Legacy Information Guild, Azmar Village. Evening.
An uncomfortable silence lingers in the room, not a single person speaks as if all waiting with bated breath. The muffled sounds of the secretary informing someone that the guild master is inside, makes everyone straighten up as the mysterious visitors are separated by a door.
The door opens.
Kramoris strides into the room confidently, taking in all the faces present. Khio and Rhetta enter next, seeing the astounded looks of intrigue and confusion from those in the room. Laila lets out a small cackle in her amusement, Behellagh grows nervous at the sight and dreads being called a traitor by association. Hammy lets out a snort and sits at Khio's feet.
The mixed reception only proved that everyone held an uncertain position towards the empires so called traitors. Florian lagged behind the group, mostly stuck in her own thoughts while trying to figure out what kind of pitch she would use to sell her mission. How would she rally the masses to join the cause? A cause which she didn't even know the end game of…
Florian notices one of the workers awkwardly waiting patiently to lead her to the drawing room. She chuckles nervously and bows her head then follows quietly. The unrest in her mind does not cease, Florian trips over her robes while thinking of something else, she was at the very least thankful that only the secretary witnessed it and went as far as trying to conceal her little bout of laughter.
Everyone awaited Florian's presence, Khio and Rhetta stood off in a corner occasionally meeting the gazes of those who stared at them. Kramoris seemed unaffected in the environment and single handedly tried to handle a conversation. "It's a lovely evening, ahh how I wish the south had clear nights like these."
Hurried footsteps approach the door, stop, and finally the door swings open revealing the person they had all been waiting for. Donned and disguised as a priest bore a worse reception than the criminals. All those piercing eyes perturbed Florian.
Taking a moment, she draws a calming breath and recognises everyone from the notebook. Fate is kind, scarily so. Fate had brought together everyone she had come to find. She had to hide a smile at the result. Tayoshi seizes the initiative, he stands and displays a polite and harmless demeanor. First impressions were always an important factor in people's perception. He thought it would be better to carefully downplay himself as someone harmless.
"Welcome to Legacy. I trust you already know what kind of place this is without my explanation?"
A priest and two supposed to be dead people along with a cloaked man come strolling into the guild, it may have sounded like the start of a bad joke but it was all very real. She steps forward and is not greeted with any pleasantry but a generalized discomfort that permeates the atmosphere. Although, secretly she felt relieved that everyone she needed was gathered in the same room.
"I don't believe we've met, I am Tayoshi the guild master. You are?"
"Florian. Former disciple of the head temple."
He scrutinized her behavior, her introduction barely gave an impression however her attire did not match the story. She clearly stated she was a former disciple, so why would a former disciple be wearing a priest's clothing. Tayoshi decided to find out the reason before cementing his conclusions, the pieces had to fall into place and fit before he could draw up a clear judgment.
"You mentioned you were a disciple of the head temple, did you have a specific job or responsibility?" He hid his questioning with a pleasant tone, Florian already knew he was fishing for something. Probing for information on her.
"As you can imagine, nothing fancy. I was a glorified errand runner." She shrugs her shoulders.
"I see."
The brief conversation falls to the ground, Nomi comes into the office and whispers something to Tayoshi. He nods, "I understand."
He rings a bell and a few maids appear, he passes off some quick instructions to prepare rooms, clothing and the baths for the guests. They all look surprised. Tayoshi turns to them "I think it's better you all rest before we carry on with the discussion."
The group are shuffled out the room by over zealous maids who are too bound to duty. Tayoshi waits until everyone is gone, and out of earshot. "Nomi, I need you to dig up as much information on Florian. Something isn't adding up and I don't know what it is yet."
"If you're sensing something off then something must be wrong. You've never been one to doubt your instincts." Nomi comments, and nods her head in understanding.
Later in the evening and after a much needed and appreciated bath, everyone is led by their designated maid to their rooms. While the original plan was for each guest to comfortably have a room to themselves, the short notice of Laila and Behellagh staying over shifted some of the arrangements.
