❪ event ❫ khalo? can you hear me?

[natha]

In normal circumstances, this would have been near the time in which you're called upon to greet the newly awakened. Unfortunately, I speak to you to inform that we must postpone that — there is trouble on your horizon. What, I cannot see for sure. We shall continue to monitor the situation, however — we - ... we — [feed cuts off.] OLYMPIAN PRESERVATION     The city of Olympia is preparing the send-off of its most prized artifact: the heart of the ancient dragon, Ysverai. In doing this, they've transformed the palace court into an exhibition detailing the centuries-old war between Wyver and Olympia. Sculptures of Nithor the Exalted and his men and women in clean, white marble, while their armors are polished in perfect gold. Among Nithor are the sculptures of stallions in all shapes and sizes that also aided in the great war. Further in the exhibition, one may also find other artifacts of much older weaponry, rusted by its time in the earth, and items found from a time when humans feared the dragons. The Royal Guard has increased its numbers in wake of such a public event, particularly because the heart will be in display also. The heart is not what one might expect it to be: about the size of an average human, the heart's core is surrounded in stone, a red glow emitting from its still beating core. If that were not unsettling enough, one might also find that lingering around this particular exhibit will have undue affects on one's inhibitions. You'll notice your heart has fallen into sync with the organ, and your more selfish desires will come forth. Things that have long been buried will rise up and place you in a state of unease, encouraging paranoia about your companions intentions. Allow it to fester, and one will carry this feeling with them long after you've left the scene. It's probably a good thing this is leaving Olympia — perhaps it's a source of so much conflict you've endured. It's easy to become mesmerized by all the historical artifacts that are present in Olympia's exhibition. Some even seem mystical or, like Ysverai’s heart, to hold unspeakable powers. Others are just a little eerie. Either way, Olympia prides itself in its generosity and their grand displays, and so refugees are urged to learn more about their artifacts by spending the night in Palace Court. Though, someone should probably mention that there are rumors of strange, almost occult things happening around these relics at night. People speak of armored soldiers casting shadows that have the ability to walk on their own, or gemstones that catch the moonlight in a certain way and show you visions. But those are just silly ghost stories, right? TALL TALES OF KHALO VILLAGE     Because of Khalo's proximity to Wyver, it's no surprise that they would catch wind of the peace talks between Wyver and Olympia. In response, for the first time in centuries, Khalo Village has willingly granted passage to outsiders — but visitors will immediately find out that one cannot just simply walk into the village. Visitors will need to inhale the smoke of a fyrra herb in order to enter the premises without falling into slumber. Khalo is notably different than what refugees are used to. Visitors, specifically refugees, will find that they are exceedingly accommodating. The Khali are very intrigued by the outsiders, thus they're treated with much respect and given instant access to some of the best lounges and fyrra the village has to offer. In exchange, the village is interested in hearing about your journey thus far. Whether it be through a conversation with another individual or the Khali themselves, they'll very likely to have been eavesdropping and recording the tales of their exploits. Why, exactly? Perhaps it will not be immediately clear, but if you happened upon a venasou, a tamed Khali creature, it may have guided you to their Enchanted Library. Upon entering the library, visitors will notice that it is quite the happening place — but not because it's occupied by the Khali, but because there seems to be an assembly of magical quills seemingly writing on their own. The quills are mostly undisturbed by the intrusion and will not stop writing even if parchment is taken from it; it will simply produce another piece of paper and continue its tales. If you happen to read the parchment, you may notice that there is a daunting similarity between your story and the ones being written here. Tales of Thesa birthing new races and sending them from the sky, for example, are very popular in Khalo Village. They mark July 15th as the day in which the Moon Goddess, Thesa, created more people in her image and brought them to El Nysa as saviors. The coincidences don't end there: specifics about your home world might be found in the writings if you search deeply enough — but it's not without its exaggerations. These stories are given all sorts of poetic and literary forms, from short stories to limericks, biographies to something similar to haiku. If asked, the Khali will inform visitors that the enchanted library has access to vague parts of your memories, and thus it is duty-bound to record. The Khali have not seen stories as strange as the ones being made by refugees, which is largely why they are interested in them. NOTE: This is entirely optional! You may make up your own "stories" (fanfiction) and it could be as accurate or inaccurate, or as serious or silly as you'd like. While tales of the Thesa's descendants are still being written, visitors of the Enchanted Library might find intrigue in the more complete works — KING AND KIN. If one is willing to delve deep, they may also find parts of Wyver's past that have been removed from their own archives. These pages will recount the tales of Shanrian and Rasyc. Though a lot of the narrative seems to divide at certain points in the story, it becomes obvious with some quick reading that Rasyc is not only the son of Shanrian, but that he glorifies the Wyver of old, more bloodthirsty and brutal than it is today. Unlike his father, he does not take kindly to Olympia and the threat they will always pose for their people. He has not forgotten Olympia's past sins and he believes that, in his foolish quest for peace, the king has gone soft and no longer possesses the real will to fight. His present voice in affairs of state is not a loud one, as he chooses to speak in whispers and move in the dead of silence. In these quiet murmurings, he boasts of his unwavering belief in the power and dignity of his people. Of how they should all return to what they once were — the kingdom, its citizens, and naturally the father who he had once admired greatly. Though perhaps it can be argued that any estranged son would wish the same. It's difficult to pinpoint what becomes political and what is and always will be more personal for him. But, it hardly matters. It's clear that Rasyc will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives, even if it means never returning to place he calls home. Even if it means turning his back on his own father, Shanrian, King of Wyver... DRAGONFIRE. While