Of Princess and Gilgamesh

Of Princess and Gilgamesh
Date of Scene:	15 December 2012
Location:	Goug - Seventh Heaven
Synopsis:	Princess Sarisa visits the bar for business with Mercade, while Gilgamesh, still self-narrating, shows off his new (Totally Real) Keyblades.
Cast of Characters:	Mercade Alexander, Tifa Lockhart, Faris Scherwiz, Gilgamesh, Sarafina Carenze, Kaydin

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Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Its a day like most others in the Heaven. Nothing too special except that there are a few workers around the place, working on taking down walls and rearranging the place. The bar is still open though, she made sure to leave herself enough space to handle that, the workers on the back side of the house, although you see them walking through the place often with tools and materials, when they aren't stopping for a drink or just to flirt with the barmaid.

Of course none of them are given a chance, but its a barmaid's job to be flirty, just enough to keep the interest up.

Tifa's in front of the counter with the plans, just looking them over to make sure she's not forgetting anything before its too late.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Sometimes,being a cross-dresser is a uniquely useful thing. Of course, there aren't that many people with purple hair and green eyes, but when you have a crown on your head and a attitude, most people just don't question things.

This also helps when people are on the lookout to throw her alternate self in jail.

Faris was informed by Jasmine that Lenna had been in Goug just a few weeks ago. Faris doesn't know Goug all that well, but she figures if anyone might know a wandering Princess, someone in the bar might, considering the activity there. Of course, well...

Faris walks through the slums, her yellow dress carefully flowing along with her. Her long purple hair is done up in a ponytail, with a small golden tiara peeking out around her hair. She wears no jewelry save a pendant; the matching one to Lennas'.

The long sleeves are split open from the gathered wrist to her shoulder, held together by small silver chains inset with garnets; the bodice is tight, and, uh, well.

She's not comfortable with this.

Of course, considering what she's trying to do, maybe it's for the better she's Sarisa today.

She walks into Seventh Heaven without a second thought.

Meanwhile, her guards: (the ship crew): All comically sweat drop as they remain outside.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Showered, shaved, and with some new clothes, Mercade Alexander is back in action. Unfortunately, he's still undergunned, but not everything requires the use of ballistics. Right?

He's given Goug a lookover, and he's familiarized himself with the lay of the land. Goug isn't /that/ much different than Manhattan, when you think about it.

But word has gone out that Mercade can be found at Seventh Heaven, for those who wish to find him.

What he wasn't expecting, however, is a princess walking through the door. An honest to God, storybook princess. Mercade has his best surprised face on. Whaaaaaaaaa! :o

Gilgamesh has posed:
And behind the princess comes her knight! ...sort of. The massive man who makes his way through the door is well-known to Mercade; hell, he's well known to everyone in the building, since there are only so many twelve-foot tall grey-skinned men in red cloaks and polka-dotted pants in the world. Namely, one. The massive green hound at his side all but confirms it, though; even a doppelganger would have trouble mimicking that particular aspect.

Also then he opens his mouth.

"The brave knight Gilgamesh made his way into the tavern carefully! Who knew what sort of traps might lurk in this seemingly-harmless environment? Though his princess was insistent, Gilgamesh was uncertain - walking about without weapon or armor, she was in gravest danger, and that was something the knight could not allow! Still, with his boon companion Enkidu there, there was no true danger they could not face, no foe they could not overcome! The knight cases the area swiftly, his eye darting back and forth behind his heroic veil; once he has ascertained there is no danger to be had here, he straightens and bows to the owner politely, as always! The buxom barmaid is also well-known to the brave knight - and so too is the other occupant of the bar! The knight bows also to the detective, hurriedly straightening as Enkidu pads over to the bar for his usual spot! 'Hail and well met, detective and barmaid, as always!' The knight declares cheerfully as he shuts the door behind him!"

He's narrating his own life.

Enkidu rolls his eyes, lowers his big rock hound head at Tifa and Mercade, and then makes his way over to the bar, just as Gilgamesh descrbed. The big man instead sits down at one of the tables - or rather, two of the tables, because he is *massive*. "The knight takes his seat nearest the door, that he might keep a careful eye out for danger! Every samurai knows that even in the safest of locales, danger can spring from any shadow, like a well-placed ninja ready to leap into action and danger at the sign of a samurai keeping watch for ninja ready to spring into action against the samurai whose keen eye kept careful watch for the ninja preparing to assault the watchful samurai from the shadows like some sort of ninja!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has been aware of Mercade being around the bar more often, she offered the space after all, since he's out of a town with recent events. She waves to the princess entering though, she's met her once. She doesn't know her 'alternate persona' yet, so for her its just a pretty girl walking in.

