RP:Tea in Winter

Part of the What You Leave Behind Arc

Summary: Zahrani approaches Khitti and Lionel to sign up for the looming mission against Ouroboros. Khitti is surprised to learn Lionel has signed her up as well.

Fort Frostmaw, Lionel's Quarters

Lionel flicks the crumpled-up paper ball at a precise angle from the edge of his desk into the flames of his roaring fireplace. The ball ascends, zips through the air and lands squarely upon its final place of rest. It’s ashes in an instant. Lionel has become an expert at this game, which he plays on the rare occasions he’s here at his quarters rather than out on the field. It’s the only game he’s allowed to play here and the only game he has time to play anywhere. His left index finger has learned the best practice for joining its hand’s thumb. Just enough force is applied to let that paper ball glide without sending it flopping over the fireplace and into the sill. Some men take up painting. Others prefer the feel of clay bouncing across their palms. Lionel’s meditation is the removal of paperwork via drastic measure. “I’m just gonna keep doing that for this entire stack,” he tells Khitti, yanking another letter and preparing it for its doom. “I’m just gonna do this to every single letter. And when I’m done, I’m gonna find our enemies and I’m gonna do this to them, too.”

Khitti smirked and watched out of the corner of her eye as the ball hit the flames. “Some of this paperwork -is- important. It may not have anything to do with Kahran, but winter has come and it’s even worse up here in the north than anywhere else. You still have to worry about the little things too, like whether or not people have enough food or… whatever the frak else you higher ups approve.” Khitti tried to keep her nose out of just what exactly Lionel and Hildegarde approved in this part of Lithrydel. “Like this one, the trainees in the Warrior’s Guild is in need of new weapons… or basic first aid teachings. Or, perhaps both.” She passed over the letter that detailed about how some of the basic weapons weren’t up to snuff anymore and some of the trainees were getting hurt; they were minor injuries, but still. “I know it’s not things you want to think about, but you have to consider everything as a whole and not tunnel vision on Kahran alone.”

Zahrani silently walks through the fort, escorted by one of Frostmaw's soldiers, whom she previously asked for directions to Lionel's office. Once they are inside, out of the bitter northern winter wind, the paladin unbuckles the cloak wrapped around her, lowering her hood and carrying the furred garment under her arm. She is garbed in simple steel plate, with a reinforced hood that had also been lowered. Cyan eyes survey the interior of the building, her ears turning every which way. The soldier takes their leave and grudgingly returns outdoors. Another guard approaches the feline and asks, "Sir, can I help you? Are you lost?" Her eyes alight on the man, her visage in the most neutral of poker faces as she responds, "I'm looking for Lionel's office." Her voice is a mid-high tenor, with a feline roughness to it. The man points her to the relevant door; she was standing just outside. She hears conversation between Khitti and Lionel, and she silently approaches the room, her tail swishing behind her.

Lionel shakes his head fervently. “The Frost Giants are damned good at taking care of their own in that regard. It’s colder here, sure, but the people are that much hardier. Frostmaw’s got a certain code, a ‘lore’, if you will, that ably accounts for it. The citizenry thrives during these wintry months. If anything, we ought to be shipping more out to our less fortunate southron neighbors.” It dawns on him that there is a slim chance some of these letters suggest just that. Khitti’s example of a Warrior’s Guild letter only furthers the depths of his grimace. “Kahran’s tunnel has gone and dug itself so hollow it overwhelms the whole damned realm.” He offers her a sympathetic look. “But I know what you mean. Listen, I need someone fierce and overprotective right now. But warm, fun, inviting. I have very specific needs, but I think I know just where to look: the liquor cabinet. I’ll be right back.” Why isn’t there more wine in his quarters? Could he have downed the previous bottle faster than the workers know to resupply him? Perish the thought, Lionel O’Connor. He opens the door rather rambunctiously, and the last thing he expects to find is a feline swishing her tail in silence. “Um?” Lionel turns back to Khitti so that she can register his confusion, but by the time he glances back, he remembers this character’s face from the recent meeting down Cenril way. “Oh, right. You. Hello, you. Please come inside. I’d offer you beverage, but I seem to have ran out.”

