Zero In, Seven Out [Goibniu's Intro Thread - Open]

While hoping Goibniu to be the one fazed by her speech, it turned out he was the only one who wasn't frightened or freaked out. She merely smiled affectionately towards everyone and tilted her head curiously.

"What the heck was what?" she asked innocently. "I was just stating facts, is all. Anyways, let me demonstrate what I can do~"

She glanced at Goibniu as he spoke and momentarily she stared hard at him with a blank expression. She then went back to smiling and unsheathed the two silver bells with ebony handles. Each of them had a large Cartic mark engraved on them. As Liseran swayed one bell to point to the ground, it made a small chime.

"Now, don't worry Miss Carmadon, I'm no Incantus," she said. "In fact I'm a very capable mage that happens to know Expiate-related magic, too. But just to make things simple, here's a little cute thing for you to stare at."

A glyph in the shape of a light blue flower shone on the ground. From it, a network of Cartic marks wove together quickly before revealing a strange glowing transparent creature. It was the size of a rabbit, a fat one at that, with long ears and a fluffy tail. However, it had the beak of a crow and a crow's pair of feet.

Liseran beamed.

"This is a simple sending I like to call Crabbit. He helps me do menial tasks now and then. I doubt an Incantus can do that."

Maia seemed very unhappy with Liseran's sudden outburst; Tourmaline had somewhat picked up on the signals that the two knew each other as acquaintances, but she now suspected that perhaps they knew each other better. Giving Maia somewhat a curious look, Tourmaline turned to Goibniu, who seemed very defensive of the Expiate-- which was understandable, given he WAS one.

She also wasn't quite a fan of how much he disparaged Cantus. If you were careful with it, it was a gift, a blessing; where Carta was science, Cantus was art. Still, what was there to expect from an Expiate officer? They were fed anti-Walpurgi propaganda every day of their lives; Tourmaline was quite happy that Goibniu was as accepting as he was. Though she didn't vocalize it, Tourmaline was completely willing and able to believe that the Expiate would go after the Enkidu after they finished off the Walpurgi.

Tourmaline sighed with relief as the spell was cast, clearly showing Cartan marks on the ground. As she sighed, her own magic shield dissipated. "No, a Cantus mage COULDN'T do that. Sorry, I just..." She shivered. "Have had bad experiences with Incantii." Tourmaline wasn't quite so sure that Liseran was as innocent as she acted, though. SOMETHING weird was going on there. She didn't mention it, though.

"Dang, those shields took a lot out of my clip... I just recharged this morning, too." Tourmaline said this with a hint of pride; those shields that she'd cast had been some of the most powerful she'd managed in such a short time. "I should really just enchant something with my shield spells."

Tourmaline was now trying to lighten the mood, though she was still shaking pretty hard from fear.

Maia's eyebrow twitched. Her face grew red. Anger was boiling in this tiny girl, and she was about to explode. "E-Exterminated!?" She shrieked. She was about ready to stab Goibniu in the gut. "Is that what the Expiate is really planning?! To kill every last Walpurgis? What the hell is wrong with you, we're not bugs that you can just squish!" Maia shouted. Now, she wasn't one to openly admit she was a Walpurgis, but she was a teensy bit mad now. Poor Goibniu, but he probably should have worded it better.

Maia just glared at Liseran. "I don't care about your damn sending!" She spat. She turned back to Goibniu and seemed ready to lunge at him. "I am sick and tired of you people treating me like I'm some sort of monster! Do you ever stop and think that you're the ones making us into monsters? Do even think that maybe I never wanted to born this way in the first place?!" Maia shouted. "What does it take for me to be treated like normal? Do I have to get my Cantus ripped out of me? Feel like my soul is being destroyed? Do I have to scrape the skin off where my seal is?! Or would rather have me rot in a prison cell for the rest of my pitiful life?!"

Maia was panting from yelling. She had finally snapped. Snapped after years of mistreatment. Snapped at the people who had never actually done anything to her. She realized that she was depressed, that she hated her life. And she was taking it out on others. "...Forgive me. It was not my place to get angry..." Maia apologized sheepishly. "I'll take my leave now..." She muttered.

The young courier threw up her hood and began walking away from the group, and away from the city. She was embarrassed and angry with herself. She didn't want to return to Stahlmin for a long time...