Although... "What is a princess coming back here all the time, I wonder." It shounds like Goug would be a dangerous place for a princess to wander around alone.

She shakes her head at Gilgamesh though, still stuck on his self-narrating since he fired his 'little yellow boxes' in a cutscene noone could physically have seen. She moves over to the side where Enkidu is, and hmms "What do you eat anyway, Enkidu?" She has doggy treats for Angelo, but she wouldn't want to insult him either.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"Buxom?" Sarisa asks Gilgamesh, her warm voice soft as she arches an eyebrow at her guardian force. While Tifa is busty, there are smart things to say in front of the Princess, and that is probably not one of them.

She takes a seat, carefully, of course, close to Mercade, leaning over towards him. "You're a detective? Fantastic. You've solved about half of my problems and caused twelve more." She tilts her fingers. "Hello, miss Tifa." She does greet the dear bar keep, because Sarisa remembers her manners.

"I need to find something that's been lost." She finally informs Mercade.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade gapes some more. Is Gilgamesh narrarating himself?

He says quietly to himself, "Is that what it's like when I do it?"

He sighs, and waves in greeting to Gilgamesh, as he facepalms with the other hand. The Princess sitting near him is unexpected. He didn't think that he would attract... royalty? Where is she even from, there isn't any royalty in Goug! Mercade blinks, and then looks over to the Princess, breaking the facepalm to lean back in his chair, reaffecting the casual ease of the private investigator. "Well, miss, I'm more than happy to sleuth your problems for you." He nods his head, gesturing as if he is going to tip a hat that he does not wear. "So what can I find for you?"

Gilgamesh has posed:
Enkidu...doesn't eat. He just bows his head, holds up his hand politely at Tifa like a proper customer saying No No I'm Fine Thank You But That's Alright If You've Got Some Water. Indeed, the dog is sitting politely like a person, straight up and down with his paws on the bar and his other paws hanging down under it. If you gave him some poker cards (and he wasn't like the size of a human being) it would look exactly like that picture of dogs playing poker, except he's a giant green rock hound instead.

Gilgamesh stretches out, relaxedly. "The brave knight Gilgamesh relaxes quietly in the bar, carefully pretending not to have heard his beloved princess's question! A careful maneuver to be sure; a bad move might bring undue blame on the hero knight, as if he were straying from his honor - which is of course not even remotely the case! A knight cannot stray from his bushido, otherwise he would cease to be a chivalrous samurai! Of course the princess would well-know this, for the brave knight's mere stance - relaxed, read for anything - tells that much! He has yet to fall from his position-"

And then Kaydin comes up out of the floor. In literally an instant, and with truly shocking speed and grace for a twelve-foot tall grey-skinned man in polka-dotted pants, Gilgamesh rolls over the chair(s) he's sitting on, landing in front of Kaydin with two very long blades drawn. One of them is way, way too big for a normal person - Tifa would know it quite well, since it's a Buster Sword.

The other is a Seriously It's A Real Keyblade (TM). The blades just manifest magically in Gilgamesh's hands without him even making a motion.

"The brave knight anticipated a ninja attack from the shadows! A true samurai never lets down his guard, not even when he relaxes! Quickly, the knight springs over his chairs, drawing forth his mighty Buster Sword and the legendary Keyblade in reaction to the foolish ninja! His surprise attack is already defeated - as if he thought he could attack the princess of the greatest swordsman in all the realms, Gilgamesh! Ha! Gilgamesh's eyes are as mighty as a hawk's, his ears as sharp as a thing with really sharp ears, his reflexes swifter than a jungle cat on performance-enhancing drugs! He can never be surprised!"

"'Speak swiftly, ninja, and try to buy your life - for before you stands the hero Gilgamesh, well-known across the worlds! Know that to face me is to face your doom, and beg for your life, that I, Gilgamesh, might feel some stirrings of mercy in my soul' THe brave knight declares loudly, his powerful voice booming across the room in a decidedly attractive and enticing manner!"

