspect you and your war ban-" You could practically see the light bulb click on inside Imani's head as her mind finally caught up to what was happening right now.. Oh my god, she really should have figured this out sooner! Before her and her siblings split into different directions situations just like this were almost a daily occurrence. It had just been so damn long she'd nearly forgotten what it felt like!
Snickering softly Imani flashed a impish grin up to him. Thoroughly amused now by the whole mix-up. Ahhh, it really was a small world after all. At least now she knew that she hadn't broken some obsurce viking law and was off to be dragged off for execution or whatever they did. "I believe you've run into the wrong sister, Stormborn. Please try your luck again next time in the twin-chance-raffle."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:17 am
"I'm sure his mother is really quite pleasant," Tethys smoothed over the lioness's cursing and raised a brow. The merchant might have been particularly disapproving but he didn't seem to have any intention of stepping out of line just yet. What he chose to do after Tethys had departed was another matter, but it seemed that on this particular occasion the lioness was safe. However as she turned round, he did come to the realisation that she wasn't who he thought she was long before she did.
In fact, even as she continued to speak he could do nothing more than stare, a very measured expression on his features. Her entire demeanour was different, her voice and the manner in which she spoke. She might have looked like a carbon copy from the back but there were slight nuances that indicated she was most assuredly different. Nanabe had never advised she had any siblings, let alone a twin, but the resemblance was striking and he had to give it a round of applause.
...He didn't often see identical twins. Well almost identical, like Dione and himself, Imani and Nanabe possessed some very slight differences. Granted in Dione and Tethys's case it was a significant difference in the sense that their's happened to be gender. That aside though...
"An identical twin," he chuckled and shook his head. "Different eyes though, very different voice," he tilted his head to the side. "And very different demeanour," he concluded. Nanabe appeared to be the prim and proper one who hid the spark behind good manners; this lioness seemed a touch unfiltered.
"She never mentioned she had siblings, let alone a twin," he added and shook his head. "She has more in common with us than just her intellect it would seem," he added.
He paused.
"Well sister's intellect, I'm not really the medical type..." he mused. "That's more their...kinda thing," he raised both his paws and eyed them. "Well at least that little conundrum is dealt with, I was about to have her spill the beans so I could use that fast travel too."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:05 pm
"Ding ding ding. We have a winner! Give the man a prize!" She exclaimed cheerfully, pausing to give him a quick clap of her paws. Her tone wasn't condescending, instead it had a warm, whimsical quality to it. Showing that she meant no disrespect over the joke.
Bringing up the vast difference in demeanours between the sisters Imani let out a low hum of agreement. "She has always been the more subdued one of us. She' was the only one who actually took something from mother's lessons in acting like a 'Proper lady' with grace and manners." Shrugging loosely she continued on. "I wouldn't imagine her mentioning us unless someone directly asked about her lineage. There's no point in openly telling every detail of your life story." Most might have been offended at the fact that their siblings seem to be trying to forget about them, but Imani understood either there was a reason she kept the information to herself or no one had cared to ask before. Most likely it was the latter of the two.
Cocking an eyebrow her head tilted to one side. So, that's what her sister decided on for a career? Interesting. She couldn't deny a job in medicine as he hinted at suited her well. It would appear that this male knew a great deal about Nanabe. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more of where her twin ended up in life. It wasn't likely that she would ever be able to get this close to this particular male again. Gaining a audience with a Captain without good reasoning (and playing twenty questions as a reasoning would most likely be laughed at before dissmissed) was not a easy task she suspected.
Besides, what did she have to lose? The worst he could say is no and be on his way. Leaving her right back to where she started.
"Well, I apologize, Stormborn, that I can't assist you in finding a new source of fast travel. Well aside from suggesting find a way to grow a pair of wings or coaxing more of the locals to tell you about their trade routes hidden around here." The benefit of being on the road for a good portion of your life was that you did learn a thing or two on how to quickly get around. Over time being on good terms with a large variety of merchants, traders, and even highway men did come with a great deal of useful knowledge that had gotten her out of trouble more then once.
Pursing her lips softly she lowered her head. Putting forth an effort to keep her manners in check since she was preparing to ask a favor from the Captain. "However....since you are already here, perhaps I could steal a bit of your time?"