tales of the Thesa's descendants are still being written, visitors to the Enchanted Library might find intrigue in the more complete works. In particular, tales of Ysverai, the last of Wyver's great high dragons. Ysverai is most commonly known for being slain by Olympia’s past king and legendary hero, Nithor, but here in Khalo he is depicted in another light. Ysverai is known to the Khali people as a wise being, old as the first inhabitants that walked El Nysa. The creature spoke in the common tongue to the early settlers, guiding them to refuge when his kin began to dominate the land at the cost of its own isolation. It ultimately becomes a tale of sacrifice, for its stand with Nithor became a testament against the Olympian Empire's long reaching influence. At the bottom, there is a quotation: Your hearts will fill with greed and malice the moment my own stops beating. Take care in the Eye of the Storm. Find strength in one another, before it is too late. It seems to end there. Refugees are naturally allowed to question the natives. However, keep in mind that many of their replies will seem more like speculation than fact. But maybe that can be fun too? If you have no interest in the library and the tales they've woven, feel free to explore any of the other areas of interest. Khalo Village is thrilled to be open for you all. THOSE THAT SEEK PEACE, AND THOSE THAT SEEK --     The morning of the 20th is marked by fairly dismal weather. The sky is overcast and a downpour seems imminent. Regardless of the poor forecast, those who signed up to assist in this mission will be required to come early in order to receive their briefing. Members of Group A: ▸ Jon Snow (song_of_ice) ▸ Daenerys Targaryen (dorzalta) ▸ Loras Tyrell (triplerose) ▸ Terra (earthy) ▸ Alisaie Leveilleur (adelphoi) ▸ Solider: 76 (personalwar) ▸ Ardyn Izunia (daemonized) ▸ Mai(maipokerface) ▸ Olivier Armstrong (wallsofbriggs) ▸ Atsushi Nakajima (gekkajuu) Members of Group B: ▸ Kale (kaleorbekaled) ▸ Diana Prince (wondie) ▸ Pheonix Wright (objectionattourney) ▸ Revolver Ocelot (shashka) ▸ Frederick (pebblestone) ▸ John Sheppard (impavid ▸ Ianto Jones (torchwoodteaboy) ▸ Lena Oxton (quevarly) ▸ Allura (quintessent) Due to the rain, members of Group A will have to immediately stop by the checkpoint at the East Watchtower. Additionally, the Royal Guard and Knightryders are well-prepared with extra cloaks for those who may require it. They also will provide basic refreshments such as water and bread. People are encouraged to take what they need prior to their departure on this mission. The checkpoints are a bit far between, after all. Members of the envoy will also be encouraged to utilize this time to become familiar with one another. Maybe some introductions are in order? You never know who will end up having your back... For both groups, the paths will be relatively straightforward with evenly spaced checkpoints along the way. The only issue seems to be the downpour, really. The rain is unforgiving and the roads easily become unstable and increasingly difficult for the carriage to be drawn through. Hence, there may be more than one occasion where you will be expected to lend a hand in prying out its wheels from a particularly pesky (and muddy) pothole. Or perhaps you will be called upon by a fellow guard to assist in getting a particularly stubborn creature out of the path ahead of you. Seems like it may be a longer journey than you expected. Dirtier, too. While weathering the conditions may have been a bit tiring, this journey isn't too bad, right? Well, maybe not. GROUP A. Once the carriage gets through the worst of the terrain and finally manages to depart from the watchtower, it won't be long until the group is met with a physical roadblock. A large tree trunk will be set down the center of the road, acting as a blockade. But, before the group can react or begin crafting a plan around this obstruction, the carriage will be attacked without warning. At first, it's unclear where the attack comes from or from whom, but you don't have the leisure to deliberate this. You hear one of your fellow guards mention something about bandits frequenting these parts, but maybe there's more to it? Either way, your task is clear: protect the artifact, Nithor's skull, and fight the bandits off. You'll be encouraged to try and capture them so that they may later be turned and questioned by the authorities. GROUP B. With clear motives to restock and collect a few more materials for the carriage, it's evident that the envoy will appear restless to arrive at the second checkpoint. However, despite their unspoken delight at seeing the South Outpost from a distance, it's clear something has gone awry. There will be several hooded figures awaiting them right where the mud path meets the cobblestone of the Outpost's road. Soon, several more of these figures will come to flank them from both sides. While they seem like bandits, at least from their physical appearance, there is something far more polished in their movements. They will be attacking the envoy in concise, practiced formations. For those who are more perceptive, it becomes obvious that they are moving around and acting as decoy to one central figure. This member is likely the "leader" of their group, but no matter how one may try to close the distance between themselves and this mysterious leader, someone will constantly get in the way of that. The fighting also seems to act as a distraction since by the time everything is cleared up... only two things are missing. The leader of this group of bandits and more importantly — Ysverai's heart. NOTE: Those RNG'd to thread out the capture and questioning of the bandits will have starters below. For everyone else that signed up, you will still have the opportunity to capture the assailants even though they were not selected to thread the interrogation; you are free to make up your NPCs with the same basic guideline: they will not reveal their motive or their organization. You may turn them in to authorities (Wyver or Olympia or otherwise) or find creative ways to get rid of them. FINAL OOC NOTE     To reiterate: you may use this log as a general mingle for everything from the May Outline, including all Khalo Village activities. In other words, your top-levels don't necessarily have to be related to the prompts written here. An AC-eligible thread in which your character participates in anything mentioned in the May Outline and/or Khalo Village location page may be submitted for 2 REP POINT FOR EITHER OLYMPIA OR WYVER. SUBMIT THE THREAD FOR OLYMPIA OR WYVER HERE OR HERE RESPECTIVELY BY June 10th 11:59 PM EST. For those who participated in this month's plot-related portion, to receive IC recognition for it, a summary of the thread must be submitted HERE by June 8th 11:59 PM EST. Please direct all queries to the question thread below. Thank you, and have fun! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs ● bestiary taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp ● quest bulletin calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