No, Mercade, that's probably not what it sounds like when you do it.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart is fine with comments her curves, she's used to it. Just not in that style usually. People don't go and outright say it unless they are passing compliments about her figure as they are flirting, but narrating it... just seems to drive the point in much more strongly, as if it was a fact rather than an opinion on someone's features.

She scratches her head, but waves to Sarisa in return "If you want anything to drink, let me know!" She lets Mercade conduct his business since that's what she's here for. She moves to get Enkidu some water though. She's almost starting to understand the rock hound, after being around it often enough. She lets Gilgamesh to his desillusions of being a storybook hero, as kaydin appears. She's been there before, on the receiving end of his shadow portals "I would have thought you wouldn't be using those means of travel though, Kaydin."

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"It's not so much a what, as a who." Faris slides her hand into a small purse tucked into her side; she withdraws a picture of Lenna, and she sets it on the table between them. "She'll have one of these -" She shows off her pendant, the one that Lenna has as well.

"It is deeply urgent; her name is Lenna. I was last able to track her out here to Goug."

Sarisa-Faris sighs as Kaydin pops out of the Shadows and Gilgamesh leaps to her protection. She rests her hand on his shoulder as she stands; this is mostly to calm him down as much of it is for balance.

(Heels.)

"Be still, Gilgamesh. My dear, why are you using the darkness?" She asks Kaydin, mildly distressed. (Jasmine. Blame Jasmine for this.)

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade takes the picture, and looks at it, memorizing the image. "I see. Do you mind if I keep this?" He pulls out a pad of paper and a pencil, and makes a quick sketch of the offered pendant. "And her name is Lenna. Any other habits or defining traits we..." He pauses, sighing for a moment. "...I should know about? And what should I do when I find her?"

He glances over as Gilgamesh begins booming out, and squints. Is that a real keyblade? Surely that's not a badly-scored mold line on the center there... "Keyblade? Seriously?" He says, looking to the princess in confusion, but then back to Gilgamesh. "Didn't you say you were looking for one? Is that the one you found?" Kaydin's appearance (or lack thereof) is more or less pushed to the side in favor of inquiry into this.

Kaydin has posed:
"I wont forsake my abilities if they can be used to help others." Kaydin says as he looks to the being with the swords at him. "I am not a ninja. I am a Dark Knight. Was trying to find Mercade and here he was." Kaydin says as he stands back up and keeps his sword between himself and the one with the two other swords before looking to Mercade. "Found a few friends of yours, the winged ones with the bad tempers. I think your world called them Gargoyles. They should be coming here sometime. I used the corridors to get a headstart to let you know." He says to Mercade. "I been keeping an eye on traverse town.

Gilgamesh has posed:
"The ninja had best be aware - the princess's gentle hand on Gilgamesh's shoulder is all that saves his life this day!" Gilgamesh doesn't actually retract his blades or sheathe them or put them anywhere; he just lets his hands hang to his sides, the Buster Sword(?) and Totally Real Keyblade(TM) far larger than the bar should be accomodating. "The trickery of ninja is well known to the knight, who has spent much time as a pirate in addition to his top-notch samurai training! He will be watching the ninja fiercely!" Gilgamesh also doesn't actually move away from Sarisa; he just looms there, twelve feet tall, hunching down against the ceiling somewhat uncomfortably (yes, he could shrink, but why bother? He's looking intimidating!).

Enkidu puts both paws around the glass of water and drinks from it in a most sophisticated manner. Certainly not at all what one would expect from a giant green dog made of rock.

"The knight carefully keeps his eye on the crafty ninja! Who knew what sort of assassination tools he held, what sort of weapons he might wield? An ocular patdown would not be enough against the lies of the ninja...Gilgamesh would be forced to be wary!"

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris gets a poker face going when Gilgamesh claims her as 'the princess of the greatest swordsman', thus she's his princess. She's not even going to touch that one with a ten foot pool. She does, however, look at Kaydin as he interrupts her conversation with Mercade, her green eyes dark and thoughtful.

"Hmh." She says, deep in her throat.

Then, to Mercade: "Keep it, of course. I have otherpictures. She's rather active and she prefers to do things for the greater good; here is my communication information. Contact me when you find her, please."

"... Gil was looking for a princess?" Mass chaos? Mass chaos.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina walks into a bar. THERE IS NO COUNTER.

