Das Totenlied: Kagami no Tsukimono [It Begins]

[zamisk]

(@Drathi, Ezek followed Grey, and asked if he could join him~)

[Kinokokao]

Loren preened; he did so enjoy a compliment! The apology made him uncomfortable, he had not intended to let it show that he could be bothered by what others thought.

"Then we are well matched, for I have had a great deal of practice without seeing much battle," he countered. Battle, no, fights, yes; he ruefully recalled his earliest days of exile when every shadow made him jump and several thieves and ruffians had sought to take advantage of the seemingly easy target he presented. Loren could still recall the first time he accidentally killed a man -- in self-defense, of course, but the experience had nevertheless shook him deeply in the serious core of his self that he so rarely displayed and so carefully guarded.

"Our team," he emphasized the word, again making eye contact with the lurking adventurers clinging to the sides of the room, "does not seem very coherent. Do you know any of them?"

[NessySchu]

"That's good," Jetta replied. "I agree with you. Well, I met the blind elf, Ezek, earlier, but he seems to have disappeared. So no, I know no one here."

[Aeiren]

Time passed by as Lix stood next to Ceres, whom was now blissfully concentrating on her small reading parchment. As she looked at the other adventurers in the Hall, she could not help but stay silent, her confidence from a while ago simply vanished, her shyness awakened from slumber.

I guess I'll just wait for everyone to leave and tag along... Afterall, Ceres is doing that.

It did not take long before a few adventurers decided to leave the hall. The notion of preparation seemed to fill their minds.

Hmm, I supposed I don't really have anything much on me. I've just came here anyways... Can't think on what to get either... Ah, no worries... Karma shall takes its natural course of action as it usually does.

Ceres began packing her book and leaving, albeit hurriedly after an armored adventurer brimming with bold confidence, took his leave from the hall. A younger companion, all the while tagging along with Ceres, followed suit.

For a young one, she seemed similar to Ceres, and a capable one at that. Noticing her her ability to pull out a tome from nowhere, Lix wonders if she is special like herself. Lix forgot to ask her name however, much less an introduction.

I guess I'll try to talk to her later...

Not wanting to be left out especially away from someone like Ceres, Lix left the hall, behind Ceres' and her companion's trail.

[Riseatrance]

Ceres muttered some vulgar euphemisms to herself under her breath. Everyone she's met and see here excepting Miss Lix and Mina seemed to be either overconfident beyond repair, or utterly and disgustingly arrogant. She didn't like it one bit at all. She had much more experience in the field than almost everyone else here, even if it didn't show. Of course, she wasn't looking for people to figure that out, but her instinct did show that if there was one thing wrong with this motley crew, it was their clashing ideals, their clashing approaches to the situation... The folly of youth was one that always got to Ceres, in the past, when she was their age, she was already making life-or-death decisions in her work, she was already thrust into giant ruins, cursed places, and the like. She knew how to deal with these things. Mountain survivor or not, you're useless if you don't know the terrain. Ceres sighed to herself and simply stood on the stone steps that led to the City Hall, staring out into the distance, simply watching the man in armor walk forth to the tower, alone. He mentioned something about going ahead simply to scout and check out what was inside... She didn't trust it one bit but decided that if he did something stupid inside it would be the first indication that this adventure was no walk in the park. She sat down on the steps too and looked at Mina, before sighing and looking straight out forthwards once more.

"Gee, sometimes I wonder if this is really going to work out, y'know?" she said with a little hint of wavering fright in her voice. "I don't know if I should be really scared or not, but I'll try not to think about that. Meanwhile, I did notice you were reading a rather large tome, that looked pretty familiar... I think I've read a grimoire containing information on demons, but it didn't seem to be containing the depth of your codex... Mind sharing~?" Ceres asked. "I wanna wait for the others to finish their deal inside the Hall before we step out, you know? I have a healthy stash of medicines in my pouch, so we're both ready, but I don't know about the others." However, she then noted that Lix had ended up following her outside.

"Ah, hello again, Miss Lix! This is Mina, she might seem young but I can tell that there's more to her than what she seems! I was just asking her about the large codex she had with her." Ceres said, turning to see Lix in the meanwhile. At least there's someone here who's not so flagrantly rude...

[Aeiren]

Lix felt her heart that she believes she has, jumped that very instant to Ceres's sudden banter.

I thought I was being pretty silent trailing them... I wasn't trying to frighten them...

"Hel.. Hello..." a nervously soft, yet hurried reply to her sudden cheerful companion.

"Hello, Mina... I'm Lix... Lix Neriea..." this time towards the younger looking companion beside Ceres, with a gentle bow.

I'm taking the initiative to introduce first... I'm not scary, right? I hope she doesn't scowl at me...

Lix kept to her silence again, awaiting for her companions' replies. This time however, she will be more alert for it, her nervousness slowly faltering in strength.

[FomeRubr555]

(Man, I sat refreshing the page for a good 4 or so hours thinking "this RP is going slow today, maybe everyone is busy? Why isn't anyone replying?" only to realize I had been refreshing page 3...and there was already a 4, and even a 5 by the time I got around to writing this! I need to pay more attention.)