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ADDITIONAL PROMPT: POST NPC THREAD, GROUP B

[impavid]

After having vanished away into the forest, following a bandit who made a break for the treeline, John eventually comes back with a body seemingly slung around his shoulders. The fighting has mostly finished up, he's glad to note, because there's a degree of inconvenience to having to fight while holding an unconscious person.

He moves in close to the carriage and dumps her down, dusting himself off and letting out a sigh as he rolls his shoulders and waits to see if he has most people's attention.

"This is Betty," he begins brightly. Her name is absolutely not Betty. "Betty and I are now good friends. We had a long chat about the meaning of life and the meaning of losing it, and it turns out Betty was interested in keeping hers. It also seems like she's fallen in with a questionable crowd. They're all friends with the shamans, seems like they've got some pretty big ideas."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto has managed not to get himself killed or maimed to any degree, despite John's absence. He's tired though, and looking slightly the worse for wear, covered in mud from a particularly nasty struggle on the ground -- which he did win in the end but it was all down to sheer luck and the fact that he had fought dirty and was able to stun his opponent once he'd regained the upper hand. He's feeling more than a little defeated, however. Hoping against hope that one of the bandits strewn about his feet might have the Heart in their possession, because it's certainly not on the carriage anymore.

He turns to raise a skeptical eyebrow at the other man. Betty, John, really though? Her name is certainly not Betty and does he even want to know where that came from in the first place? Anyway, that's besides the point.

"Shamans?" Ianto asks, prompting for John to go on. "You can't mean..."

[impavid]

"I mean shamans," John confirms. "You know. Friendly folk. Interested in dragons. Interested in dragon related things. Interested, in turns out, in Ysverai's heart. Unfortunately--" and he casts about, moving for something to begin tying up the bandit with properly. "Betty here doesn't know exactly where they took it. However, shamans are a good start and she did know something about their plans."