Khitti :: “Well, make it look like you do something at least. I can only do so much for you here. I’m just an aide-de-camp, not a Steward of Frostmaw.” She paused as he got up to look for alcohol, “Okay, how about this then? I’ll just sort out the important stuff--stuff that might pertain to help with Kahran, like this thing with the Guild--and I’ll deal with the rest?” She wouldn’t get her answer right away though, for Lionel was off to head elsewhere and then promptly stopped by a cat. “Oh!” Khitti tilted her head to look around the Steward, “Hi, Zahrani.” There’s a nod to Lionel, in an attempt to quell his confusion, “Zahrani is good people, I assure you.” That was a big thing for Khitti to say, as it wasn’t something she said often.

Hildegarde meanders from the western hall through the main hall, offering those gathered a brief wave before continuing on eastward.

Zahrani is almost nose-to-nose with Lionel when he approaches the door. She takes a step back, a warm reassuring smile forming on her face when the male invites her in. An amulet of Cyris sits around her neck, but beyond that, the paladin does not appear to be wearing anything particularly extravagant. Condensation began forming on her armor, where there used to be frost, a gift from the region's merciless temperatures. She offers a polite nod to Lionel, "It's good to see you again." Her voice is warm, like the feeling of seeing an old friend. She turns to Khitti and adds, "Both of you." She looks down at the plating the covers her well-conditioned, androgynous form; the condensation was beginning to pool and collect at her feet. She calmly stands next to the fire so the armor could dry out and NOT present a slip hazard. "I appreciate the offer for a drink, but I am fine." Lionel would probably agree to Khitti’s terms with gusto, but alas, the timing is off-kilter and all she gets is a half-nod for the foreseeable future. Further down the hall, Queen Hildegarde trots on by, prompting a thumbs-up from history’s least proper steward. What? She seems busy, after all!

Lionel watches Zahrani enter, conscious of the wet spots tracked behind her. “Heck of a climate, I know,” he mutters empathetically. For his part, Lionel’s strange kinship with the spirit residing within his sword has almost always kept him rather temperate, but he’s seen what cold and heat can do to a person -- and a cat, for that matter -- enough times to understand. “Well, welcome, welcome. This place is a bit of a mess,” he says ironically, considering there’s hardly anything in here to begin with. This guy has impossible standards. “But it’ll suffice! You’ve come about our pending mission, right? Ouroboros and all that funk? It’s recon, but it’s gonna be dangerous.” Besides, missions have a tendency to go all pear-shaped in Lionel’s personal experience, so there’s also that. But he won’t repeat that. Awkwardly adjusting the popped-up collar of his scarlet silk shirt, the Catalian stands between the two women and awaits further dialogue.

Khitti remained seated, frowning somewhat at Lionel’s reaction before looking expectantly towards the feline for her response. With all these missions that Khitti wasn’t going on, she was grateful at least that Lionel had -some- amount of help, but… Well. It wasn’t something for Khitti to dwell on right now. Lionel has been doing this for a long time. He knew what he was doing, knew what he was capable of, and perhaps even knew what those who promised to help him were capable of. Khitti kept quiet for the moment, setting to work separating the paperwork for the Steward as he awaited more words from Zahrani.

Zahrani listens intently to Lionel as he describes the mission. Her tail continues to swish idly behind her, the warmth of the fire beginning to evaporate the moisture that had accumulated on her plating. Reconnaissance isn't something she can't handle, but as of now, she's uncertain if that's the best place for a paladin. She could just as easily defend people, or provide healing, or coordinate preparations for coming fights. She turns her back towards the fire, letting the warmth radiate onto a different part of her armor. "What do we know about this Ouroburos clan and the area where they've set up their manufacturing?"