Coming to a stand she stepped forward with caution. Her paw lifted stopped mid-step as she eyed him, curious to see just how he would react to her request. "Walk with me, Stormborn? I would appreciate the chance to play a little game of twenty questions with you. If you wouldn't mind, of course?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:29 am
"Oh I wouldn't call her subdued..." Tethys mused as he regarded the lioness.. What she seemed to be describing as her sibling didn't quite line up with what he had born witness to. Perhaps it was due to the Stormborn influences but thrall or not, Nanabe regularly made herself heard and her often scathing remarks and lack of sympathy reinforced the fact that she really didn't suffer fools. It was for this reason that she got along so spectacularly well with his sister - in the next annual duels he wouldn't be surprised if she chose to challenge for her freedom.
...He wouldn't be surprised if she won either.
"Shame about the fast travel though, would have made everything so much easier," he said with a smile. The smile only deepened as she mentioned wings and he shook his head; if only the lioness knew, like her sister, that he happened to come with a family that happened to have wings... Sadly not hereditary, but one could dream. "Will look into the trade routes though if they haven't already been routed out by our scouts," he added. Evidently he could take the feedback provided by those around him and pocket it away for future use.
However her next question caught him a little off guard; what was she aiming to achieve by interviewing him?
His reaction was a raised eyebrow, though he didn't seem to have any intention of reacting with hostility towards her. He'd heard of weirder requests and honestly, been approached for far more than just answers on shorter greetings.
"You sure twenty will be enough?" he asked, and with a roll of his shoulders he sat down. "Shoot."
It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to be today.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:05 am
"Oh?" With a click of her tongue she gave a slight shrug. "Well, I suppose that doesn't surprise me. It has been quite a while since I've seen her last." No matter, even with the influence of Stormborn she suspected her twin would still be recognizable as the same person that she shared such a tight bond with in their youth.
"I agree." With a feigned sigh of disappointment Imani continued. "Would make life hell of a lot easier. If you ever find yourself with such means please do seek me out. I'd pay a fortune just to cut my paws a break and let out my inner lazy bum." She returned his smile. She was sure that the Captain had acquired a vast amount of knowledge about the low lands by now. To the point if he ever retired he could easily go into the map business and make a damn fine living. However, "If there is one thing I've learned in my years, it's that there's always someone out there who knows just a bit more than you. Even a master can continue to learn."
Letting out a curt snort she lowered herself down across from him. "More or less twenty. If I get carried away please feel free to stop me." She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his amusing demeanor. He was not what she would have expected from a big bad Stormborn that's for certain. But she did have to give him props for being reasonable yet he still demanded to get right to the point. She could appreciate not having to dance around stuffy social finery for the sake of being polite. "First off I want to ask you to please be honest with me in these answers, even if it might not be what I want to hear."
She gave a slight pregnant pause to roll her neck, readying herself before she dove head first into the water. "First off, since it's evident my sister has found herself a home with your people. I know your pride are no strangers to slavery. So, is she there willingly? If not, who is her...owner?" There might not be much that Imani alone could do if her sister found herself within that situation but she wouldn't be happy learning her sister was being held against her rights. It would certainly direct how the rest of this conversation would be going. If, and only if, Nanabe was being held captive and unhappy she'd would have to start focusing into looking for ways to free her sibling.
That or hitting the gym hard to be able to battle for her sister's honor since the Vikings prided themselves on dueling so damned much. They might not be as close as they once were but she wouldn't abandon her sibling either. Even if it proved a dangerous endeavor to help her.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:00 am
If there was one thing Imani would never have to worried about, it was whether or not Tethys would respond honestly. He might skirt around an issue but he would never be dishonest, it just wasn't in him. Fortunately for Imani, her initial question didn't appear to require any 'skirting'; how she chose to take his response would be entirely up to her but he could at least reassure her that she wasn't their under duress...more so under her own definition of honour and duty.
"It would depend on your definition of 'willing' in this particular scenario," he replied and shook his head. "Based on the pride and its culture, I would be her 'owner' for want of a better word," he confirmed what she might initially respond to poorly. "She is paying of a debt, so perhaps you should use the term indentured servitude, rather than slavery on this occasion - it was her decision to repay it this way as opposed to finding an alternative," he explained.
He'd saved her life, she'd been down in that sink hole for a rather long time before he fished her out. Now, whether she actually wanted to stay in the Stormborn was unknown, but until she had paid off her debts according to her own views (of which he wasn't entirely familiar) that was where she would be. If she chose to leave after that then he wouldn't prevent her from doing so...
"She works alongside my sister, she's her assistant and is very well respected in the household," he finished and raised a brow. She was, coincidentally, proving to be a rather good role model for their youngest thrall as well. The cub had been slowly but surely coming out of her shell as the months drew on and she began to find her own vocation.
"However, I would not advise you take my view on thralls as gospel. Each individual Stormborn chooses to treat those beneath them as they prefer, this is just the way my family operates."