The arrangements ended with Rennier going to his room, Kramoris and Behellagh in a shared room, Khio, Hammy and Rhetta in another, and finally Laila and Florian.
Rhetta and Khio didn't feel one way or the other about it. Thanks to the many occasions of sharing tents, along with the days spent in the cramped confines of the hearse helped too. Behellagh turned his nose up to the entire situation, his arrogance violently protesting against sharing a room with Kramoris. The exhausted merchant spared no thoughts for the rambling nobleman and opted to get settled into his bed. Behellagh relentlessly protested, making it difficult to sleep. Kramoris resorted to shifting to an alternative strategy, he buttered Behellagh up with pleasant compliments until he was content enough to finally shut up.
Meanwhile, Laila and Florian barely held a conversation, Laila made sure that Azrael settled comfortably onto the perch. She pulled a book from the nightstand and without looking at the title, she began reading it. Florian internally sighed, with her knowledge of Laila she had every reason to be wary. As well as hopeful that she would wake up the next day. Although her state of prolonged exhaustion won over the caution and put Florian into a deep slumber.
Legacy Information Guild, Azmar Village. Early Morning.
Morning came quicker than everyone would care for. The knocking on the door prompted everyone to get up, Female voices announced their entry and the maids walked in carrying small basins of water for everyone. "Good morning, master Tayoshi has instructed all of us to help you get ready and to meet in the drawing room as soon as possible."
They handed a pair of clothing to each guest, the clothing thankfully, was nothing overbearingly intricate nor outlandish. It was the typical fashion of lower nobility. With the sole exception of Florian; she looked at her outfit with discomfort. A dusty pink dress with a tiered and frilly skirt, the dress looked similar to what children would wear to a ball. The dress is gaudy and uncomfortable.
Florian peered out from her room and noticed the others already standing out in the hallway. Rhetta and Khio wore dresses of a modest and clean cut style, Laila wore a set of men's training clothes. While Kramoris, Rennier and Behellagh all wore simple outfits consisting of trousers and white shirts. Seeing all the outfits had shared the theme of being on the reserved and simplistic side she questioned why her outfit was so different. 'Is this some new form of bullying?' Florian wondered.
The difference made her feel singled out, and while her concern was not over the juvenile snubbing. Florian detested the idea of standing out and being unable to blend in, after all it was how she survived all this time. Florian noticed the hallway had emptied as the voice grew fainter, everyone had already made their way to the drawing room. Florian desperately signaled the maid, "I'm sorry but do you have anything else?" she inquired. The maid let out a slight chuckle at her obvious discomfort and offered an alternative. "I hope this is not too plain, we were told to pay extra attention to the young miss after all."
"Ah I see, sorry for the trouble and thank you." Florian murmurs with reservation. The new outfit was thankfully far better suited for Florian's taste. A simple green tunic with an unadorned bodice. She offered thanks to the maid and rushed out the room before taking a rather hasty dash up the stairs.
The time to rehash the previous evening's discussion. Good rest had cleared everyone's senses and the mood was more settled without the unrest. The shred of familiarity made the world of difference, and it is a notable bout of progress from a room full of individuals who did not know each other but rather knew of each other through reputation.
Tayoshi peers over at Florian and notes she did not wear the dress he prepared. Compared to everyone's clothing, the change of style was made as a test of sorts. He concluded that she appeared overly conscious of her surroundings and of the crowds she was in. Camouflaging for lack of a better word. Florian was not conscious of fashion until it made her stand out unnecessarily.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Florian takes the initiative to speak. Silence dominates the 'conversation.' A lingering prejudice hangs over Florian. Not by her direct association but rather an open secret of the emperor and archbishops relationship to one another. To the point of being accomplices in atrocity. Rhetta decides to step in as a mediator. The conversation stalls with the lack of communication and the others' lack of willingness to listen.
Rhetta divulges everything she had come to know, despite it only being a fragment of the greater story. The entire conspiracy to frame two of the higher ranking people, among the many others who fell to the same scheme and died by the sword of the paranoid emperor. It spoke of the unrest within the empire itself. Everything bordered collapse and war, the empire was simply a house of cards waiting to fall.
