you'll never miss me

“A good team, especially if magical fire is as effective in the open as it is in a closed-in space.” They’d known normal fire didn’t work, it wouldn’t burn the monsters. Magical fire seemed to be a different story and she hopes that the open bounds of outdoors won’t give it too much opportunity to flee. She nods in acceptance. “I’d be happy to. Now - about those Frost Giants -” she returns to their original topic of conversation, settling in to the chair as she recalls both the book she found in the Temple and the creature she summoned. “They’re big. Maybe three of me or more? Thick skin, to weather Halo’s climate, but it also makes it hard to penetrate and wound. I imagine normal weapons wouldn’t work very well. They’re vicious killers, attacking anything that moves and not smart at all. Can rarely be reasoned with. They can be toppled, I imagine their center of gravity and dexterity isn’t great. They’re also nomadic, so I don’t know if you would encounter just one, or if there would be several together.” She offers a little shrug, knowing little else beyond that. Next? WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

She dips her head a bit in agreement to Wessex’s assumption. “We tried fire arrows, but it was hard to see where the creature was. Somewhere above us.” She shrugs, but it is a good option. Magical fire, and with Deimos’ understanding and power with it, she can’t help but to keep it in mind despite how Wessex moves on. She still takes notes, however, marking underneath the LongNight monsters and writing out Frost Giants, before underlining it and looking up to Wessex as the Ascended begins to explain.

She makes a few small notes based off of heights, the skin and temperament of it – how best to attack it, what to avoid, things they might try (like Wessex’s idea of toppling it). “Sounds terrible.” She offers, smirking lightly with a quiet laugh, hoping to never have to come across one but imagining she’s not quite lucky enough for that. But she thinks she’s got enough information, at least for a start, and so she dips the quill into a bit more ink and makes space beneath the Frost Giant notes to add another section.

“What about Dragons?” This one has a hint more interest in it. Dragons were formidable, wonderfully terrifying creatures that Kiada was deeply intrigued by.

as cold as stone

KIADA

The Wraith almost responds with something like all the better to see you with, my dear, but doesn’t want to rub it in that they maaaaaybe should have taken someone who can see very well in the dark. “Dragons I’m much less familiar with. Only what I’ve read and seen pictures of. The ones in Halo are white, I assume to blend in with their environment. They were sitting on big piles of sparkly things - not diamonds - but it seemed like some kind of treasure, in what looked like a frozen surrounding. They’re big, too.” She offers a somewhat sheepish grin and helpless shrug after that. It was the one of the three she knew the least about, the only one she’d never seen - and the one she’d most like to. Because there’s a lovely little hunch that what the dragons were sitting on was mageglass, and with her alliance with Neron effectively nulled (for now), she needs to find another way to get it. She needs to get it before the overly pious, invading Outlanders do.   Last but not least? WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

She begins to mark it down, comments of the dragons. Of white, blending in, sitting atop treasure that even Kiada has a hunch may or may not be mage glass. It was a rumor, for sure, and yet Kiada can’t help but wonder if it thrives out there somewhere too. But she isn’t a mage, wouldn’t be able to use it for anything. All she knows is that she doesn’t want it in Zariah’s hands, should it come to be true.

So she scribbles more notes down, before looking up to the Ascended with a conspirators smile. “Ursurs next, if you will?” She asks, preparing the parchment in quiet a somewhat messy way that at least makes sense for her, to be able to change and adjust it in a book a bit more formal appearing than these scratched notes. She dips the quill into more ink before her icy gaze flits up to wait and begin to write again.

as cold as stone

KIADA

"Ah, now these I've also seen in person. One was actually contained and used as a plower in Halo." One side of her mouth twitches. It was kind of pathetic, actually, how bad the bear looked. She knows they have to keep them at half strength for their own protection, but seeing the sorry state of a once powerful creature was a tad too close to what might happen to her if she's ever caught by the Old Gods. “Massive white bears with heavy coats and long serrated tusks. A full grown, healthy Ursur could easily kill a person, and you can’t always see them coming out on the Tundra. They eat everything from rabbits to carrion, I imagine. They can be caught and controlled, but they would have to be kept under a lot of restraints - even then, there was real fear about what an Ursur could do if they got loose.” She pauses a moment and thinks about the possibility of getting an Urusur cub and raising it from a bottle, if that would be possible. There would be a lot of risks involved, but it would be quite the companion… “I think that’s it. Ah, The people in Whitebrim, the outpost, may or may not be opportunistic cannibals.” Jury was out on that one, but it’s worth a warning, WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

Dark brows raise in quiet surprise at the mention of it being used and contained, some small part of her – the attuned part, sorrowed at the use of the creatures of the world, though she says nothing to that. Instead, she jots it down, added information to be on the lookout. And she writes down their description, nodding in agreement with Wessex. “I assume they take precautions?” A frown crosses her face, wondering what kind of precautions those may be to these great and large creatures.

Still, her quill pauses at the mention of the people in Whitebrim. “They’re what?” She questions, lips quivering and quirking into a smirk of sorts, bewilderment, uncertainty. Cannibals? She supposes after living in the winter lands for so long, that life in a sense was likely rough enough to succumb to it, but only when absolutely necessary. “How did you find that out?” She asks, putting the quill down, sitting back in her chair to view the Ascended with surprise, interest to the story of how she’d come to that thought.

