Closed Investigating the Military of Peace (Byron)

[Sayana]

Spring 66, 515 AV – Qayala’s Quill Ever since arriving in Syliras Sayana had thought about sending word back to her family in Ahnatep saying she was safe and well, even though she wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. But one thing always seemed to lead to the next and she wasn’t even sure she could write a proper letter without making ink stains all over the page and smudging up the letters. But even though she didn’t want to admit it, the deeper reason was that she wasn’t so sure how much she cared about her parents. However, earlier that season she had been talking to Garland, and she realized just how much she missed her aunt. If nothing else, she could send a letter to Aunt Tara and she could pass along the message that Sayana was safe and happy. The Eypharian had made it to the Bazaar and after a few questions asking about a place with writing services, she managed to find Qayala’s Quill. But when she arrived, she instead began to browse the brightly coloured jars of ink since she hadn’t the faintest idea what to say. Auntie Tara, I’m living in Syliras and I’m going to marry an Akalak. She frowned to herself and picked up a brilliant green bottle. Auntie Tara, I’m pregnant, but it’s not an Eypharian… So long she had believed that she would only ever wed an Eypharian and have an Eypharian child that she felt that she ought to somehow explain herself. Explain love, strength, the desire to bring forth life and nurture it. The desire to succeed and bring greatness and raise a family even though she was on the other side of the world. At last she set the jar down. If she was going to do it, she was probably going to bumble her way through it regardless of how many times she tried to rehearse it. She let out a slow breath and approached the man at the desk. “Will you write a letter for me if I speak it out loud?” She asked simply. He frowned briefly but then nodded. “I can either do it for you right now for one gold miza or you can wait till one of my scribes is available and it’ll cost you just a silver miza.” Sayana was in no mood to haggle and she simply produced a gold coin and handed it to him. The man took out a blank piece of parchment and looked at her expectantly. “Uh… Dear, I mean Dearest Auntie Tara,” Sayana began. After the first couple of lines it came more easily but she still felt rather self-conscious speaking such personal words aloud. Dearest Auntie Tara, I have been gone for a year but I am well. After many travels I made it to the city of Syliras. It is cold in the winter here but it is also so full of life. Speaking of, I am also pregnant. My lover has asked me to marry him and I have said yes. He is an Akalak and his name is Aren and I love him dearly. We are going to raise a family here. I still dance and I don’t even need to use my daggers every other day. There are still dangers here but there are also many knights and squires to keep it safe. I want to move up in the world and I think I can do it here. People are starting to notice me as a dancer and I want to do bigger and better performances. Tell my family that I am alive and well and send Karu some jackal nuts on my behalf. I know how much she loves them. May Syna shine brightly and may Makutsi bless the land, Love and kisses, Sayana

[Byron Allestor]

The market seemed to bustle with livelihood as merchants seemed to do what they did best, ply their trade to sell wares and stock left and right to any and all present. The sight hadn't been something he expected to see today but it didn't really change anything, he came here after all like everyone else did to look around and browse. Mainly for a few things he deemed as simple yet even so, he found it more of a rarity outside of home. Just where the heck are we gonna find any books around here? He sighed at his own frustration in the effort to look, he honestly didn't know where they would have such a place that sold books, when Syliras didn't even seem to have a public library people could visit. Thus the two brothers loomed from stall vendor to stall vendor to see all the gimmicks and doohickeys that they sold, none of them stood out particularly as the older one moved along casually.

He'd almost lost interest in the idea of browsing entirely, a quick glance given to the sun for a general time of day. The weather felt warmer than what he'd been used to, thus it called for a general trend of loose clothing today. So instead of wearing the cloak he favored he just wore the white shirt and brown trousers out today, a reminder noted in his head that they needed to shop for both warmer and cooler clothes later on. "Byron." The older brother looked down to the younger with curiosity, his own outfit matched Byron's as they both lacked the luxury of a wardrobe. "Do you think we'll stick around for long? It seems like with the way things are going, we might actually be better off here more than anything."

"I honestly don't know Tai, first we need to figure out a way to restore your memory, and then we can figure out where we wanna stay." He pointed out as he admittedly felt the same, they have been in Syliras for quite a bit but that didn't mean anything just yet. Really he wanted to just come across whatever lead would help their quest and move on, but part of him started to feel a bit relaxed about the city. Granted it was safe and... stuffy... and cramped. Okay so it wasn't his ideal place of choice to call a home, but where else were they going to go at this point with what little they had? Tailen seemed to accept the answer and quietened down once more, his attention caught by something he noticed at a stall they passed by.

