Dive: Lonfa Bale - I

One doesn't try to set up a meeting with the one known as Fremy Speeddraw. The woman is someone who just pokes her head in when one least expects it.

When Honami tried to reach out over the Kingdom's chimlink, she got no replies from any Lander. As far as the group knows, Landers seem to be unable to make use of the Chimlink. Yet someone said they'd seen someone with that name west from Fort Ouph, near 'The Big Tree'.

The Big Tree is another way the Adventurers refer to the former Sylph lands of the Great Tree of Lios. A location that those who played Elder Tale Offline actually are familiar with. There's a lot of dangerous monsters that roam the region, but there's areas that seem to be safer. Such as the hollowed out tree and former Home of a Sylph. There is no more door, but monsters seem to avoid this place.

The current group has gathered through chance, and intent. Rumor that Fremy Speeddraw maybe someone who suffered a total personality collapse and came back from it luring some of those here today.

It's dark. The stars impossible to see through the heavy leaf-deck above. A few bioluminescent flowers in the former Sylph kingdom light the region just enough. It's almost impossible to hear the presence that steps into the house. Her approach seemingly hidden by Nature itself.

Just a sudden presence of black cloth and pale skin and hair being welcomed against the flames of the small flame lit within the former Sylph home. Surprise from the woman that anyone would be here. Recognizing some of their faces. Though it's very possible that none of those here recognize hers.

Once, Rylen would have enjoyed seeing a sight such as the 'Big Tree'. It is just the sort of thing that he would seek out as a wanderer across the lands of Yamato. Now, however, he comes with intention. The Pooka stands next to his mount, who seems decked out for travel. Moko preens a wing.

Ever since Xander fist exhibited confusion after respawning post-death, Rylen had his suspicions that something more was happening in the game. Once confirmation had come that such things were truly at risk, he had taken up the cause. The Beastmaster had traveled across Yamato, interviewing Adventurers who have died and their allies, worked with other Alliances to document deaths, and continued to track down leads where ever they could be found.

"So, you must be the lady we are here to see." The Elven looking man offers a bow, causing his silver hair to shift forward and the Peko-feather earring that he wears to dangle a bit.

Coincidence is a powerful thing, but not all chance meetings are truly coincidences. This one, for example, was not necessarily driven by the machinations of fate, but rather by the same serendipitous force that drags water along a stream, pulls a rock down a hill, or causes the spontaneous combustion of certain chemicals when mixed. The Tree of Lios is a dangerous place-- anywhere that may be safe amidst its boughs is a natural magnet for those seeking shelter, or anyone who might be searching for someone with the inclination to do so.

Fremy Speeddraw was sighted in this area. If that's the case, the Doctor of Tolbana reasoned, she must certainly have some sort of safehouse in the area. Nobody could stay out near the Tree of Lios for long without being set upon by high level beasts-- and only the strongest could survive against them for long. He knows this place well. This was, after all, where one would go to farm certain high level leatherworking and alchemy mats. The monsters in the area had some pretty sick drops! And the plants growing around the Tree of Lios were potent indeed. There were some places, even then, that players would tend to congregate to take a break-- easily defensible locations with walls that prevented monsters from aggroing by LoS. Places...

Like this house.

When Fremy enters, Prophylaxis is a pair of red eyes peering out of the dark--

No wait he would never be so impolite as to enter someone's house without invitation and then immediately act like some kind of creepy stalker!! He is far too nice to do anything of the sort!

No, when Fremy returns to the old home, she finds the good doctor...

...Sweeping.

"Oh, hello there," the Prophylaxis says with a smile. "Fremy Speeddraw, I presume? Welcome. I've been tidying up a bit. Refreshing the old emergency cache, you know." There's a little cubby hidden in the corner of the house, it's freshly refilled with a pack of potions and other supplies. "I confess, I've been looking for you, and you've been quite hard to find."

Beat.

"Ah, sorry, I'm Prophylaxis, a friend of Honami's. She's looking for you in another part of the area, but it looks like I beat her to the punch. Still, if you're here, that probably means she's still safe, I imagine?"

Fremy Speeddraw is a quiet and waifish looking lady. Though the flower on her headgear certainly makes her stand out from the wild, that waifish pattern doesn't just end with her appearance. She's quick to jump one step back and reach behind her back to grab...

A rifle.

Prophylaxis gets this strange sense about the weapon. Of course, being the first time anyone in Yamato has likely seen the weapon being taken out, it shocks. Guns aren't a thing in Yamato! But more-so there's something... wrong about it. A presence that shouldn't be. That is not PERMITTED within Yamato. Yet... there it is. Denying some kind of unspoken Law.