A pause.
"Next question...?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:48 pm
Her initial reaction to the fact that the Captain sitting before her was now the 'Owner' of her sister had not been aggressive, more cautious and with a enormous sense of tension, yes. Her eyes squinted and her smile quickly dropped but she quietly let him speak his peace. To her credit her demeanour did relax as he explained it was Nanabe's own choice to serve under him.
Why she questioned her sister's damnable sense of honor, she could respect that she was an adult and thus could choose freely what she did with her life. If she wanted to toss her allegiance to the Stormborn then Imani would embrace the fact that her sister as found her place in this world. Even if it burst into flames any hope of them ever meeting face-to-face again.
"If she is there on her own accord then I am content. I might not agree with how she chose to handle any debts with you, but, I know my sister is sensible and had her own reasoning behind the decision which I will not question."
Imani gave a curt nod, noting the tidbit of insight into their culture. "Of course. I...am glad at least she seems to have been luckily enough to be indebted to someone with honor and mercy." Hopefully. From the way he spoke her regards and held himself Imani couldn't see him being someone who would abuse those under his command. Tyrants didn't gain the sense of loyalty she had spied among his men. Course she might be wrong, he might be lying, or a mix of both. But she choose to trust her instincts on this matter. "I wasn't looking forward to trying my hand at winning her honor back if she wasn't in good company."
A pregnant pause followed his request for the next question as Imani thought up what exactly took priority. She knew better than to start asking information about his own affairs last, least he decide she was prying too much and left.
"Well, first off just so I can know who the hell I'm speaking with and so I can stop calling you Stormborn...What's your name?" Late introductions seemed to be a running theme for her lately, far too caught up with bizarre situations to remember her manners. Still, it was something of a pet-peeve for her not to have a name attached to a face. Strange habit, she knew, for someone who met hundreds in her travels.
"Secondly since I'm not able to visit my sister I suppose you will have to do for knowledge on her current affairs. You mentioned she works with your own sister and that she works in medicine, yes? What exactly do they do? Are they more field medics or perhaps herbalists? Or do you Stormborn mix those branches of occupation under one banner?" She might as well start off with an easy question now that the elephant in the room had been addressed. She was eager to know the developments in her sister's life since they last met.
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 5:30 am
"It's Tethys," the Captain replied with a wry smile. Clearly he didn't seem to take these types of things personally, she probably could have continued to call him 'Stormborn' and he would have continued as though they'd known each other from birth. Perhaps that was why so many were drawn to him and he seemed to inspire such trust; when it really came down to it he only cared about what was important... and to him, his identity wasn't terribly important, at least not his name anyway. If anyone needed him then he was recognisable enough for the majority of individuals to know who he was by appearance.
"As to what my sister does," he shook his head. "I honestly don't know the specifics," he confessed. "As a Priestess her responsibilities are not something I'm completely certain of," he explained. "Healing is something the majority of Freeborn know how to do, some better than others, Priestesses seem to have a more specialised role with more detailed research required," he rolled his shoulders. "Beyond knowing that they are spectacularly good with poisons, I couldn't tell you what their daily routine is," he finished.
"That being said your sister has proven to be very adept at medicine and I believe that is what my sister has charged her with handling," he smiled. "Alongside raising a young cub thrall who was located in no man's land," he added. Nanabe was quite obviously a female of many talents and she was at least recognised for them by the family who had taken her in. Admittedly Tethys couldn't give full details on his sister's role but Imani could at least be sure that Nanabe was a key player in her research.
"And there is noting to say you can't visit her you would simply have to do it carefully," he added after a moment or two of consideration. His father had regularly shown up and he had not been afraid to display his strength when required. Most of the time, if you knew who to ask for, not necessarily who you wanted to see, you could get your way...
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:59 am
"Imani." She replied respectively with a nod of her head. "Pleasure to meet you, despite the hilarity behind the reason for our meeting." Imani had a strange pet peeve about names. Despite meeting countless of strangers along her journey she always tried to match a name to a face and kept a thorough mental record. Having a great memory was one of her skills actually. It certainly helped to get a foot in the door with later business deals if you could address them by name and treat them as a family friend.
Once he was finished with his explanation of what he did know of the priestess' job Imani clicked her tongue softly as she took it all in. Her sister had certainly found what seemed like a well respected profession. It made her wonder how she looked in the thick of action, it must have been breath taking to watch a master work. "Thank you for giving me as much insight as you could at least. Oddly enough that role that you described suits her well. I'm happy she's found something that she is successful at and hopefully enjoys as well."