It only took two words, which were "Hey By," and Byron soon found that Tailen noticed what he was after. A stall that seemed to display several books as well as other oddities, they were immediately labelled as unimportant the moment Byron laid eyes on his prize. Tailen got a good short laugh as he moved aside to the stall next over, the inkwells observed while Byron wasted no time in buying what he was after. "I'll take two of these!" He cheered vigorously once he looked inside and flipped the pages, so far they looked plainly empty, yet the condition they were in proved favorable in his standard.

As he handled the business of purchase with the merchant, Tailen noticed a woman he'd never seen before next to him, her six arms immediately brought a look of wonder out of the boy. From the sound of it she had to be sending a letter to someone important, someone that must've lived far far away from here. "Excuse me, are you sending a letter to somebody at home?" He asked politely after he mustered enough courage to speak with the lady, his eyes still filled with amazement at the other four limbs she carried.

TransationFor everything that'll be bought in this thread:

Book -3 GM
Book -3 GM
Quill -5 CM
Inkwell -1 GM

[Sayana]

As the stall keeper finished writing her letter, Sayana folded it up carefully and held it close to her body in one of her low hands. However, when she was about to turn to leave a young man, quite young, spoke up. “Uh yes… to my family back home,” she replied hesitantly. She became suddenly quite aware that he might have heard some or much of the contents of her letter and might have also wondered why she didn’t write it herself. She was tempted to take off but it wouldn’t suit her pride to look like some coward with family problems. Straightening up and wiping away any look of discomfort she launched into her story, “You see, I left Ahnatep a year ago. Traveled far and wide across the land of Cyphrus. Fought Zith and dodged glassbeaks. And now that I’ve been in Syliras for a while I thought I should let my family know that I’m safe and well.” By this point she had returned to her usual demeanor with a bright smile upon her face. “I suppose you two haven’t been all that far from Syliras,” she added as she noticed that Talien was with someone else. However, hardly a chime later a set of six knights in full plate armour parted the crowded Bazaar as they marched through. They seemed like they were in a hurry to get somewhere and lacked the usual formal yet calm appearance that the knights usually had. The loud din of the crowd quieted slightly as heads turned and was instead replaced by mutters. Then one of the merchants began shouting out his wares again and the Bazaar returned to normal. Sayana narrowed her eyes at the sight. It felt unusual. Normally the knights tended to patrol in partners or even alone with just their squires. She couldn’t help but wonder if the Svefra had gotten out of hand and the knights were headed north to the harbor. “Did you see that?” Sayana asked the pair. “I swear that’s not usual.” She looked around the busy markets and pointed out a pair of knights at one end, a pair at the other end, and a trio near the middle. “Them too. It feels like there are more of them.” She had half a mind to place hand on one of her daggers at her hip out of caution for potential danger, but that would only draw attention to herself and she really didn’t want five or six knights watching her every move.

[Byron Allestor]

Tailen's smile drooped just a little as he looked at her for a moment, from the sound of it the lady had found it awkward to be approached with the subject. Clearly though she erased any hints of turning tail and heading off, as she then decided to share her story with Tailen. He definitely appeared interested to hear the bit about Cyphrus though the Zith and glassbeaks didn't sound appealing, to learn that she wasn't from around here though brought a glint in the younger siblings eyes no less. "You've come a long way!" With a given smile she guessed that he and his older brother, who she must've seen at the other stall, hadn't really gotten far out from Syliras. It brought a chuckle out of Byron as he finished his transaction with the bookseller, and soon heard several knights trample their way past people in the crowds. "We're actually not from- huh?"

Tailen noticed it them too as their presence more or less cut him off, the rest of the bazaar fallen into a fit of mutters before the activity returned to normal. Well that was just weird. Byron panned the area as he walked over to his brother, a little paranoia developed at the wonder of what could be wrong. "Knights running around all tensed up and quiet like that, we've not even been here for that long, and even I know that's not the usual demeanor of a knight." He regarded as he stood close to his brother with wary eyes, he more or less looked towards the woman next. "You saying that they're increasing patrols? Inside the city even? That's a little odd." He reckoned as he brought a index finger and thumb to his chin, while the books rested in the pit of his other arm. "Typically Syliras is suppose to be the safest place one can be at, having walls like it does and a power house faction." He noted as he labelled the knights in such a manner, it more or less just showed how little regard he had for them.