Indeed, it is a legitimate - no mistake about it - rifle. Lifting it and aiming at Rylen and the doctor in suspicion. Looking over the length of the weapon, aiming with deadly accuracy at their heads... but not yet firing. It's Rylen she's trying to figure out.

Fremy Speeddraw doesn't usually leave the Eastal Free League area. So she can't be blamed for not recognizing him for WHO he is, and WHY he is well known. But something about his presence is just enough to hold her attack...

Which gives Prophylaxis enough to finish what he's saying. Honami.

She removes her finger from the weapon's trigger.

"This is not my home." She presses, lowering the weapon. "Why do you seek me? Are you here to take me back that That Place?"

Some part of his mind-- part that he didn't recognize was even there-- latches onto the sight of that gun. It's not a fear response, though it's hard for anyone not to feel a little skittish when staring down a barrel. It's... as though something is telling him that that weapon is just /not right./ Strange, though... "A weapon from FM World...?" Prophylaxis muses aloud, his hands raised in that classic 'please do not shoot me' placating gesture. If it's a weapon from FM World, then why is it provoking this response, while those other ones did not...?

"I apologize, it reminds me of a place that I used to use as a safehouse, so I treated it as one," the Doctor explains, only lowering his hands when Fremy lowers her gun. "I'm not sure what 'That Place' is... No, my friend and I have been searching for a means to heal the wounds of the mind and the soul-- wounds of the Cosmosphere. Our investigations separately led us to find you. We were hoping you could help us find some answers."

The moment the gun is drawn, Rylen's hands lift in the universal gesture of 'don't shoot'. Even so, he doesn't seem alarmed by the presence of such a weapon being aimed at him. Surprised - yes. "Easy. We mean you no harm." Moko lifts a head from his wing, the Peko blinking twice in the direction of Fremy. This Peko has clearly never seen a gun and is thus not bothered.

"My name is Rylen Corvus of the Peko army. This is Moko." He introduces the bird next to him with a slight shift of the head. His silver eyes flick over towards Prophylaxis, then back to the woman before him. There is a nod of agreement with the Doctor's statement, before he adds, "Honestly, I had heard that you might have some insight on the problem we've been having related to memories. Or at least some experience in the matter."

He slowly lowers his hands, making sure that it's clear that he doesn't carry any sort of weapon on him and means no threat. "We've been trying to figure out ways of stemming the tide. Slowing the loss, stopping it, reversing it. Anything we can do to preserve those parts that make us who we are."

The girl, with her one visible eye, keeps the gun lowered, but held in her hands. While Rylen is making it clear that he's not armed - that doesn't mean much in a world where people can shatter rocks with a powerful fist based Sword Arte, or erase a small farm with a single Wave Arte.

The woman doesn't hear, or perhaps simply doesn't reply, when Prophylaxis mentions the weapon itself. Remaining at the entrance of the house for the time being. "The Cosmosphere..." She then whispers, and her posture rises a bit. There's some heavy consideration for a moment about these two people before her.

"I am not sure you want those answers." Her posture shifts a bit to the side, and she glances outside. Making sure nothing is nearby. She clearly is signalling she has no intentions of staying for long, even if Rylen and Prophylaxis are welcoming in their presence.

The woman looks to Rylen Corvus for a moment, then to the bird. For some reason though, her presence seems to be upsetting Moko. It's subtle, but surely Rylen would be able to tell. The same kind of nervousness it might have when monsters are roaming nearby.

"And I am not sure what you want to do is possible..." She then answers Rylen. A glance between the two of them again. "I can help, but... you may earn the ire of someone powerful within Yamato if you do this." She warns. "Since it means stealing something from a certain group of people."

Prophylaxis' expression darkens-- not with anger or anything of the sort, but with gravity and keenly felt sorrow. "...I am a doctor," he says, slowly. "But for all of the power and knowledge at my fingertips, for all that I have been able to heal the injured and cure the sick, the degradation of the mind is the one thing I have been unable to treat. To watch as the people you love are slowly unraveled, to be helpless to do anything for those who are traumatized by war or maimed in the mind by death and rebirth... To watch as people die and return, again and again, only to lose a small part of themselves each time--"

He shakes his head, steadying his breathing. His eyes are hot with barely contained emotion. "...I would do anything even for the chance to help them. And if it indeed is impossible, then at least I can rest my own guilt, knowing that I have done everything in my power and more-- More than anyone could ever be asked. If the price is being hated by someone..."