Wondering, too, if she even wishes to know.

as cold as stone

KIADA

Wessex makes a face that indicates she isn’t exactly pleased with the measures they take. “Of course. The one I saw was… skin and bones. Starved, really. I don’t think it had all the necessary energy to take out its handlers. They used whips and a massive leather harness with lots of ties and restraints. I can see where it’s useful, but the poor creature was a sorry sight. And they were still afraid of it.” She doesn’t know if that says more about the Ursur at its full strength and abilities or the quality of Neron’s guards, but it does say something. They would do well to be very wary of the bears. “Amun and I made it to Whitebrim. I let him run his mouth and at some point, the bartender there called him a snack, and I’m ninety percent sure he didn’t mean the sexual kind. Could have, but then the people in the bar came after us. So - I’m going to take that at face value and assume he wanted to literally eat Amun.” Somedays Wessex wants to stuff the guy’s mouth with socks in order to shut him up, so she can empathize with the bartender but thaaaaat was a little extreme. “Halo isn’t an easy place to live. If they’re exiles from the Citadel, I bet any outside thing might be seen as fair game.” WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

A frown finds the Harpy’s face when Wessex explains the conditions the creatures are kept. A small shake of her head to that, wondering how someone could be cruel enough to use them for that when they should be roaming out in the wild, roaming and protecting. She thinks briefly back to the wolves that protected the Basin – trained in a sense, but never bound – never made weaker for the sheer ability to use them. “Terrible.” She comments in agreement, sighing quietly though her nose.

But at the mention of opportunistic cannibals, she tilts her head as she listens, finding a way to kind of snort a huff of laughter at the explanation. Chased down for a bite, how strange, how intriguing, too. And she understands to an extent. “That’s… Definitely something. Might be worth checking out and see if it happens again?” She cocks her head, an amused smirk crossing her lips. “Without Amun maybe?”

as cold as stone

KIADA

Yes, their incident was actually amusing. Wessex chuckles too. “Perhaps. Maybe not me, though. Someone who’s better at nice and unobnoxious words” Because if they’re being honest, they both know Wraith is wretched at diplomacy and compliments. ‘You’re doing well’ might as well be a gold star, with words of encouragement few and far between. It’s the lack of criticism one has to look for, not the presence of praise. She can read a room, she just can’t easily adjust to certain situations. Need a stone-faced, fake-drunk to eavesdrop place at a bar? Wessex is your person. Need to sweet-talk the bartender? There are probably better options. Eyeing the Guildmistress as she runs out of information to deliver, Wessex tilts her head to one side fingers coming up to her chin in a thoughtful expression. “So what do you think the guild will do in Halo?” What are her plans, now that she knows a little more about the beasties that roam its white, wild corridors, nooks, and crannies? WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

There’s a quiet hum of a laugh at what Wessex says next, shrugging lightly to the ex-Queen, a bright smile crossing her face as she focuses on the Ascended. “Where’s the fun in that, though?” She teases lightly – something about how Kiada actually likely falls under the same wing of a sort. She’d never been the sort able to keep her tongue. Too fiery at times, too much for some. In the end, there are much better people for it than either of them.

The question though, of what she’ll do in Halo, has her tapping her chin in thought for a brief moment. “Well, I think knowing what’s out there is beneficial to the possibility of something ending up here.” She muses briefly. “But I’m not sure. We could go to Halo, talk to Neron and see if maybe he’s got bounties for creatures we could tackle… From there, see what we can get out of it?” She shifts in her chair slightly to look at the empty trophy wall, imagining what might sit there as the guild grows.

as cold as stone

KIADA

Fun… time… she has to weigh the costs and benefits of doing something like going back to Whitebrim versus say, building various shrines and getting to Torchline. Chuckling along, she shrugs but nevertheless refrains from volunteering to return to the outpost. Or to be the one to go and ask Neron about bounties. At least, not by herself. The chuckle turns into a slow nod as she agrees with the next steps. “He’ll probably tell you to go ahead, with some warning about how dangerous the Tundra and Fangs are.” She personally also doubts the bounties, unless they can bring in a significant number of Ursur and lower the population. Leaning forward, Wessex takes a look around and notices that she’s been there for quite awhile now. “Let me know what he says? I’d be happy to join a hunt there.” But the impetus for organizing is purely in her - or someone else’s - hands. {Fin for Wessex} WESSEX She whispered back, I am the storm

her wild feral stare, her dark hair

her winter lips

She snorts lightly in agreement, knowing full well how most people always listed out the dangers and decided whether it was ideal to continue on or not. But Kiada has always been of the stubborn sort, and as a woman born and raised from the harshness of the mountains before experiencing the rest of what her life had held, well… She felt like it might be a decent option. Still, she nods to Wessex in understanding.

As Wessex leans forward and tells her to let her know what Neron says, she nods and offers a bright smile. “I will. And thanks for the information, Wessex.” She says, giving the Ascended a nod and a small wave as the Wraith begins to depart.

{FIN}

as cold as stone

KIADA