But there is a Mercade. And Mercade seems to be talking to an eight armed, two eyed, green purple people eater. Or possibly two arms. It's a mystery. She looks at Mercade for several long moments because, quite frankly, she has heard zilch from him since he vanished and then Manhattan fell. She had assumed he was, perhaps, somewhat deceased.

She slooowly raises a hand and waves a hand towards him.
She sloooowly lets her hand drop.
She looks towards Gilgamesh for several moments. And then--slooowly back to Mercade.
"...Mercade." She says.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks up, over to Kaydin. "Some of the people from Manhattan survived? Who were the Gargoyles? Did you get their names?" He asks. He doesn't even touch the Darkness thing. He's not up for that kind of argument right now.

Much more concerning is the information from the Princess. He slides the picture into his coat. "I've actually seen her before. In Manhattan, for a short time. I don't think she stayed long. She mentioned she was looking for her father." He takes the communications information, and he nods. He still needs to acquire a new Ma Belle phone, dammit. Siiiiiiiigh. "No, he was looking for a Keyblade." He clarifies to the princess. "He said he wanted it to unlock the greatest treasure in the world? Something like that."

Gilgamesh seems to have things well in hand, though so Mercade relaxes, then remembers something as he speaks to the princess again. "I forgot to introduce myself, though you seem to know more about me. "I'm Mercade Alexander, of the Twilight Detective Agency of, well..." He pauses. "Goug, at the moment. We're in the middle of relocating."

Then Sarafina walks in. Mercade looks surprised at this, and then his expression sort of crumbles as he sees the captain. "Sarafina..." He says. "I'm, uh..." He scratches the back of his head. "I'm sorry about all of this. I heard about Manhattan, and I couldn't get back in time. I don't know what's happened to everyone."

Kaydin has posed:
"I believe was one called Brooklyn and the one which often helped you, the one with the magic." Kaydin says calmly. "There was another I didnt recognize, a female one, a man with a long coat with pistols that looked like that could fire only single shots." Kaydin says as he would nod to Mercade. "There are numerous people survived thanks to some people who managed to help them through the portal. Sarafina for one, and Xanatos." He says calmly.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina Carenze looks towards Kaydin with a raised eyebrow but seems less troubled by his presence in a bar than outside a medical hut. She shortly returns her gaze to Mercade.

"Why were you gone?" Sarafina asks. "...Though I suppose all things considered, it may have been for the best. We were outclassed. They seem capable of bringing powerful vehicles from other realms to this world--we cannot. They can move between worlds as if at will--and we cannot. It is a significant disadvantage. It will be difficult to fight these Shadow Lords."

She crosses her arms after, however, wings flexing backward. "The evacuation efforts went as well as an evacuation can go, however. We got out many people. Unfortunately Manhattan...was also a very large city." She frowns deeply. "As for your friends ... I believe most made it out, but I have not seen or heard of Will Sherman. Apparently there was some strange trouble at the World Heart."

She shakes her head. "But as appropos as dwelling in a bar and focusing on the negative is, do you have a method of communicating with them? I imagine they'd like to hear from you. You can use mine for the moment, it would be of more use to you than myself for now."

Gilgamesh has posed:
Gilgamesh's harassment of Kaydin comes to an abrupt end the moment Mercade mentions 'keyblade' and 'treasure'. He strikes a mighty pose, swinging his keyblade up into the sky. This is thoroughly impossible; it just bounces off the ceiling harmlessly. Gilgamesh coughs into his hand, recovering himself. "'Hah! This is indeed the Princess I, Gilgamesh, was seeking, but that is unrelated to the treasure! And this keyblade is only the first of many I require to unlock the greatest treasure in the universe!' Gilgamesh brings his keyblade around to point it at the heroic detective Mercade, allowing him to bask in its brilliance! For the moment, the crafty ninja is ignored; if he is going to ignore the worlds' greatest swordsman then so be it! Surely the beautiful barmaid would stop any violence regardless - and he has already been warned, so there is no need to demonstrate the swordsman's fearsome prowess! 'This keyblade,' Gilgamesh declares, tapping it against his shoulder, 'Is the real thing! Pretty amazing, isn't it? Where did I find such a thing, I bet you want to know! Well, the truth is...I don't remember either!'"