That being said there were two things about his explanation that stood out to her. Funny enough by answering her question he had only created more for her to shoot at him! "She's raising a cub? Does that mean that I have any more unknown nieces and nephews I need to go spoil rotten running around or just the one? Course...there is the issue of actually seeing them." She would have to manage to get past the defenses of the Stormborn. No easy feat for sure, but she'd imagine not an impossible one. The problem lay with the fact Imani wasn't one for battle, hell, she actively avoided it. If a challenge was brought before her to prove her strength well...she wasn't certain she would succeeded. In fact, her bets would be on her failing spectacularly and then finding herself at the mercy of her opponent!
Two scenarios seemed to be the likely outcome to that case. The better option being
her being tossed off the mountain unceremoniously and given a warning. Bad scenario is that she was forced into being a thrall with no chance of escaping. After all like Tethys stated earlier, not all Stormborn shared his respect and honor when it came to their servants.
Well, might as well take advantage of the male in front of her. He seemed to know more about visiting the mountain unharmed than he was letting on.
"If visiting is not completely out of the question, might I perhaps pick your brain for some tips if one wanted to achieve that? Or at least point me in the direction of someone who's managed to achieve that feat before?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:09 am
"The cub is not her child," Tethys replied calmly. While he wouldn't go in to the details on how Sima had been found, he would at least reassure Imani that she didn't have any unannounced nieces and nephews. As a 'thrall', Nanabe was simply responsible for raising another of the same rank so that they could perform their duties adequately. Sima was still much too young to be doing any form of labour and as such, she spent most of her time on very simple tasks.
"Merely one that was found suffering from exposure and brought to safety," he clarified. All in all he was really quite fond of the little hybrid, even if she still hadn't quite found her paws and wasn't entirely sure of how she should address anyone. Baby steps though, she'd get there in the end and he would applaud her when she finally did figure it out. Regardless of what she did, she'd always have the protection of his family and to say they were growing influential was an understatement to say the least!
"Visiting your sister is not entirely out of the question either," he continued and pursed his lips. "My father makes regular trips to see us and he isn't part of the pride, though he certainly commands respect," he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "And no one has really attempted to do anything foolish to my mother given she can...fly off," he squinted. Truth be told if anyone tried to harm his mother they would have hell rained down upon them by him, and he rarely got angry.
...Hell, they'd have the full might of several priestesses down on them too and no one wanted to anger the High Priestess.
Except him.
But he was a bit of a glutton for punishment these days...
"So long as you know exactly who to ask for and you demand to see them immediately, you will generally be able to get what you want," he paused briefly. "Provided that you demand to see an individual of rank and not a thrall," he clarified. "Requesting to speak to your sister will do nothing for you unfortunately as they would simply associate you with someone of no standing -"
Another pause.
"Demand to see either myself or Dione however, and you will find they will stand to attention far more quickly - it is us who have the clout to permit visitations in those circumstances," he finished.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:05 pm
"I see." Even if the child was not hers Imani made a mental note to stock pile on toys and other goodies that a child might enjoy for when decided to go up and visit. Though the child might not be family it sounded like it had not had the easiest beginning in life, and thus, to her deserved to be spoiled. Was she the classic enabling aunt that hyped a child up on sweets before sending them back off to their parents? You bet your sweet a** she was.
A amused grin tugged at her lips as she peered questioningly at him. Fly off? Well unless his father had a very strange and unmoral relationship with a bird it seemed this man was a god child. How interesting! It would certainly explain his enormous size. But other than that it made him no different than any other poor sod out there in the world. Your lineage mattered little to Imani. She had seen far too many come from either side of the spectrum to give a arse anymore. A royal could be a bum, and a peasant could be a hero. What mattered in the end was what you choose to do with your life.
"That is fair enough. I assume you will be away from your home for a while with your...campaign. The information you've provided is enough for me to go off of and begin a plan to head up there." She suspected she'd have to take time to plan her words and mannerisms carefully. The first and foremost would be if she spoke with this 'Dione' explain who she was and her reasoning for being there. Course her coat might do all the talking for her like it had this time.
There was the matter of Maji perhaps not being keen on Imani throwing herself into a pit of hungry wolves but that was another set of headaches she'd deal with later.