The doctor places a hand over his heart, "I am Prophylaxis of the Scale Emblem. We have already been cast out in many ways by the powers of Yamato. One more person's hatred would not break me. Is it the Mage Tower? The Nobility? If it can save the mind of even one Adventurer, even one Lander, then I would earn anyone's ire."

Rylen's pale eyebrows lift upwards, obviously wondering at what sort of threat would lead one to warn them away from seeking such answers. That curious expression shifts slightly as Prophylaxis mentions watching the people you love become unraveled. Though Xander had only minor losses, it was enough to nearly break the ex-soldier and Rylen had to experience it as his partner.

"I've seen how this can impact a person first hand with someone I care about deeply. It's hard to see someone struggle, not only with what was lost but with the real impact that this world can have on our psyche." Rylen adds, sighing to himself as he shifts his hands into the pockets of his long coat. "If we can help people, even in some small way, it may be worth earning the ire of others."

Sensing Moko's unease, one of those hands is lifted again and begins to scratch at the Peko's chin, reaching into one of the travel bags to pull out some treats to offer as a distraction to the animal.

"The answer to what you seek can do that all the same. I can unravel the people you love if it's mishandled." The young woman answers Prophylaxis with this /tense/ tone to her voice. There's a threat there. A subtext that says: 'misuse this, and I come for you'.

The young woman then returns to her poker-face like expression. Reading the doctor as he makes a passionate plea for this information. For what she has access to. "It is best I not say, and let you deal with this without the foreknowledge. So you can claim innocence if things go awry."

The young woman then sets the weapon against the side of the house for a moment, and puts her hand forward. "You will have to travel to a place in the Eastal Free League. You are looking for multiple devices that look like this. And you'll want to bring some heavy transportation." From her hand, black sand begins to drop.

Ssssssssssssssss.

Motioning her handle in subtle ways, but something supernatural is clearly happening. As she draws what looks like large... pods. Each about twice the size of a person. "That said, I do not know how to work them." She warns. "But I know that they can be moved."

She then motions her hand to the side, and draws a topographical figure of what looks like Eastal with its singular little mountain - and marks it. She takes a moment to let the two of them memorize it, before she snaps her finger, and the Gunpowder immediately ignites and sparks in a loud blaze of fire and heat, blinding both Prophylaxis and Rylen...

By the time they can see again, the pale haired woman is gone.

Worry shows across Rylen's features at the prospect that they might be able to do more harm than good. At the same time, he doesn't seem to be afraid of the woman, despite his Peko's misgivings. He probably should be.

As she begins to clue them in on the next step forward, he squints, leaning towards the image to get a better view. That, of course, means that he ends up with an eye-full of flash and makes an alarmed sound as he shields his eyes, drawing away again. Moko /WARKS/ loudly in surprise and tries to tug free, away from the noise and light, but Rylen holds him by the reigns.

Oh, he already knows she'll be gone when his sight returns. "I'm never going to get used to how /weird/ some people are." He rubs at his eyes, blinking furiously before squinting at Prophylaxis, bright after-images still lingering in his minds-eye.

"So." Rylen starts, still obviously trying to get his wits back about him, "Can't say I've seen anything like those... whatever they were. Seems like a task for our research team, see if they can track down anyone who has seen something like that."

"Medicine can become poison if misused," Prophylaxis answers without fear, but with all the appropriate gravitas. "I will do my utmost to treat this medicine with the respect that it deserves-- and to protect it from those who would misuse it for their own ends."

Sometimes, things are kept secret for a reason... But it's not as though he can just /not try./

For a moment it sounds as though Fremy might demure, but... There is relief in the doctor's expression when she does /not./ "Thank you," he says, a small smile breaking across his face. "Truly. If there is aught I can do to repay this favor, please do not hesitate to seek me out."

And then she vanishes in a poof of gunpowder, WHICH SHE IGNITES RIGHT IN THEIR FACES. "Augh!" The doctor squawks, scrubbing at his eyes, "Ugh. Did you have to be so dramatic--"

What's he saying? This IS Honami's Patron after all.

But he committed the information she had provided them to memory. Those strange pods, that location relative to the mountain of Eastal...

"I haven't either," Prophylaxis answers, his eyes still absolutely starstruck. "They looked like... things you might lay a person down into. Like capsules. It may be best to keep this covert if possible-- describing what we're looking for may tip off the people who are keeping these secret."