"To increase patrols inside would mean there's trouble afoot, and that the safest city isn't really so safe after all." He warranted as he looked down to his younger brother, Tailen's lips turned into a frown which told Byron he too was worried.

"If that's the case then maybe we should look into it By, maybe we can help out or something." Byron nearly snorted as a short laugh managed to be contained, a slight grin presented itself towards the smaller boy.

"That's a silly idea Tai, the knights are responsible enough to handle things themselves." He looked towards the six armed lady then as curiosity filled his eyes, yet his facial features softened to a rather apologetic manner. "Sorry if my brother Tailen pried, he get's curious but means no offense in asking questions." He reasoned as the younger brother crossed his arms, with a sharp glare secretly cast at the older brother.

[Sayana]

It seemed as though she wasn’t the only one who thought it was strange behaviour of the knights. But although she had originally thought them locals, it seemed as though they hadn’t lived in Syliras for as long as she had first assumed. Increasing patrols… yes. That was always Garland’s excuse if he wanted to get out of something. ‘I’m on patrol duty.’ But why would they be increasing patrols now, and inside the city?

Sayana grinned at the younger boy’s suggestion. Tai, his name was. Now there was someone who was adventurous yet incredibly naive. But his friend soon stifled those ideas. Sayana was very much in the mood to learn what was going on, particularly if it had anything to do with the svefra. She reached out to catch the older brother’s arm with one of her hands and leaned in close. “You know… at this rate someone might be getting a little lonely,” Sayana whispered into Byron’s ear.

The Eypharian gleefully leapt away and beckoned to Tai. “Come on! I think they headed towards the harbor. You wouldn’t want to miss out!” She reached out a mid hand should the younger boy be quick enough to grab it and then dashed through the market in the direction that the knights had gone. Breathing hard, she realized she could only maintain the sprint for so long and after leaving the Bazaar and reaching the streets of Syliras, the Eypharian ducked into an alcove panting heavily.

There she stood partially concealed waiting for the others to catch up. Or other. She wasn’t sure if the older one was going to be just as reckless. From her vantage point, there wasn’t much to see except the stone walls lining the street, which felt more like an alley due to how narrow it was.

When the others reached her, she’d come out and take them aside. “Now, it’s likely just a bit of trouble in the city but… maybe the knights are up to something,” Sayana spoke with a dramatic flair to her voice. To be quite honest, she didn’t think it was the latter but if they were relatively new to the city it might keep them intrigued enough to continue her investigation. Besides, she didn’t mind adding a white lie to make a good story. “Maybe there are some knights who aren’t so busy running around that we can talk to, to find out what’s going on.”

Then she realized that she might have left something important out. “If I didn’t mention it earlier, my name is Sayana.”

[Byron Allestor]

It just so happened to be for the sake of argument that the lady begged to differ, taking Tailen's own personal stance on the issue as she too appeared to instigate an personal investigation. What? The remark of becoming a little lonely threw him in for a loop, his surprise merely doubled as she particularly found an alignment of interest with Tailen. For a moment the younger brother hesitated when she extended a hand, but when she trailed off so suddenly both boys fell into a state of sudden awe. Is this lady serious?!

"Wait up!" Tai beckoned as he tailed after her as fast as he could, Byron soon found himself quickly on edge when the younger sibling charged off. "Come on brother!"

"Tai wait!" The cry fell deaf to the boy who pursued the lady, which left Byron exactly as she put it for a few moments. "Why do I have the feeling this is only going to bring me more trouble..." He signed with the feeling of giving in, he couldn't just allow his younger brother to freely run off with strangers, particularly a woman who could very easily manipulate the poor boy. Thus Byron put one foot in front of the other with haste in mind, Tailen might've got a head start but he wasn't too far ahead at this point, well enough in sight for the older brother to keep in view anyways.