He moves to kneel over the bandit, moving around her unconscious limbs to begin binding them.

"Now, for 50 points, what do shamans want with a creepy still beating dragon heart?"

His tone is light, playful even, but there's an edge to it still. John is aggravated by the whole situation -- by losing it, by finding out what they want it for, by the various bruises and injuries he has. One arm is moving a little less fluidly than the other as he ties, movement restricted still.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Shamans, after the Heart. Shamans have he Heart, Ianto corrects himself, a little bitterly, because there's no point in denying the facts. They've definitely taken it, and the fighting was just a decoy while they carried it off. He'd tried hard to protect the carriage but he's no guard. He's just an archivist, an admin. This really wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Oh, he's got a bad feeling about this alright. Especially because John sees fit to mention the fact that the shamans are interested in dragons and that the heart is still beating.

"You're not saying..." Ianto starts, before trailing off, shaking his head. No, it's ludicrous. Not only that but. "How long has that thing been just sitting around in a vault somewhere gathering dust and they're going to try to -- use it?" He studies John's expression with dawning horror. "...bring it back?? No, they -- but it's just a heart!" A creepily beating one at that but. You would need more than that. Wouldn't you?

[impavid]

"That's fifty points to Ravenclaw. It's creepy, but unfortunately not implausible."

If people can resolve themselves into pure energy, if wraith can age a person with a touch and de-age them -- hell, why can't someone take the still beating heart of a dragon and revive it?

"Apparently it's a wise dragon, if that's any consolation. Also, apparently if it's setting anything on fire then Olympia will be first. Just in case there was any doubt about that."

[torchwoodteaboy]

To Ravenclaw? Well, he supposes out of all the houses it fits. Never mind that distraction, though.

There's a sick feeling settling in Ianto's stomach at the thought of it. Raising a dragon -- well of course Olympia will be in danger if that happens. That's how the stories go, isn't it? That's what the plaques had said in the palace, anyway. Thesa's light had shone on Olympia and on that same night, the dragons fell. Thesa's light. Ianto certainly doesn't believe in religion, but it has something to do with the city, that much is certain.

"The fact that the place I've just chosen to live may be targeted by a giant undead creature of mass destruction -- but at least it's wise? No," Ianto counters, sounding a little on edge, "not really a consolation, no." He runs a hand through his hair. "We need to. Someone needs to know about this. We need to find it."

[impavid]

"Don't underestimate wise, wise might mean it listens if we try to negotiate. I'd take wise over angry as a descriptive."

He finishes making sure the bandit is bound, testing nothing will pull loose before pushing up to his feet again and inspecting his arm. The bandages he wound around it earlier are soaked through in a dark patch on one side, but it's dry at least. He rolls his shoulder, squinting up and around at Ianto.

"I'd put my money on them having taken it into Wyver, which means there's nothing to be lost heading in ourselves. Try and pick up the trail before it goes cold."

[torchwoodteaboy]

He supposes that John has a point, but still. He would rather that a giant creature who could potentially wipe out the entire city not be wise enough to create a plan to do so in the first place. There are plenty of citizens who aren't wise, after all.

Ianto frowns, glancing back at the carriage before at John and the way he's rolling his shoulder. It sounds reasonable, to follow them into Wyver and see if they can track anything out, but all the same.

"How's your arm?" he asks. Somehow Ianto himself had managed to escape with nothing more than mud and bruises, but John hadn't been quite so lucky, and a part of Ianto can't help but wonder if that's because his attention had been split between protecting himself and looking out for Ianto himself.

[impavid]

"Sore," he admits, "but I'll live."

He shouldn't be moving it as much as he is really, but there's no helping that. He squints at Ianto critically, judging the way he's moving to try and guess if he's hiding anything.

"What about you, need me to look at anything?"

There's no obvious patches of blood that he can spot, but bleeding can be internal as well as external. Just because he isn't gushing blood doesn't mean he hasn't fractured something.

Re: ADDITIONAL PROMPT: POST NPC THREAD, GROUP B

[quintessent]

Allura is circling the area, checking on anyone injured in the wake of the fight, and helping guard the captured attackers, when the man who'd helped her out of the mud from earlier appears from the treeline. The seemingly lifeless shape hefted on his shoulder, then deposited in a heap on the ground sends a chill down her spine—even if she's an enemy combatant, Allura didn't wish to see death upon her.