"'It's been so long since I acquired it that my memory is beginning to fail! But do not worry - it is assuredly real and very powerful!' The knight dismisses his great Buster Sword, returning it to the Gate in an instant. Then he turns to face his princess, setting his hands upon her shoulders!" He does.

"'Princess,' he declares, 'Do not worry! I sought you out as hard as I could when we were separated, and eventually I found you again, so all is well in that chapter of the story!'"

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"Oh." Faris says, about Gilgamesh and keyblades. She's not bothered asking, she figures he won it off of someone somewhere, because... well, she doesn't quite want to think about his claims of it being magic. Weird things are down that pathway.

"A pleasure, monsieur Alexander, I am Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon, heir to the throne of the land of Tycoon. Lenna is ... looking for our father." Yes, Mercade now gets to deal with -two- princesses.

Then she gets Gilgamesh'd, and she stares up at Gilgamesh with a solemn, calm look on her face. "I know, Ser Gilgamesh. I thank you for your extraordinarily good years of service as the captain of my guard." Poker. Face.

Kaydin has posed:
"Greatest swordsman. Then I guess it is my destiny to fight you for it is something I strive for as well. Another time though. Tifa would kill me if I did anything to her bar." He says as he unwraps the chain wrapped about his arm and goes about wrapping the black blade with the chain. He then lets them continue talking, just remaining silent for now.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"So she's alive." Mercade says, looking down for a moment.

The needs of his profession bring him out of momentary reverie, however, and he nods to Sarisa. "It's a pleasure, Princess." He thinks for a moment. "If you're willing, Princess, I might need your help with another client of mine, if you're interested..." He's going to have to ease her into this one, he thinks.

Gilgamesh shows off his Totally Not Fake Keyblade (TM). Mercade looks it over. "So you're going to collect all of the Keyblades?" He asks. "So you're going to have to take Sora's and Mickey's." He says. "You may be the best swordsman in the world, but... we kind of need those to help fight the Heartless, too, Gilgamesh." Mercade points out casually. He has no idea what the deal is with keyblades. That's something he needs to get looking into again... Even moreso with the fall of his world.

Sarafina's question causes Mercade to frown again, leaning back. "I was caught in a trap. Apparently, Riku predicted I would go looking for him, and he lead me into the hands of Mica Melchiott, the Mistress of Games. She kept me prisoner long enough to keep me from interfering in the destruction of Manhattan. When I was released, it was far from civilization... And I had lost my Ma Belle. Not that I would get signal out there anyway..."

The news of Will causes Mercade's shoulders to sag. "Will..." The hand holding a pencil clenches at the news, shaking for a moment... But he forces it still, relaxing. "How many of the others... survived, Sarafina?"

Gilgamesh has posed:
"'That's right!' The knight declares, levelling the keyblade at Mercade once more! 'I will collect all of those keys, and with the weapons I acquire from that legendary lost treasure trove, I'll defeat the Heartless single-handedly! The power that lies in that vault is the stuff of legends so old I don't even remember where I heard them! You need not fear Heartless when I am present, after all! Ha ha ha ha!'"

Because that's a good sign, right there. Enkidu has since turned around, sitting directly upright against the bar, to sip his water and rol his eyes as heavily as physically possible for the rock hound, which is turns out kind of sounds like stones scraping together every time he does it. Most people probably didn't even know Rock Hounds *COULD* roll their eyes like that!

"The brave knight nods, settling his hand on the Princess's own! His many years of brave service and chivalrous love have kept her safe despite the advances of many terrible creatures - like the annoying ninja who currently stands behind them! - and his blades have been soaked in the blood of all who would dare to wound her! Or other vital fluids! Sometimes none at all, because Heartless don't bleed, much to the brave knight's annoyance - there is something unsatisfying about that!"

Gilgamesh sheathes the keyblade finally, which is to say that he opens his hand and lets it fall to the floor; it vanishes mid-motion, disappearing as the world closes around it with a quiet 'click'. "Dismissing his keyblade back to the Genbu Gate, the knight disarms for now - rather than escalate hostilities with the persnickety ninja. He bows politely to the newcomer, flourishing his hand over his chest. 'Greetings, madam! I am Gilgamesh, master swordsman and sword-hunter of the worlds. Any friend of the great detective's is someone I must keep myself aprised of as well! Do not fear the ninja in the corner; I suspect he is all talk, and nonetheless, I have him locked down with my superior bladesmanshipping!'"

