<strong>Name:</strong>Malluri, Piers, Pietr, Rishiae ...and Cid.<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Hawks HQ<br/><strong>Mentioned:</strong>All Adventurers<br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Current Mood Music:  Hawks Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXyA3FU5T4s)</span><br/><hr/><br/>Alexander and R'sohn needn't have worried that their singular skill for monster slaying might be wasted. There would be plenty of monsters to hunt on this adventure that would unfurl for the wayward five who had just been led into the heart of the Hawks lair. Those present partook of the simple meal before them. It was indeed a time honored tradition to break bread with others especially on the eve of possible destruction. Even the fretting Moogle could not resist taking a bit of bread from the basket.<br/><br/>Piers had taken an apple and sat back with his feet propped on another chair. He noisily crunched on the fruit, all the while staring daggers at Alexander. He interrupted him and remarked. "<em>Starting</em>a revolution? Pft! We started it. Furthermore... don't talk so casually about the princess!" His statement held a bit of venom as he took another loud bite of the apple and chewed it slowly.<br/><br/>Obviously tired of trying to keep his rude brother in line, Pietr closed his eyes and raised his voice threateningly. "Piers!<em>Adults</em>are talking now." His tone calmed after this  outburst and he continued in his usual soft and measured manner. "This is no time to be prideful. I'm certain he meant no disrespect. Do go on ...Alex, was it?"<br/><br/>Piers grumbled under his breath at his brother. Surely there was an expletive or two, but all that could be made out was 'only a few minutes older than me...' The younger twin now ate his apple in sullen silence save for his exaggerated crunching. He seemed to be actively trying to annoy his brother now, but Pietr mustered the will to ignore him. For being twins, and looking exactly alike, their personalities couldn't have been more different.<br/><br/>The room fell silent again as they waited for others to finish or make comments. Once the man with the eye patch had said his piece, the dark cloaked foreigner interjected comments and questions of his own.<br/><br/>Pietr addressed each of them in turn. "We believe that Malik has been using her Highness's resources to silently undermine our whole nation. He's been working right under our noses. We're not sure how many he now influences, but we must assume his agents are everywhere. Furthermore, this funeral tomorrow is an obvious ploy. A source in the castle was present when our princess was declared dead some time ago, and they're only now holding it? I assure you that coffin will be empty. Or worse. Malik must be planning something large scale for tomorrow."<br/><br/>Piers seemed incapable of remaining silent for long and pounded his fist on the table. "Whatever that bastard is planning... Well Cid's got a plan too. Tomorrow is the day the Hawks make our big move!" His voice was passionately raised.<br/><br/>The softer spoken of the brothers nodded. "Gilaudian mourners from all corners of the kingdom have begun to travel to the city in hopes of attending the state funeral. We believe Malik's plan depends on having as many people present at that funeral as possible. Our plan, meanwhile is to disrupt the funeral as much as possible. The riot in the guild district tonight was a start, but it was far too small scale. The people are emotional - it shouldn't be difficult to whip them into a frenzy and let them do much of our work for us. Malluri tells us that she hears from the Moogles's sources that a casket, specially built in honor of the princess, was delivered to the castle today."<br/><br/>Here Malluri interjected a soft "Kupo" as she nodded her head.<br/><br/>Pietr continued, "It's a seemingly innocuous bit of information, but those who have gotten close to it say there are familiar runes etched into the wood. We already know for certain that the casket will be empty, and now we suspect that it will be used as a weapon of some sort."<br/><br/>He paused and looked over the blue mage warily as if attempting to peer under his hood. Then Pietr spoke directly to R'sohn "You say you come from near the deadlands... You are Mithra, then... and a very long way from home. I know that you are a stranger to this land, but perhaps you have prior knowledge of Malik Dubhshláine? He is one of your countrymen, after all. What you describe of the dark things in the deadlands makes a certain kind of sense given what we've seen of his power."<br/><br/>"Mailk... is attuned to the darkest magics our scholars have ever had the displeasure to discover. We've been calling it Wither Magic, because it withers away the life and will of anyone or anything that loves the light. If Darkness the entity is real, then he is it's source. Our own Viticella has been studying the effects. We've seen it etched into runes to cloud minds and enslave. It can be distilled into a poison. We've seen it kill slowly, behaving like a sickness. It's a long and painful process to be taken by wither sickness. Fortunately, Viticella has devised several means of protection and even a way to slow the sickness and somewhat reverse the effects. She has no cure yet. She needs more time than we have..."<br/><br/>Then there is the kind which holds power over the Queen. Something more powerful has taken her. Perhaps a demon as our Mithra friend suggests. One of our agents within the castle... Before he was captured... sent us a message that it is her<em>Mirrors</em>that are etched with very complex runes - far more advanced than we have yet seen."<br/><br/>Rishiae, who had appeared to be sleeping sat up abruptly and gave a cryptic statement. "Open soul windows let darkness creep in."<br/><br/>Piers nodded in an attempt at looking sagely. "What the old gal means is... well. We think..." He looked at his brother for help, but Pieter smirked and nodded urging his rash brother to continue. "I mean... They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, right? So... we're afraid that... er... the... the runes don't have to be attached anymore. Because... well what if just looking at one...? It would be really bad."<br/><br/>Pietr nodded gravely. "Good enough, Piers. That was an excellent understatement by my little brother - 'Really bad' is but the leaves of a mandragora. If one can be infected by sight, it presents new challenges entirely." He sighed and cleared his throat, "I digress. We do have a goal tomorrow. We must do all we can to disperse the crowd. If that fails, we must secure or destroy that casket at all costs. Most importantly, we will need to keep the crowd's attention away from those runes."<br/><br/>When he finished his long explanation, the door to the room opened, and in strolled Cid himself. He of course said nothing and sat down simply to observe right behind Rishiae. His mask was still secure on his face.<br/><br/>Malluri had a fit but seemed to be restraining herself from scolding him. She was obviously torn between asking him to leave and allowing him to stay for what was soon to become an important strategic session. At least if Cid was here, she could keep an eye on him now.