Wait, the group is dividing? Already? That's suicidal! ...Isn't it? Some went off ahead. Should she stay with this group, which was obviously the safer option, or go ahead as would be the more 'honorable' thing to do for a swordswoman like herself? Wait, they haven't actually entered yet. Maybe they're just going to wait in front of the tower for people to get ready...

Seeing that there were only a few notable figures left, Yukiko approached the prince and the bird-handling woman he was talking to. "E-Excuse me..." She bowed politely to the two. "I th-think everyone is gathering to take on the tower. I-It may be best for us to leave now, s-so that we don't fall behind..."

[NessySchu]

When the shorter girl came up to them, Jetta looked around and saw that she was right. Everyone did appear to be heading out. "Okay, thank you for pointing that out," she said. "My name is Jetta Brock. What's yours?"

[Lord Zombie]

Ausus sat near the entrance to the tower, hidden from view as he kept working on tweaking his body behind a big oak tree. He had finished most of the adjustments last night, but he was doing a quick check before going off, "I should probably hurry up, it seems there are others approaching.." he said as he scanned the horizon away from the tower. With his tools at hand he screwed on the last of the bolts and slowly moved his left arm around to check for any errors in his work. After a few more minutes of checking everything he feels confident in his work and then grasps his cloak and conceals his mechanical body before it's noticed.

He slowly walks away from the tree, before quickly remembering his bag of revival medicine left by the tree. "Things would get ugly pretty fast if I had forgotten this." he thought, "Maybe I should of obtained some other medicines besides the ones dealing with revival" he then added.

"Oh well I'm sure I'll be ok with just this for now. If not well I hope I can get a good view of the wildlife wherever I end up, he then paused.
"Though I'd probably wouldn't even be able to see, if things get that bad.. now that I think about it. Maybe I should try lifting some additional medicine from the people making their way here."

With those thoughts he patiently hides behind the nearby plant life for the right moment to sneak around close enough to obtain what he needs. "Just to make sure the odds rise in my favor I guess I should create an illusionary clone as well.."

(This is assuming that Drathi and Zamisk have yet to enter the tower, as I understood Drathi's last post as not being inside the tower yet. But I'll adjust this post if necessary.)

[FomeRubr555]

[Kinokokao]

Loren listened to the introductions and then offered his own, even if it wasn't warranted; he did so enjoy meeting people.

"I'm Prince Loren of Minskyava, but do please just call me Loren."

He then turned his attention to Jetta for her answer.

(sorry it's kind of a ninja, but Loren wants to be included :3)

[ShiningDrake]

Mina winced as she sensed the general idea of what Ceres was muttering. She couldn't say she disagreed with the sentiment on the idea... She honestly didn't think it would be a good idea to go into the tower alone, or even with any less than the whole group...

She followed Ceres to the steps and sat down alongside her. She didn't know what to say when Ceres began speaking again, but once she asked if Mina would be willing to share her tome, the young girl nodded. "Y-yes, of course." She retrieved the codex from the gap even as Ceres continued speaking, but as she opened it, Ceres said something about Lix again. "Ah?" Mina looked up at Lix.

Mina didn't protest as Ceres introduced her, but when Lix spoke, she responded. "Oh... Hello Lix. Um..." She paused, not sure what else to say. "It's... Nice to meet you. Um... If you're interested in this book too, I'd be happy to let you read it...?" She really had no idea what else she should say right now. She simply sat there, waiting for an answer from Lix, obviously looking a bit uncomfortable.

((OOC: There are THREE incredibly shy girls in the party apparently. This should be interesting...))

[Sampson]

After people-watching for a few more minutes, Elleman decided that the group with the girl with an owl on her shoulder seemed like the most interesting one to be in. There was a good number of people, too.

Deciding that it was best not to introduce himself while someone else was doing so, he walked slowly in the direction of the group, and stood a short distance away from them. In an attempt to seem somewhat more noticeable, he retrieved a book--Taxonomy and Taxidermy: They Are Two Entirely Different Things, Much to My Disappointment--and began to read (or, rather, pretend to read) it, remaining standing.

[NessySchu]

(Jetta answered Loren ages ago, right after you posted. I can edit this if you want though though... And Sampson - best book title ever.)

"Nice to meet you, Yuki," Jetta replied. Wow, this girl was really shy. "Yes, this is Finnick. You can pet him if you want, he doesn't bite or anything." She leaned down a bit so the shorter girl could reach the owl if she so chose. Jetta scanned around and noticed a man in glasses and a cloak reading a book nearby. He seemed to be listening as they introduced themselves, so Jetta called out to him. "Hey, who are you? Care to join us?"

[FomeRubr555]

(Shy girls are win, I think Mina is the shyest of all...or at least sickest so she gains the most cute points. Also, I loved the book title.)

Yukiko reached out to pet the bird, stroking it's feathers. At least it didn't seem to want to fly away or anything, like she was half-expecting. "...He's soft..."

And the other part of the group introduced himself, to which she gave a half-bow, as a full bow would have prevented her from petting the bird. "P-Pleased to meet you, Loren..." A member of royalty who didn't demand titles was a refreshing change from the territory lords back home...though, she was in a similar situation herself. "S-So you are a prince? I had a feeling, b-but I was afraid to ask and end up looking silly... I d-do like your clothes, they're f-far more elaborate than what I see back home..."