Note to self, kick Tai's ass later for running off with people he just met! He mentally encouraged for further motivation as he hurried along with shuffled breaths, the time came where he would soon duck into the same alcove he watched Tailen go into nearly half a chime before. Once there he managed to hear the gist of what the lady had to say, an introduction provided as well since she legitimately skipped that part in the beginning. "I, uuuuh!" The older brother panted as he still remained out of breath from their quick run, which pretty much left Tailen to speak for them at the moment.

"I'm Tailen, and this is my older brother Byron." He mentioned in between pants. "It's good to meet you Ms. Sayana!"

"Now what's this about knights running about? You really think they could be hiding something?" Byron finally managed to inquire between deep breaths and exhales, a hand rested on his hip while the other arm held his books close. He had to admit he was rather curious to know just what exactly they could be hiding, granted they were so uptight and clingy to their form of perfection.

[Sayana]

“Tailen and Byron,” Sayana said with a grin. She was rather pleased that both of them had decided to dash off after her. “Hiding something? Yes, maybe. We’ll have to check it out.” Sayana replied to Byron’s question. “The knights are sometimes a finicky lot. They want to do things the honorable and peaceful way to uphold their reputation. But I’ve seen them ignore stuff when there’s not enough evidence and I wouldn’t put it past them to also arrest someone without enough evidence. As for having all these extra patrols…”

“Ah!” The Eypharian spotted a pair of knights walking in the same direction as the others had. They didn’t seem in quite the same rush but they passed by the little alcove without a second glance. “Them. Maybe one of them might know.” Sayana said excitedly and beckoned the two boys to follow. She quickly caught up with the two knights and tapped one on the shoulder. “Ser, Sera? There seem to be more knights around than usual. Is there something happening that I should know of?” “It’s none of your concern. Everything will be taken care of.” The female knight replied calmly.

“But you know, if there’s some sort of attack or magic about or even just a common criminal, it would help if I knew what to look out for,” Sayana persisted. “Like for my safety and that of my friends.” The knight pursed her lips and it was clear that she was slowly growing annoyed. “If you want to stay safe, then your best bet is to keep off the streets.” The knight finally replied in an irritated voice.

Sayana let out an exaggerated sigh but the two knights were already on their way. “Fat load of good that was. Although we do know that something is up. And something they don’t want to tell us about.” The Eypharian paused for a moment contemplating the situation. “What if… do you think we might find a beggar who could have noticed something? Ah petch. There are no beggars in Syliras. Maybe a merchant, peddler, busker…”

She pulled out a gold coin and held it out to the boys. “Maybe one of you should try your luck. You look a little more… innocent than me. Plus with a coin sometimes people are more likely to talk.”

[Byron Allestor]

Tailen seemed deeply caught up in what this Sayana had to say but Byron, he could only stand there with arms crossed while he had to sort this out. He speculated that it couldn't be anything serious other then some petty crime, maybe a warranted searched needed an increase in patrol numbers. He had to admit if it were really something like that, then the knights had to be getting complacent about their safety. Walls were great to keep things out but trouble could always reside in, if not worm itself beyond the walls. An increase in patrols isn't something I'd be too caught up in, come to think of it we could be asking for trouble if we poke around too much.

Yet Sayana already seemed to find a couple of knights to ask about, and the discussion quickly led to a change in the boy's mind as he stood nearby to listen. At the mention of magic his curiosity became aroused, and he wondered just how magic could be an issue here in Syliras. Granted he knew a certain skill he'd rather keep to himself, magic wasn't something he wanted to come close to right now, mostly because it reminded him of the regret he had in part with Tailen's memory loss. Still the female knight seemed low key about it with only the fairest usual of warnings, keep of the streets or so she said with a huff afterwards. That brought a thought to his mind, well enough that Byron rested his chin between his thumb and index finger. "Keep off the streets huh?" He murmured while Tailen decided to be the one who answered Say.

First he couldn't help but laugh a little, but when it came to finding a way to investigate he fell silent, more or less caught up in his own thoughts. He likely wanted to help contribute ideas but could only fall short, until Say proposed an idea that sounded agreeable. "Yeah! We can get something useful out of them." Byron's train of thought centered around what the earlier knight had said, until Tai's cheery agreement demanded his brotherly attention before something bad were to happen.

"Wha? Tai hold on a tick!" He beckoned as the younger sibling took the gold, an innocent look appeared when he looked over his shoulder to Byron.