His pout didn't exactly change as Liseran pretty much dismissed his entire talk. At the very least she stated that she was no Incantus, but she was just... Weird. He'd have to pay close attention to her in the future. In any case, he had no option but to observe the demostration she had, as she summoned what seemed to be a...

Dear god, what even is that?

"This certainly looks... Interesting." He said, his tone being more of confusion rather than fascination. "But from what I can tell, it is true, I does not appear like something a Cantus Mage could do." Something that caught his attention however, was Tourmaline's comment about Incantii. He wasn't aware of her plight, but on a general level, he could relate to her in that. "I believe I should ask Madam Cardona, when do you wish to t-"

But then, Maia let out a yelp that completely caught him offguard. She then proceeded to shout absurdities towards Goibniu which further threw him off course. "W-What? Madamn Tommelise, you got it wron-" But it was for naught, her protests were redirected at Liseran for a moment, before returning to him with a barrage of accusations. There were moments where he wanted to interject, but those were shutdown as Maia kept going relentlessly. Goibniu had a surprised face as she described many viles fates that in her mind awaited her, and he couldn't help but feel pity over her implications.

From her words, she pretty much stated to be a Walpurgis, or at least, implied it heavily. So far she didn't seem bad, and she must have suffered a great deal for her to snap at a misunderstanding. His apprehensions were being mixed with pity and it made him wear a slightly sad expression once she was done. When that moment arrived, he was at a loss for words, not being able to think of something to say. As he opened his mouth to say something, Maia already let out an apology and decided to take off.

It appear that he couldn't say something to stop her, she was visually saddened over the exchange, and it left him not knowing what to do. This left him with Tourmaline and Liseran, and even after the... Intriguing exchange he had with the latter earlier, she might know why Maia reacted that way, given how it seemed that they knew each other. "... Uuuh, pardon my snooping Madam Dormirse, but do you perhaps know why Madam Tommelise, acted like that?"

Suddenly Liseran's facade all but shattered. Her eyes widened as Maia marched off and her face reddened terribly.

"M-Maia, wait!" she called out. "I-I didn't mean to make you upset or--I was just doing my job and--!"

The violet-haired girl's face only flushed more with embarrassment and she stomped her foot on the ground.

"Way to go, Liseran! Instead of scaring an Expiate officer, you pissed off Maia! Bravo!" she shouted.

The girl seemed to have forgotten Tourmaline and Goibniu's presence for a moment because she clutched her hair from the sides and started shaking her head.

"Why can't I ever do anything right? I always expect one thing to go one way and they just always go the opposite way! Hauu...this is unfaiiiiir!"

She stopped however when Goibniu spoke. She froze with her mouth partially open and then quickly straightened up, trying to look as poised and condescending as possible. With a small "v" shaped pout, she looked to the side and touched the ends of her hair nervously.

"For someone who just heard her yell out the exact reasons, I'm surprised you don't know," she huffed.

Liseran kicked the dirt and sighed, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Please don't hurt Maia, she's done nothing wrong, and I'll at least admit you're much kinder than most Expiate members," she murmured. "Not that I trust you, of course."

Liseran turned to Tourmaline and her expression softened.

"Please accept my apologies for making a whole scene out of this--and for scaring you unintentionally," she said. "If you must know, I lied about not having any charged stones. If you like, you can recharge your clip with this."

Liseran slipped her hand into her coat and pulled out a smooth turquoise focus stone. It was considerably cheap but it had enough to last a good few spells in case of emergencies. She then turned back to Goibniu.

"I'm eager to find my friend and comfort her, but before I do, I need to ask...why did an Enkidu such as yourself join the Expiate exactly?"

Tourmaline was whirling somewhat from all the emotion flying around. "The balls is going on here?" Just in case, Tourmaline cast a quick spell that she'd designed to sense a few common mind-altering spells. She wasn't an expert, so it was only amateur-ish spells, but still, nothing around. Trying to get a bit of normalcy back into the place, Tourmaline said to Goibniu, "I don't see why it WOULDN'T be possible; I couldn't recreate it myself, but yes."

