Meet the Landers: Otto Suwen

Over the course of the past year, the one thing that has occupied most of Rylen's time, has been the conflict in Ninetails. His connections to this land are strong, not only with it as his home kingdom, but the homeland of his patron and the kingdom most closely tied to his work at the Peko Ranch. A location that, unfortunately, had to be shut down for the time being. It was far too vulnerable and far too much a risk if it fell into the wrong hands.

At the moment, Rylen awaits an audience with Otto Suwen, carrying with him reports from the Merchant Blades as well as the Mages Tower on the current state of the defenses around the castle of the undead. For the time being, this seems to be the resolution to the issue, as there are far more pressing matterns looming at hand.

Moko, Rylen's trusty Peko, ruffles his feathers as he stands nearby, the bird's large eyes looking around as if somewhat board of all this standing and waiting.

The Peko Army has a bit of a 'moving office' kind of situation. Certain, they have a locale in Dun Loireag, but the upper management actually doesn't use it much. Most of them are very personally involved with the raising of Pekos, and training its staff. As such, Rylen ends up waiting outside out Dun Loireag itself, at a nearby farmside where a Caravan has 'circled the wagons' so to say.

Eventually Rylen manages to make his way through at the opening of the wagons, spotting some of the more reputable people amongst the Peko Army. In fact, Flame Lord Eugene himself is there at the moment, along with his massive armored Black Peko, looking over some documents. "This checks out." He remarks, handing the papers back to Otto Suwen who - compared to the lord - looks just like some hapless youngster.

Otto takes the papers and bows, putting them away while Eugene leads his massive Peko past Rylen and puts his hand on Rylen's shoulder as he passes. "Mister Rylen." The Flame Lord remarks, squeezing Rylen's shoulder firmly for a moment and looking to him. "Good work."

And then heads on out, no doubt towards Dun Loireag's port.

Otto then looks up, and smiles as he notices Rylen. "Ah! You are back." He then motions for him. "Come come."

There is a respectful nod given from the Pooka towards the Flame Lord. Something that seems to come naturally to him. "We all did good work. Let's hope we get a little reprieve before the next disaster." There is a rueful expression. So far, Ninetails has not yet been hit by the Palace Landers, so it only seems a matter of time.

Then, as Otto calls him over, Rylen approaches, offering out his own paperwork. "Reports from the field. The barrier seems to be holding stable and the Adventurers are helping to reduce the numbers of wandering undead." There isn't much else to be said for the situation, as it seems to have calmed, remarkably.

"So far, the Ranch hasn't been hit, but there's been Palace Landers spotted in the area. It's possible our pre-emptive shuttering of the place has made it not as viable a target." This, however, is meant more for Otto, himself. The Peko Army is the ones who largely funded and supplied the Ranch.

"With their focus on the north-eastern facing parts of Yamato, it seems like a good idea. I wouldn't want anything to happen to our poor Pekos." Otto Suwen remarks as he takes the offered paperwork and checks it over. Ever since the Adventurers came here, paper has gotten more and more in use, thanks to a few Adventurers who really wanted to make 'comics' and the like.

Otto lets out a loud sigh. "But with their strikes starting to touch on Lord Gilgamesh's holdings, I imagine it will not be long before they might expand their influence. We'll have to watch closely, and just be prepared." Otto then hands the papers back to Rylen in a 'this checks out' kind of way.

"You know, I am not good at the whole... congratulating thing. You are an Adventurer. And in many ways, even after knowing you for over a year now, you're still 'strange' to me. But not 'a stranger'. You have put in countless of months of work to support us here in Ninetails. The undead situation most of all, but also your support with the Peko ranch down in Carmina." The youth then pulls out something from his pocket. It's a wooden little box.

"What I am trying to say is... Welcome to officially being part of the Peko Army, mister Rylen. And to recognize your contributions, I got you a special gift."

"Exactly." Rylen agrees, his expression showing his concern as he nods his head, a few strands of white hair falling forward. "It is a shame, though. There were many who came to the Ranch for riding and animal training, but... hopefully this too shall pass and we can start again."

At the youth's sigh, the Pooka raises his eyebrows, "Take heart. If nothing else, this conflict has made sure that Ninetails knows how to face an outside threat. Us more than any other Kingdom, I think." He glances behind him, perhaps considering the military nature of the Holy Empire. Still, they had yet to have to face the kind of challenges the Dominion has.