"Relax By, let me try and handle this." That was all he said before he headed off, a grimace formulated on the older brother's face as he crossed his arms. He wasn't exactly willing to throw his brother out to the wolves, but if Tai insisted on it then who was he to interfere. The younger one headed out onto the street with coin in hand, while both hands were behind his back in a kiddish like form. Somehow it always amused Byron that Tai could act like that, in a sense his little brother sort of forgot to act how appropriate it would be for his age. Still young and still a child though, maybe Byron didn't need to treat Tailen in such a way. Then again it proved harder to commit to, granted Tailen was always his responsibility.

"You know you've really got an effect on him lady." He mused as he leaned on the opposite wall, his arms still crossed but the grimace lessened while he still watched Tai. "He's had a hard time finding any fun in our journey here, so the fact this is entertaining to him means a lot to me." He vaguely explained as he watched the boy interact with a knight, the words the two shared barely heard due to the background noises drowning them out.

[Sayana]

Sayana grinned as Tailen cheerily agreed to take part in her idea. She was also rather smug about convincing the boy to help out. Byron didn’t appear quite so pleased, but his frown seemed to lessen as he spoke to her.

“Is it just the two of you then?” Sayana questioned. “And you’re the older brother?” They had a couple of facial similarities and by the way he acted, he certainly sounded like a protective older brother. “It’s nice to see he’s enjoying himself though,” Sayana added as she gave a sly look in Tal’s direction. “It must be hard trying to be the responsible one and having to look after him.” The boy seemed to be doing alright with the knight and hopefully he was asking the right sort of questions.

“You said you weren’t from Syliras? Where are you from? When did you get here?” Sayana asked further. As much as she was enjoying tracking down the knights and trying to find out what was up, it was really just a game to her and she’d be equally be interested to learn more about the two boys. Well, maybe not quite equally. She did want to learn what was bothering the knights and maybe find its source.

The moment Tal came back, the Eypharian would be ready to interrogate him fully. “So what did you find out? Anything about their usual patrols or patterns? What about anything unusual? Do they think it’s just a criminal or could there be a riot they are trying to quell?” Some of her ideas were rather exaggerated but she was excited nonetheless.

“And which way should we head? I’d suggest we try to keep to the shadows and find this source.” Sayana would then patiently, or rather impatiently wait for Tailen’s answers while itching to head off and try to make the best call to maneuver the streets based on his suggestions. She would then try to make her way along the shadowed portions of the streets and walk quietly but quickly. When she passed corners she’d peek around first before proceeding as if hoping to catch sight of anyone first before they saw her. Frankly however, the whole display would likely look comical since the streets were so narrow that most of them were shadowed, she was wearing rather bright clothing to begin with, and her various attempts to appear stealthy would only draw attention to her.

“Look over there,” she whispered as she pointed down one of the streets. It appeared that someone was attempting to hide yet oddly he seemed to be wearing the outfit of a squire or knight.

OOCLet me know if I'm driving the plot too quickly or not paying enough attention to your posts.

[Devi]

Your Grades have arrived! Sayana Skills: Investigation: 3 Intelligence: 2 Endurance: 1 Interrogation: 2 Persuasion: 2 Lores: Location: Qayala's Quill Byron and Talien: Brothers Talien: More adventurous than his brother Byron: Protective of his little brother Intelligence: Getting no answer still tells you something Comments: You mischievous little thing - leading these poor boys into trouble! It's a shame this didn't get finished but it was a fun little read nonetheless. Well done. Byron Skills: Observation: 2 Socialization: 2 Investigation: 1 Intelligence: 2 Endurance: 1 Lores: Location: Qayala's Quill Sayana: Mischievous Eypharian Syliras: Sylirans consider magic-users dangerous Comments: I hope the move is going well - perhaps when all is sorted we can read more about Byron and Talien getting up to mischief in the city! When reading through your CS I noticed that Byron had his birthday last season (hurrah!). This means you can update his age on your CS from 19 to 20, in keeping with the current date. If my maths is correct then Talien should also be 18 now. I also noticed that your seasonal expenses are for 300GMs a season – there may be circumstances I’m not aware of but I would have expected this to be 2 x 135GM for Byron and his brother (i.e. 270GM per season). Might be worth looking into more if you think you’ve been paying too much! Let me know if you have any questions or feedback. Don't forget to edit your post in the Grade Request Thread to say it's graded and leave a link in there for the Storytellers. Happy Writing!