Gilgamesh calling /anyone/ all talk has to be some kind of monstrous backlash of irony. The universe is probably scrabbling to accomodate for it by knocking over a building on some guy who just recovered from a terminal disease or something.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
"Lenna? A familiar name." Sarafina thinks it over. "Ah yes, but she is not a princess, her father is a dragoon, she said so herself. Unfortunately, I have not seen many dragoons. There seem to be many 'fathers who are dragoons' that have gone missing, it's quite strange, really, now that I think about it."

She pauses to think about the strange coincidence. She'd have likely been rather suspicious if a pirate claimed to be a princess but, well, lenna has claimed not to be.

"Of the TDA? Well, my family made it out, thank the light, Faruja and Avira, Maira--I don't know of any TDA officers who are missing aside from Mr. Sherman. As for the city, well...it's probably best I not start going into numbers, Mercade, especially since any tallies would likely be inaccurate at this moment. The people of Manhattan are presently staying in Traverse Town. Unfortunately with Twitter down as well as the building, keeping in touch has been difficult." She pauses. "There has been something I wanted to tell you about, however. Are you still a detective?"

This may be a mild trick to try and get Mercade riled up.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris sighs. "We had agreed to refer to Father as such; he is a talented swordsman and before he ascended to the throne, he -was- a dragoon. We prefer to keep our true titles quiet, especially in the world of ruin that we live in, lately."

Faris is good at lying, a little too good. She then pats Gilgamesh on the shoulder again. "Yes, my brave knight, blades covered in the blood of our enemies and my assassins, and everything else." She takes a seat again, ready to facepalm.

"You need my help?" She asks Mercade, blinking.

Kaydin has posed:
"Last I heard Lenna was princess of Tycoon, ruling over it with the wind crystal." Kaydin says as he finishes wrapping his sword. "If she has gone missing then I am sorry to hear that. Do you have someone in Tycoon to tell you if the princess has returned?" He asks curiously.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade isn't really even capable of taking Gilgamesh seriously at this point. "You... go right ahead and get on that, then. Live the dream, man." He says, being somewhat supportive. He even gives him a thumbsup!

Sarisa and Sarafina get a nod at that. "Oddly enough, I had another request from someone to find their Dragoon father as well. It's... become something of a pattern, I suppose." He shrugs at that, then gestures to Sarisa. "Yes. You see, there's a prince I know, who has fallen under a terrible curse. He needs the help of a caring Princess to break it." He's telling it /mostly/ straight...

The mention of the state of the people of Manhattan causes Mercade to get grimfaced again. "Millions." He says. "Over a million people... There's no way they could have evacuated them all in time. Not even Xanatos could do it."

He looks back up to Sarafina. He is quiet for a moment... And then he nods. "Yes. I'm still a detective. I'm still going to help people." He's not getting riled, but at least he's holding together.

Kaydin has posed:
"I am going to see about heading back to baron, see if I am a traitor there or not. If baigan will listen maybe I can convince him to stop this madness." He says as he goes to leave, moving to the door now.

Gilgamesh has posed:
"'Try not to die!' The brave knight observes cheerfully in the ninja's direction as he prepares to march back to Baron, a country known well among the worlds for its forgiveness and kindness!"

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
"I suppose I asked you to look into my family, and my husband's a dragoon..." Sarafina murmurs and then shakes her head. Perhaps they shouldn't go down this road, she thinks. Dragoons are epic knights that have mastered the power of the wind itself, flying through the air like the dragons they dress up as. They're basically the world's best furries.

Instead Sarafina focuses on Manhattan and its people. "Mm, in fact there may be more news you are unaware of. Xanatos, your benefactor. While I suspect his desire to help Manhattan was just while it was under attack...he seems to have quite the rap sheet of his own. Granted, perhaps I should not be trusting this source of information..." She frowns for a moment before adding, "What I am saying, is that there are these groups of ... 'mutants' living underneath Manhattan. Or at least there were. Part of why Manhattan fell appears to be Xanatos's sins coming back to bite him. They call themselves the Mutates and one of them, along with a Dr. Sevarius, brought the initial wave of Heartless to Manhattan. And apparently Sevarius was working with or for Xanatos...and created the Mutates at his behest. And against their will." Admittedly some of them are happy with being Mutates, but she does not mention that. "Sevarius got AVira with something, she may have ... been changed as well."