Tourmaline happily accepted the weak medium and recharged her own clip. She didn't really like taking charity, but she always made an exception in the case of mediums. Tourmaline only had one at the moment, and so tried to keep it full at all times. While her clip charged, she listened with interested to Liseran's question. Of course, in the back of her mind, she was just waiting for Liseran to get out of earshot from Goibniu so Tourmaline could ask if Liseran knew where the Haven was-- she seemed well connected.

In the meantime, though, she was perfectly to hear why exactly an Enkidu would join the Expiate.

Despite Liseran's outburst of her own, a small bead of sweat appeared in Goibniu's forehead, as she pretty much stated the obvious afterwards. The message was crystal clear, but he still wondered if there was more behind Maia's sudden accusations. Was she in bad terms with the Expiate?

And speaking of the Expiate, Liseran was asking him why he joined them, while Tourmaline was apparently interested as well. The subject wasn't an easy one to Goibniu, as his reasons were more personal than anything. So personal in fact, that he wasn't exactly comfortable revealing them to a stranger, but Liseran already admitted she didn't trust him, and he just wanted her to not believe he was some sort of dormant threat. "Well, you see..." He started, his voice lingering a bit as his eyes shifted from one side to the next. "I joined the Expiate because of an... How do I say this? Incident. And incident that transpired in Leiger a few years ago. It involved a Walpurgis, their Incantii, and many innocent lives lost... It was a tragedy, and that's why I joined. To keep the peace and prevents more unjust deaths like that."

Once that was said, he took a deep breath, and with a stern look in his face, he continued. "I understand that not every one of them is a threat, but we still need to be careful, because who knows when one will be a bit over their head and try anything unscrupulous. With that said, Madam Tommelise is not going to be harmed, so long as she adheres to the rules, like any other citizen in Esterelf, which she seems to do, given her job and demeanor." After all, she seemed educated enough to not be part of some sort of rebellion behind their backs. That's just be silly.

Liseran's eyes narrowed. She stared hard at Goibniu to check if he was lying or not, but then stepped back and relaxed.

"I see," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going now as well. Miss Cardona? I hope we'll meet again soon. Herr McCrae, have a pleasant time training. I shall make my leave."

With that, Liseran ran off to find out where Maia went. Chances were she wasn't going to find her, though. The small courier was rather fast.

Tourmaline wasn't really sure what to make of the exchange going on. To be sure, she very much disliked the Expiate, and felt they had mistreated Walpurgis to a horrific extent. Then again, Incantii were a plague upon humanity, and needed to be wiped out. Moiras were certainly a problem, but no more so than any inherent risk to doing anything. Tourmaline had done plenty of Cantic magic through her lifetime, and her soul had been still mostly intact.

After Liseran left, Tourmaline said, "Oh! Mr. Goibniu, I would love to do some training with you, but Liseran forgot her medium she lent me. I'll be back in a flash!" Tourmaline ran off quickly after Liseran.

Upon reaching her, Tourmaline offered the rock up, along with the papers stating she was an Atoned Walpurgi. "Ms. Liseran, I've been trying to find a Haven since I moved here. I can't do much... To help Walpurgis on the Expiate front, but I could help them in here, I know healing magic and shielding magic and..." Tourmaline sighed. "I know you just met me and I probably seem untrustworthy, but I really do want to help... I just don't know WHERE to help."

Now finished, Tourmaline waited for a reply.

Her stare didn't make him feel any less uneasy, and her words were just so... Direct, he couldn't make heads or tails about her opinion. It didn't seem like it changed, or that she actually heard him, but he could only hope that erased any suspiciousness she had.

[color:b440=#fe0]"... Ah, right, sure Madam Cardona, don't let me keep you." He said, trying to muster a smile to reassure her. In reality, he still felt rather bummed down due to how everything went down. A moment ago he was having a blast, showing and learning skills with 3 other individuals, and then the next, 2 of them walk away offended over something so unexpected. His thoughts returned back to Maia, the most outraged of them all. Would he see her again? He didn't know, but at the very least, he didn't want there to be a wedge between a potential friend and ally.

That's not very gentlemanish to do.

Once Tourmaline was out of range, he stared at the remaining rocks, and aimed at one of them.

...

*BANG*

Another bullseye, but there was little celebration from Goibniu. He seemed distracted over what happened.