Quest To What Of A Knight..

[Accolade]

40th of Winter 512

It was morning that day, and a bell until Syn's light would once again shine upon the world. Most of the city was silent, or at least set into a quieter state as most had been in bed for a while. But in the Stormhold Citadel, there was a ruckus about. A young squire racing through the halls and going about his duties. The boy raced on through the halls, his armor lightly tapping at the shoulders and hips, signaling to anyone near-by of his arrival. He had been sent by his patron Lance Stalinsato, to collect Arkale. The knight had been chosen to take on a special mission by the Knight Captain and it was important that he speak with him at once.

The Squire hadn't been given any details and was only told to quickly find the Knight and deliver the message to him. The message itself was inked on a piece of parchment, then rolled up and stamped with the caption's seal. The boy held the message tightly in his grasp, being sure not to lose it on his way to Arkale's room. The task at hand wasn't hard, but the boy had a few chimes in which he had gotten lost and had to retrace his steps.

Finally he found the Knight's room and let himself in to speak with him, as the importance was urgent, he didn't bother to knock. He spoke loudly as he entered hoping to wake the Knight if he had been a sleep, only hoping not to frighten him.

" Ser Arkale! The Captain wishes to speak with you. It is urgent Ser!"

The boy fell into silent there after, standing tall, with his back straight and his gaze forward. He had hoped that the Knight wouldn't be offended by his rash entrance, but only time could tell.

[Arkale]

"Windoak's Bark!"Arkale cried in surprise. The sudden enterance caused Arkale to jump from his desk, knocking the chair to the floor as well as spilling a well of ink across several pieces of parchment. Cursing under his breath, the young Mage Knight rushed to pick up the parchemt to prevent the ink from spilling and staining the wood. He cleaned up the mess as best as he could in the rush he was in and then turned his attention to the messenger. The Squire had exclaimed that the Knight Caption had wanted to see him, and thousands of possibilities rushed through Arkale's mind. As he pondered the situation, he rushed to his wardrobe and quickly dressed. Next to his wardrobe was his Armor rack, and he eyed the plate. He didn't want to take the 10 or 15 chimes it usually took to don the armor, and he hoped arriving before the Knight Caption in his regular clothing would be appropriate, but he didn't want to keep him waiting. "So, did the Caption say what this is all about?" Arkale, now fully dressed, addressed the Squire. He was nervous, that was no secret, for it was not everyday that the Knight Caption requested your presence, and if possible, the Mage Knight did not want to arrive unprepared and unprepped.

[Richard Burke]

Hoarfrost had gathered over the window during the night, it was quite a sight, as Richard lifted his head from his book. He didn't know what time it was, but the candle had had was burned about a third of the way. He sometimes had trouble sleeping, too many thoughts whirling around his head. He quietly reread the same book, as the other squires in his dorm slept, the candle never disturbed them, they were too tired from training. He was tired too, but not enough to defeat the countless thoughts that had rotted themselves deeply iinto the young squire's mind

He finished the book, as his candle dwindled, a new record he thought. He stretched, and got up. There was no point in sleeping now. He donned his day clothes, simple wool, and then his wool cloak he felt like going for a walk, to breath in the fresh morning air, and to beat the cities early morning workers- who would surely be waking soon. The chill was pleasant, it always reminded him of a new begining. He breathed deply, and waited to see what the day would bring.

[Accolade]

The squire winced and turned his head for a tick. He hadn't intended to startle the knight and had assumed that he was asleep being that the hour was so late. Arkale cursed and the squire gnashed his teeth at the sight before him. Ink rolled everywhere and the boy could only hope that the parchment hadn't been anything important. He first attempted to help, but was unsure of what to do and already feeling very embarrassed. Instead he didn't move and stood at attention while Arkale finished cleaning up.

"He did not say Ser, I was only told to find you, deliver the message and to give you this."

The boy finished and removed the rolled up parchment from under his arm and gave it to Akale once he was dressed and ready. "He said to deliver this directly to you Ser." the boy finished then stepped back to allow Arkale room to looked over the message.

The message read as follows..

"Ser Knight, There is an urge matter that I must discuss with you at once. You are to meet me in the Temple of all Gods the moment that this letter reaches you.