She can't say that for sure of course, having not caught sight of her in some time. But she racks her brain, trying to make sure she's giving Mercade everything she knows. "While I am a proponent for being proven guilty before deciding someone is a monster--these Mutates are understandably not always rational--I think it bears some looking into."

"And there's something else." She adds. "One of the villains attacking Manhattan, a 'Captain Hook', managed to bring a large ship to the city. Unfortunately, I was not able to bring a sample of the ship, but it seemed to have been composed of 'lego blocks'. Impossible, of course, but it's possible the strange composition allowed it to travel to Manhattan. This sort of thing--also bears looking into."

She looks towards KAydin and informs him, "He has snakes for arms and is devoutly loyal to Golbez."

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris gives Kaydin the sharpest look anyone in the room has probably ever seen (excepting maybe Gilgamesh.) Her green eyes blaze, anger biting in them for a brief second, before she takes a deep breath and calms herself in a smooth motion.

"I have my resources."

"Well... I don't know if I'm very caring.." She drawls. "But give me the full details and I'll see if I can do -something-."

Sarafina gets the -next- look, at the mention of Captain Hook. "Huh. So he's still active."

Kaydin has posed:
"He is loyal to Baron. It is just golbez is using that loyalty to his advantage, like with me, only baigan doesnt look beyond Baron's borders.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade just shakes his head at this whole Kaydin thing. It's confusing to the Detective, really.

Faris asks for details. "Well, see, this prince has been cursed with magic and transformed into, well..." He pauses. "A frog. The legend goes that the kiss of a princess will be able to free him from his curse. As the frog can talk and play guitar, I'm kind of inclined to believe him."

Sarafina infodumps. Mercade sort of blinks at this and absorbs it, processing the information. He sighs, and slumps back in his chair. "This... is a really bad situation. I suppose it was too much to hope for Xanatos to be clean himself. This kind of thing..." He sighs. "I guess I will have to actually look into what he's done and will be doing."

The news about Avira causes Mercade to look up and stand, slamming his hands on the table. "Avira? She's in trouble?" He grimaces... "I need to go find her." He forces himself to sit down. He can't go flumping about in front of customers!

He folds his arms and leans back. "These blocks... They looked like legos, you said? I guess... We'll need to look into it. So we need to figure out where this Captain Hook is from and where his ship is going to be."

He then pauses. "And then maybe steal it. A little." No, not really a little. More like 'a lot'.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina does not go into how Baigan has snakes for arms again.

"Yes, I'm afraid I don't know much in th eway of details. I tried to take some as samples but they disintegrated in my hands." Strange that something so formidable would leave no sign of its presence. She shakes her head a bit again. It's hard to keep one's spirits up with the situation, another world falling. And many of these people have lost their worlds before. Losing it a second time--well...

"Seems legitimate." Sarafina says. "I admit as an engineer I'm interested in this too. With luck, we may be able to have such a vessel ourselves. ANd that opens up our possibilities considerably."

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"You want me to... kiss a frog. A prince that's been turned into a frog." She sighs, and rubs her face with her hands. "That's all?" She asks. "Because there's probably a specific princess, you know." Faris is sort of knowledgeable about Princess stories, and the like.

The Manhatten infodump, well, she doesn't care much, which is terrible, but she's got her own world to save... although she might, she suspects to herself, have to help them as well.

"The Captain Hook, a known pirate, is part of a grande rule, a group of pirates that all nominally agree to not kill each other, based out of Port Royale, for the most part." Faris smiles slightly.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Well, I don't know about the specifics. He didn't mention any specific princess that would be required. So I'm guessing he doesn't have any True Love to help him?" Mercade shrugs. "So you're saying he's in Port Royal..." He rubs his chin. "I've been there before." He looks to Sarafina. "We could get everyone together and head over there?" He suggests... Before he tilts his head. "Is it just me, or is something going on outside?" He asks.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
"Sounds like a plan." Sarafina pauses and then turns her head. "Lets--take a look."

OPENING CREDITS?!

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris waves a hand. She's ain a dress, there's no way -she's- fighting.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
"Worry not fair princess, we will keep you safe." Sarafina says, obliviously.