Lionel feels a pang of tiredness but ignores it as best he can. His sleep comes in fits and starts, as it always has. The benefit is prolonged alertness; the downside is sudden bouts of exhaustion. Rubbing his left eye and sniffing the air in search of renewed vigor, he listens to Zahrani’s queries and responds. “Tough crowd, they. Frost Giants, but the shamanic histories have to go impressively far back before they’re referenced much beyond myth and legend. Several months back, I was looking for something to heal a friend in need and a woman purporting to be of Ouroboros came to town to offer healing. As you might imagine, this caused a bit of a stir -- legends don’t often pop out of the aether with pride and poultice. The woman, Mulgrew, never even healed my friend. She said he was beyond even her magic. Spouted off a few strange words and vanished.” Lionel crosses his arms. “I figured that’d be the end of that, but down in Craughmoyle, Khitti and I were at task with some folks when we ran into Ouroboros’ influence on the armor of a certain fellow we needed to put down. The armor was doing all manner of things for the fellow, giving him dubious resilience. Best I could gather was that they were experimenting on a new kind of armor and he was their Gualonese pig, so-to-speak. That’s the phrase, right? Anyway. Flash-forward to Kahran’s arrival in Lithrydel. Bit by bit we’ve gathered links between Ouroboros and his hordes. A lad named Bastion -- you know him, don’t you, Zahrani? -- came up yonder a few weeks back and reported Kahran’s orcs were wearing that self-same armor. So it’s high time we see what’s what up there in the frigid northernmost wastes of this land. It’s high time we put a stop to it, too. But first we’ve got to get a clearer picture. See if they’ve been made slaves or if they operate willingly. See their defenses. See it all for ourselves.” Lionel takes a deep breath and glances toward Khitti furtively. “And I’d like you to tag along, too, even though I know two people who are going to hate me for asking. One’s your boyfriend. The other is… me.”

Khitti :: As perceptive as ever, Khitti noted that eye-rubbing of Lionel’s. With a wave of her hand, the teapot on her side of Lionel’s desk had its warmth renewed and a new cup of earl grey tea was given to the man that was both her boss and brother. She’d say something about him needing a bit of caffeine as opposed to that liquor he’d intended to seek out earlier, but kept her mouth shut--he’d be able to gather what she was thinking, most likely, from the smirk that’d planted itself on her lips. Olive-green eyes would settle on Zahrani, studying that amulet of hers carefully as Lionel went on. It was only when Lionel’s words shifted to Khitti herself that she blinked and returned her attention to the male, “What? Seriously?” A few more blinks were gifted to her rather large stomach. “I mean, I might slow you down a little, but... “ Khitti, he’s going to let you go. Don’t frak this up, woman. “Okay.” She side-eyed the floor, “Brand might take some persuading, yes. If his captain duties don’t hold him back, maybe he can go as well. I’m sure that would make him feel better. Just the fact that you’ll be there also helps. There’s a very short list of people he trusts and obviously, you’re one of them.”

Zahrani has her ears turned towards Lionel as he gives a rundown of recent things that have happened with the Ouroburos, and how they tied into Kahran's offensive on Lithrydel. She feels Khitti's gaze on her, and the paladin turns her blue orbs towards the woman she had first met in Sage. She offers her a small smile, which fades upon hearing Lionel suggest that she come along on the scouting mission. Great, now the feline will feel bad if she doesn't come along and something terrible happens to Khitti. She offers a slight nod to the woman in regards to Brand coming along, if possible. Her eyes close for a moment, a deep breathe and soft exhale coming from the feline before she asks Lionel, "What's our exit strategy?" Whether things go good or bad on this mission, a quick and speedy exit would be ideal.

Lionel is more than capable of ascertaining Khitti’s thoughts here and they’re well-struck to the tune of his delicious tea. His attempts at a frown are stifled by the taste, which forges fresh thrills upon his tongue and forces him into a difficult position in which he has no choice but to smile appreciatively. “Yeah,” Lionel agrees through gritted smiling teeth, “we’ll need a chat with him. And sooner rather than later. But I’m confident he’ll come around. You’re invaluable. And we’re staying on the edges of their territory, besides. The more eyes we’ve got on the prize the better though and I trust your eyes as well as I trust my own. Better, maybe.” He doesn’t have time to dwell on the occasional fits and starts of blurry vision his recurring migraines have thrust upon him, and that’s probably all for the better. Zahrani wants details on how the team will make a break for it, and Lionel will oblige. “The finer points of evasion are still being addressed, Zahrani, but I’m leaning toward wyverns. We can ride them to within a few kilometers of Ouroboros’ most probable locale without being detected. Thereafter, we either stick to the woods undetected once it’s time to skedaddle, or we hightail it to our mounts. The wyverns are trained to respond to whistles, spells, various measures -- they’ll know to meet us up close and personal if the going gets rough.”