In fact, she's going to kneel by “Betty”, checking on her condition, before turning her attention to John. Shamans... “So the attackers were from Wyver?” She's still pretty new to the sociopolitical strife between the two cities, but she did what she could to familiarize herself during her time on the Orbiter's ship.

[impavid]

The bandit will have a bruise eventually, but she's alive and otherwise unharmed. A few bumps, no doubt, from the fights she was in -- a small, shallow scratch on her neck where she'd struggled when John was threatening her. Other than that, though? He'd just knocked her out.

He's moving to get something to tie her up with, removing her weapons in the process too just in case she somehow wakes up before he manages it.

"That's where my money is, and I'd guess the heart is going to be kept somewhere in Wyver too. She didn't have much good to say about Olympia, so I'd guess their eventual plan is to use it against us. No doubt they feel Shanrian's accepting of this trade and peace talks is some kind of betrayal. So, grab the heart, then work with the shaman's to make use of it. That's where the fun begins."

He squints up at Allura, curious.

"How much do you know about the shamans?"

[quintessent]

She's relieved. Sure the bandits started the violence, and apparently has dangerous ambitious regarding Olympia, but that doesn't mean they need to sink to their levels. Allura says knelt at the prisoner's side, hand on her arm and keeping watch while John goes to gather rope.

"A little," She says with hesitation, thinking back to the things she's read, "They worship a dragon, correct?"

[impavid]

"Something like that. There's definitely a pro-dragon vibe going on, you know, dragons are big and powerful and all that."

He's pretty sure there's some trend in that regard, with people seeking to appease more powerful beings with some degree of worship -- benevolent or not. Kneeling down beside 'Betty' again with a sigh he begins to secure her arms behind her back.

"The big takeaway, though, is that the shamans allegedly know how to bring back dead things."

Sorry I disappeared over the weekend!

[quintessent]

She stays near Betty’s side, both as back up for John in case she woke up again, but also to make sure the prisoner is treated humanely. Not that she doesn’t trust her companion, but as a newly minted member of the Diplomatic Council, it’s a pretty bad look to mistreat a citizen of Wyver during a peacekeeping mission, regardless of who attacked first.

“They wish to bring the dragon back from the dead?” Dragons. They were a pretty distinctly human staple of fantasy, but plenty of cultures all over the universe had their own versions. Great beasts to be honored and feared and obeyed. Largely it came down to just superstition. Giant beasts exist, but, in Allura’s experience, generally prefer to keep to themselves.

“But why would they attack us now, when the heart was already on its way to Wyver?” Clearly they’re not working in tandem with the authorities in Wyver, but why not wait until it’s closer to home?

No trouble!

[impavid]

"Well from the sounds of it, they're not big fans of Olympia. Which I guess means they're not big fans of the peace process in general. Allegedly that heart is powerful enough on its own, but if they can bring back a big old dragon I figure that's enough firepower to start back up a war."

The real question was why. Just a grudge? Some other vested interest? For that matter, was Shanrian behind it or was someone trying to undermine him? The longer he thinks about it the more both are plausible. He could blame someone else for the thievery and the war wouldn't be outright his fault. Equally, though, people could just be upset he's going along with the peace process at all. A betrayal of everything that came before, or something like that.

[quintessent]

"I'm afraid this is going to cause trouble, with or without the dragon," From the sounds of it, the peace between Wyver and Olympia is already rocky at best, and with the disappearance of a precious artifact in the midst of peace talks, "They might be trying to pin the blame on Olympia, like we're not upholding our side of the bargain." Whether they believe it was stolen or not, it looks really bad if Olympia was unable to project their precious artifact.

But... they have evidence right here, don't they? She gestures to Betty, "Will she talk to the Olympian and Wyver authorities about what happened?"

[objectionattorney]

Phoenix was still managing to recover from the attack himself. His new suit was drenched and filthy, and his usually perfectly pointed hair was now limp from the rain with a few strands of his bangs hanging lose over his eyes. He was leaning against the upturned cart, wondering just how they'd set it up so that they could get it moving to their destination again, even if it was in failure. Leaning against his staff, he was wedging it into the dirt, figuring out if he was capable of slipping it under enough for leverage when he heard John speak up.

"Huh?" Well damn, did he actually manage to grab hold of one of them? The way they all moved it seemed as if they were unapproachable previously. "Wait. The shamans? Isn't that a faction over in Wyver? Why is a country attempting to steal back something we're practically giving to them?"

He recalled the meeting a few weeks back. Supposedly something about Wyver also experiencing kidnappings.