Then, turning back to Otto, it is Moko who gives a curious sound, ruffling his feathers. "We are pretty strange, that much I admit." Resting his hand on his Peko, Rylen scratches at the bird's feathers. "I wish I could take all the credit, but it was the work of so many people." He smirks.

Of course, the smirk somewhat falters on his features as Otto offers out the box. With careful respect, he takes the box, opening it. "Thank you, sir. I've always considered myself part of the Peko Army but... this means a lot."

"In many ways, you always have been. Ever since we signed that contract. But there is a difference between 'being a part of the Peko Army', and truly and officially being /A Part/ of us." Otto Suwen remarks. He then takes a step back and looks at the box itself with an anxious look in his eyes.

Within the box, lies a feather. A crest feather to be exact. It's a bit on the big side, but not rediculously so. It could easily be used to adorn one's clothing, or even go in one's hair, or hang from one's ear as part of an earring. "That feather is very special. So I ask that you please take very good care of it." He tells Rylen.

"Well, I appreciate the vote of confidence, and I asssure you I'll do everything I can to protect the Peko Army's interests, as well as those of the Ninetails Dominion." Rylen touches a hand to his chest and bows forward, then delicately touches the peko feather. It reacts to his touch, and in that moment seems to come with some understanding. "I... see."

Then, blinking as if he were waking up, he looks over to Otto. "I will. I'll treasure it, always." For now, he simply closes the box, making sure to keep it protected until he is better able to find a way of adding it into his attire in a respectful and safe mannor.

"I have to ask, are the Pekos all settling in alright? I was worried the move back up here, especially by ship, might put them off their feed." Leave it to Rylen to care more about the Pekos than loosing his livelihood.

"Yes. Most of them are settling in alright." Otto Suwen answers Rylen. "Luckily, Pekos are remarkably easy to travel. They don't seem to really get sea-sick. I used to hear about Pekos that were specifically really good at swimming and diving too. Even the Undine have legends about Pekos beneath the waters." He explains to Rylen. "So I guess they must get it from that." He considers this for a moment, before he adds. "Though I think there's at least one or two that were feeling a bit homesick. No doubt they ended up bonding with a few of the other Pekos. But we couldn't put them all in the same place. If you'd like, I can get you the address of some of those ones, in case you want to arrange getting some of them moved together. You know better which ones might have bonded."

"Hmm." The prospect of Pekos that might be more suited to different environments is certainly something that appeals to Rylen's Beastmaster tendencies. "That's something I might have to look into at some point. Perhaps we can try to isolate different bloodlines of Pekos with different traits to breed them better for specific purposes."

Of course, that's likely a plan for another time, when War isn't looming quite so actively in the forefront of everyone's minds. "Yes. Get me the names and locations. I'll work with some of the handlers and see if there's some transfers we can do to better accomidate the different animals." There is a bittersweet sort of expression on his features. "Though, I know the feeling of being homesick, myself."

He pats his Peko at that point, "Then again, wherever me and Moko can lay our heads at night, that's close enough to home for us." There is more to it than that, but he doesn't bring that to words. Likely worries over his partner and a few stray thoughts of the real world.

Otto Suwen nods, "Home is where my Pekos are." He explains to Rylen, before motioning over to the exit. "You can either stay here with the Caravan for the night, or you can head out. Whichever you prefer. We'll be breaking camp and heading further up north soon. There's a new dungeon that recently opened up, and Adventurers are going to need transportation. So I need to make arrangements to check the route and make sure everything is kosher around Payon."

"If it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience, Moko and I would love to stay the night." Rylen inclines his head again. Moko gives a 'squawk' of approval at this idea. "Moko hasn't been around the others in a while. It will do him good to socialize with someone other than me, for a while." And it would probably be good for Rylen to socialize with other people.

"Sounds like a good opportunity. I'm afraid I'll likely be heading back to the Isle of Beginnings. I fear that we're only seeing the start of the danger." He motions to Otto. "Come, I'll tell you a bit of what I know."

And with that, he fills in the leader of the Peko Army on recent goings on, making sure he knows what danger lurks.