"I think I will leave any other questions for my sister to answer herself in due time. Now that I have a chance to see her in person again. If you wouldn't mind I would like to change the focus more onto you." Clearing her throat she lifted her head to try and instill a sense of confidence both in herself and her next words. "Your war band and I have been following the same path for some time now, I've gotten to observe from a distance the workings of your group in their daily lives. But one thing I can not figure out is why you're all here. What is causing the Stormborn to suddenly rally this many troops under one banner? Surely you needn't this many for a simple raid or to conquer lands." There was a pause as she lowered her tone, the mood turning much more serious. It was a gamble for her to be so straightforward in her questioning but Imani could not leave without at least trying to pry some answers out of the captain. "There's a greater threat behind all this, isn't there? What is out there that you are working against that's caused this much of a stir for your group?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:09 pm
"Something like that," Tethys replied in his usual non-committal fashion. He didn't enjoy dragging those who couldn't fight, or were inclined towards heroics, into his business. He'd seen his fair share of heroes thrown to the wolves and they had all died in a rather spectacular fashion, he didn't need to have Nanabe's sibling added to those numbers. That being said, she didn't appear to be the type who would run headlong in to battle; if she was cautious about even approaching the Stormborn then she sure as hell wouldn't be running straight towards the scourge.
"Rest assured we aren't here to conquer anything, the Warlord hasn't attempted to make those type of demands," he pointed out. Admittedly, he saw no reason why they couldn't land grab two of the regions they had found. Given how deserted they were they were ripe for the taking, provided they weren't cursed in any way he saw no reason why they couldn't go in and exploit the resources that were available... That, and it would give them more land to live on. After all, the Stormborn were growing considerably in number and eventually they would run out of space!
"All you need to know is that you are safe," he said at last. He wouldn't be providing her with any details on that front, her twenty questions would stall there if she decided to focus on his reasons for being out here!
"Provided you don't attempt to play the hero around anything particularly untoward you should remain as such as well," he smiled wryly and tilted his head to the side. "However if you spot any individuals with pure white coats, it would perhaps be advantageous to advise them to keep out of the limelight," he mused and tilted his head to the side. That was the only warning he would give, even though it might pose more questions, he wouldn't be answering them at this stage...
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:06 am
She let out a disappointed sigh at his response. Why she hadn't expecting him to lay out the full details of his campaign she was hoping for something a bit more substantial than what he gave her! Though in hindsight she really shouldn't have expected any less.
At the very least he did put to rest some of her worries. "It's certainly good to know your pride hasn't decided to start going on the war path to expand." Yet. She wouldn't put it past them to make the decision to start taking over lands long deserted or had few occupants. Mountains only held so much livable area and even with their supposed 'raids' keeping a good deal of their members away there was bound to be a space issue in the immediate future. Hell with the size of their army - if the rumors of every member of the pride being versed in combat were true - they could challenge large prides for rich lands if they so desired.
Selfish as the thought might be; she prayed that the day the Stormborn decided to start expanding their empire happened well after she had passed on.
Imani couldn't help but snort as her playful side came emerging back out. Setting a paw on her chest she proudly stuck her nose up in the air. "Excuse you clearly I am the very image of a modern major general, thank you very much. I just choose not to make everyone else look bad by running into battle." Tilting her head back down she flashed a mild smiled. "Noted about the white coats. I'll make sure to send the message along the grapevine. Course it would help for me to know what exactly I'm warning them to hide against." She playfully teased, fully knowing that she wouldn't be getting any further information from the Captain.
"Well, Tethys I think my twenty questions are up. At least the ones that you can provide insight to. I'll save the rest to bombard my sister with next we meet again. Thank you again for letting me know she's well and how to go reunite with her for myself. It....means a great deal."
Pursing her lips she lifted herself up, stepping over to him she gave the much larger male a gentle pat on the shoulder. "I gotta say she picked a good one to hitch her star to. I trust that you and your family will keep her safe and happy."
As much as she wanted to keep picking the Captain's mind she now had important matters to attend to. First and foremost would be settling her debt so her reputation amongst the tradesmen in the low lands wouldn't be tarnished, secondly she needed to find a certain spotted male and glue herself back to his side whether he liked it or not. If there was truly such a danger lurking around that the Stormborn felt they need this amount of force, well then despite their differences and disagreements she wanted to be by his side to make sure he was safe.
Backing away she turned her attention to the now very irritated merchant glaring daggers at her. She had to give him credit for at least having enough sense not to interject on their meeting this whole time. "Can I ask a favor? Please pass along to your crew that I'm not who they think I am. I have a feeling we're going to be heading in the same direction for some time. Till we split up I'd rather not have more unexpected guests."
She turned her attention back to Tethys, her tone changing to a much more light-hearted tease. Her head jerking back to gesture at the headache of a situation she had waiting behind her. "You damn Stormborns have already put me in debt as is."
Epine de Rose I think it's safe to say that your next post could wrap this one up?
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