The information provided caught everyone's attention, Florian used this opportunity to speak. "Things may seem unconnected but that is not the case. Many of the questions you're trying to answer all originate from the same source as for what that is…I cannot tell you." She looks around to make sure she still has their attention. "There is a serious and dire situation under the surface. It would be wise to cast your suspicion to that instead, I know full well that everyone has personal ties to the situation as well as something to benefit from it-"
"I already have a price." Laila curtly cuts Florian off. "Your little speech invokes more doubt than it's worth. What else could you possibly offer that holds more value than money?"
She scoffs, "The only thing you were right about was having our own goals. I do not want to be caught in your plots of treason."
Florian does not budge. "It started with peculiar whispers in the temple. The head temple possesses the largest document archive of them all and that's why it is so isolated from everything else."
"Are you seriously jumping into storytime?" Laila mutters.
"It was no coincidence that was the temple the Sage took me to." Rhetta and Khio looked surprised at hearing this information. "I was deemed so troublesome that I was sent to do chores in the inner sanctum."
The Inner Sanctum. Head Temple. Time Indistinguishable.
The grunt work was all left to Florian. She forcefully withheld her multitude of complaints every time she was called amongst the many disciples. The countless times she would be in the same room as the archbishop caused her to be a target of envy from her fellow disciples. None of them could understand why the resident troublemaker, the idiot, or the most incapable person of them all would be chosen. Florian lived up to her reputation as all three of those names, but she was good at physical labor and could attentively inscribe things without rest.
The archbishop is a revered man, almost as loved and feared as Kleminus himself. Everything about him portrayed a saintly figure and holy man. His silver hair was a rare colour in the empire, but not as rare as his red eyes. Very few people had this trait. It was almost unseen. He carried himself with grace, an ethereal elegance surrounded him in every word and action. However, Florian met him on a daily basis and the wow factor soon lost its charm. She is another meaningless disciple and someone he, along with his lackeys, would never truly pay attention to. She used her negative rumors to her advantage. Florian put on the friendliest smile, acting airheaded while she swept and dusted things before heading to her desk to continue inscribing. Her inherent inclination to falling and being accident prone sold her act all the more. 'Despite the charming smile, something is definitely wrong with him.'
She could never express or find the source of disgust she held towards the archbishop, it wasn't even due to the hushed rumors, something about him…Unnerved her, the first time she received a blessing from the archbishop she felt repulsed, she wanted to tear at the flesh and hair where he placed his hand. It was sickening.
If one saw his daily actions, and the kindness he exuded, no one would believe in a nameless disciple. The archbishop revealed his innermost thoughts through his actions, which is precisely why he was so loose-lipped and carefree even in Florian's presence. She played the part of a devoted disciple and looked enamored with every word he spoke. After all, the archbishops' words were considered second to the gods.
Whenever he hosted meetings in the inner sanctum before everyone's eyes, with some other high up priests he spoke the ancient language freely. He had caught Florian looking at him, he smiled the same sickening smile. "It's just good practice for the other priests to practice speaking." He stated innocently, Florian nodded her head with excitement. "It's amazing that you can speak and understand the language." She sang their praises. The priests responded normally, ambiguously and the conversation was hard to follow had one not known the full story. She went on with her day's work, dusting the shelves and sweeping the floors. She listened to their conversations.
Legacy Information Guild, Azmar Village. Early Morning.
"Needless to say, some of the things that were discussed were of a sensitive nature."
Now why would Florian tell such a story? For one intrigue and two, implying that she would withhold that sensitive information unless they made a deal. She needed to know she could trust them enough. Besides in negotiation, much like gambling one should never reveal all the cards you hold until it is time to execute a perfect victory. If you were determined to cheat, the card up your sleeve had to be a good one.
"I said it earlier. You all have something to gain from this. As well as a connection to it all. I'm sure you are all going to go off on your own to find out anyway. Wouldn't it be smarter to have allies?" Florian asks them all the pertinent questions.