"Are they the ones causing trouble over there?"

[impavid]

"I'm guessing they're not fans of Shanrian indulging the peace process."

John shakes some of the water out of his hair, moves to grab something to tie up the bandit with.

"From what she said, it seems none of them are exactly fans of Olympia. You know, typical 'you will be the first to burn when the doom comes' stuff."

Which, not super reassuring when you live in Olympia but neither was it exactly a surprise either. Wyver and Olympia already had a long history of conflict, after all.

[objectionattorney]

"We've already gotten so close to experiencing an outright war so many times now," And he says this after only living in Olympia for a little more than half a year. He still has chills about the time the other refugees were shot down mid-delivery and how people had to fight tooth and nail to sneak people past the countries borders. "Not that I don't understand. It seems history is a very prideful topic for both sides. And it's difficult to separate truth from rumor, especially with the propaganda and glorification both sides seem to boast."

He sighed, lowering his head as he watched John attempt to restrain their new captive.

"It's not as if she's entirely in the wrong to hate Olympia. Wyver had good reasons for opposing them during their initial conquest so many centuries ago."

[impavid]

"I didn't really pay attention in history class myself."

He finishes securing her hands together and pauses to check her pulse, carefully rolls her over and moves into a more comfortable crouch beside the bandit.

"So what was it Olympia did to earn this much ire? I figured all the dragons were in Wyver. Did they have something bigger they started nuking the place with or was it all a little more sinister than that."

Less overt damage and more underhand betrayals? Both are bad, but sometimes the slow, subtler twist of a knife is worse than outright villainous behaviour.

[objectionattorney]

"I don't know the whole story since most of Olympias resources are biased towards their side. But from one encounter I've had some time ago, I believe it was something Olympia attempted to do but didn't succeed in, that caused Wyver to feel this way."

Phoenix was hesitant to come closer. He was slightly nervous to approach the captured Wyvern rebel in case she happened to wake up once more. In the end, he was just a normal guy, with no special fighting skill or special abilities. If anything this whole ordeal only reminded him of how out of his element he was.

"A few hundreds of years ago, around the time of Nithor the Exalted it seemed Olympia attempted to launch some sort of campaign to shatter all borders within El Nysa. To unite all countries into one in hopes of bringing peace. Of course, Wyver didn't take too kindly to some other country coming into theirs, attempting to tell them that they didn't want their way of life to exist anymore."

[impavid]

Huh. Peace via conquering. Now isn't that a familiar concept.

"People don't usually like it much when that sort of things happens, I find. They prefer to keep control of their own countries and fix their own problems, rather than having people wading in and telling them they're being saved."

John is intimately acquainted with the problem of World Police. With the problem of intergalactic police, even.

"Not that trying isn't worthwhile, but -- you know. Only if people actually want to be saved. Not just because we decided they did."

[objectionattorney]

"I have yet to find any definitive proof, but old word among Wyver was that things back then with Olympia were so one-sided that the Olympias would use Wyver's citizens as glorified slave labor. It was what initially caused the uprising, and why those who reside in Wyver still hold a grudge against Olympia to this day..."

But still, why would they wish to steal something that was already being given back? Even if it was to a king they were not satisfied with?

Phoenix shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting towards their new unconscious captive.

"Did she say anything about why they may have wanted it? You know, before you conked her out silly."

[shashka]

If Ocelot is bothered, he doesn't look it. In fact, despite the situation, he looks downright relaxed. Sure, it had been a shame that he, personally, hadn't gotten the chance to question any of the attackers, but there were worse things that could happen. When the man returns to the general group, Ocelot lightly twirls one of his revolvers, before looking over at him.

"Can't say that I'm surprised. There's more than a few people around that are interested in keeping up this cold war."

He wonders if they can get any more useful information out of "Betty", and if not, why she's still breathing.

[impavid]

John shoots a not-so-subtle glance at the revolvers and clamps down on some jealousy. Really, having some guns right about now would be nice. Why does this guy get trusted with guns and he doesn't?

"Well, seems like Betty is among them. See, Betty here tells me her shaman buddies have a whole bunch of weird hobbies and among them is the particularly disturbing trick of bringing things back from the dead. Apparently that's what they want to do with the creepy heart."

Bring it back from the dead. He's not sure if it's really plausible with just a heart but you know, even the concept that it might be is a little... disturbing and alarming both. He drops to begin making sure she's restrained, frowning a little as he turns it allover.