Khitti’s smirk only grew as Lionel’s love for that specific tea is made obvious. But, it soon fades at his attention, and Khitti’s return to the task at hand. “I’d prefer to stay on the ground, if that’s alright. I trust my Tikifhlee over even the best of the wyverns. Plus, between my magic and the cat’s own abilities, we’ll stay hidden in the shadows and be out of there quicker than you can say ‘mowrowr’ should things not go well. Brand would more than likely be on the ground with me, should he come with us, and if not, then I’ll figure out a way to keep you apprised of my location while you’re in the air.” Khitti sat back in her chair, crimson brows knitting together, “What do you think we’ll be up against there? That dwarf from the guild mission, his armor was ridiculous. I imagine most of them are much like him, cowards in fancy gear, but with it on, there’s no stopping them. And, I say this in the off chance that we -are- found. It’s not something any of us want to think about, but the fact that there could be a fight is something that should be considered.”

Zahrani appears somewhat ambiguous on the idea of having a flying mount. She's also the type to prefer staying on the ground, but there's always the chance that even she couldn't outrun a frost giant or...whatever else they might have at their disposal. She listens to Khitti's strategy for leaving the area. It seems like a sound plan, especially if the weather picks up and it covers their tracks. Or if there's plenty of winter foliage to cover their escape. "I'll need to acquire a few things. If you have any black, stretchy, meshlike cloth, and a spyglass. Those would be handy. My eyes tend to reflect light and they contrast with my fur. A dark mesh veil that I can see out of would reduce my chances of detection. The same for the lens on the spyglass." The paladin is surprisingly detail-oriented when it comes to missions. She would likely be wearing a light armor or otherwise finding a way to muffle the noise she might make. She then adds, "Also, if you know anyone who can provide a "ranger's soap," or "hunting soap," we can use that to cover our scent, as well."

Lionel nods grimly. There’s no two ways about it: they need to be prepared. He might have preferred to go so in-depth more privately, but that’s selfish; Zahrani has every right to hear the plan even if it’s not yet entirely in place. “I think we’ll face a rather garish collection of mythic Frost Giants in better-crafted armor than any reasonable person has any business envisioning. I think whatever animal allies they’ve got will be firmly dictated by the clime, which is cold enough to make Frostmaw look halfway to a hot springs.” Lionel’s love for metaphor is occasionally self-defeating; one needn’t be overly familiar with the City of War to recall that there is, in fact, a hot springs barely a kilometer from their present location. “Well, we defeated one guy in fancy armor. We know how to defeat the rest. It’s hard-going, but Brand proved it for true. Find a way to get that armor off or otherwise get it splintered. It powers down whatever craziness went and powered it up in the first place. Then they’re just Frost Giants running straight at us with deadly weaponry.” Lionel flinches at himself. There’s no ‘just’ about that. He’s halfway to picturing them all skewered six ways to Sunderday when Zahrani once again snaps him out of his own self-induced disaster montage. “Frostmaw’s tinkerers should have what you need. I’ll see to it they come free of charge for an ally to the cause. A contact of mine, an elf named Esche, will get them delivered to you on the morrow if you’d care to stay the night. Speaking of the morrow, though, I think that’s gonna have to conclude things for just now. I’ve got a nine o’clock with a couple of gnomes who swear to high Sven a Frost Giant stole their lucky sandals.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Nobody wants their sandals.”

Khitti would certainly go into more detail with Lionel at another time, perhaps when Brand was brought into the loop. She’d nod with a faint frown at Lionel’s response, as well as his mention of Esche. “Aye, Esche’s certainly got a knack for handling all of that stuff.” Khitti looked down at her stack of paperwork, “Yes, you do that, while I deal with this.” A smile was offered to Zahrani then in farewell, “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon. I’d still like to meet up in Larket at some point when we’re able to, regarding the things we talked about the first time we met.” There was a bit of a wave from the redhead, then she went to refilling her own teacup and draining it before setting to work scribbling away.

Zahrani nods to Lionel, "I would be happy to stay the night here." She could find ways to help out around the fort while she acquired what she needed. And possibly take advantage of an opportunity to learn from Frostmaw's tinkerers. She smiles in return to Khitti, "Of course. I would be happy to help with that." The panther offers a polite nod to the two of them, before turning to walk out of the room, speaking to one of the guards about a possible place to bunk and what sort of things a paladin could do to help. That's Zahrani for you.