Lance Stalinsato"

Once Arkale had read the letter and nodded to the boy, his job was done. He apologized for causing the knight discomfort and waited to see if he needed anything else. Arkale was left with a choice, to see the Captain at once, or find his squire. But the knight didn't have much time to think. The Caption was waiting for him in the temple and the matter was very serious.

[Arkale]

Arkale blinked a few times, reading the note three times before it all finally sank in. He took a deep breath, for he had good reason to beleive it would be the last time for a long time he would be able to breath to easily. Folding the note, the Knight shoved it into a pocket and turned back to the Squire. "I need to you run and acquire Richard Burke. The lad is my Squire, and I would like him to be present with me during this meeting. Make haste, I pray." Arkale put a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him quick instructions to where he could find his Squire's room. With that, he sent the boy away, and headed towards the Temple of all Gods. Idily he wondered what was so important, and why the Knight Caption sent for Arkale... A small wing of butterflies found their way into his stomach. He put a purpose behind his step, and navigated towards the temple. Each step caused the butterflies to become more active, and his mind to race even faster. What was he about to get himself into?

[Accolade]

The squire stood silent as he watched Arkale curiously, the knight seemed to be having trouble understanding the message. The squire hadn't read it so he didn't know what to say, if anything at all. The knight was a tad strange, but the boy would never speak of this to anyone else, instead he waited to see if he was needed and then after receiving an order to fetch another squire, the boy nodded and left the room.

He made his way into the squires barracks where the others were all sleep. He knew of Richard, had met and spoke with the boy times over. He returned to the barracks to find that Richard was not there. Luckily one of the boys in the room had saw him leaving with his cloak. The squire nodded his thanks and hurried outside to find Richard quickly so that he too could sleep. It only took him a few chimes to catch the young squire and he gladly greeted him.

"Hail Richard! Your patron asked me to find you. He said that you were to meet with him at the Temple of all Gods at once." with that, he led Richard to the temple where he found that Arkale and his own patron were already present. The squire nodded again to Arkale then returned to his patrons side.

Lance Stalinsato had been waiting at the temple for some time. His features were rough, and bags hung heavily under his eyes. The knight was tired and reasonably so with the extra hours he put in and taking on special missions. He moved from the seat he had made on the stone steps and walked towards the men. His gaze first fell onto Arkale and then to Richard as he acknowledged them both before speaking.

"We have reason to believe that there is a threat nearby. A weapon of mass destruction, and it's heading here to our city. If our intelligence is correct it should arrive here in three days time and is to be considered deadly. "

He paused, thinking over his next words and continued on while pacing in front of them. "We do not know what the weapon is, but judging by the level of the threat, we can only assume that it has to do with magic. Our agents have gained their intel from people outside of the city as well as inside. That is where your job comes in...We need you to investigate this. Something about this seems off, unnatural, for all we know this could be a trap. Some way by Ravok or anyone else who wants our city to try and divert our attention and steal into the city undetected.

There are moles in the city, working against us and who I am not sure. But we have reason to believe that will be a meeting tomorrow night in the stone gardens. I need you to investigate this meeting and find out who they are, and what they are planning. Go without armor if you like but be armed and be ready to fight in case something goes wrong, but unless it does you are only there to listen and interrogate if possible." He looked the men in their eyes to make sure they were following him before he returned to his seat on the stone steps. "Now if you don't have any questions?"

OOCOkay, the meeting won't take place until the following night, so you can decide what you'd like to do in between that time, or how fast you want to skip to the next night and arrive at the meeting.

[Arkale]

Arkale did not like the idea of going without his armor. It was the first thing he picked up on and instantly hated the idea. Sure, a Knight shouldn't need the few inches of steel and leather to make him feel safe, that feeling should come from the Knight's own understanding of his abilities and his confidence that he can weather any threat thrown against him; however, Arkale did not feel that confidence at this moment. Being faced down with a phrase such as "weapon of mass destruction" had the tendency to make a person want to put as many layer between them and what ever was being destroyed, it was...a natural reaction to an unnatural situation. Furthermore, he began to suspect his apprehension about leaving his armor at home came from another source, albeit still having to do with the aforementioned weapon. If there was such a device, whatever it maybe, being aimed at Syliras, that means there are people devious and vile enough to do such a thing. If these monsters - these terrorists - were in Syliras, then Arkale had to be prepared for anything. Terrorism was something Arkale had studied back in his Zeltivian days, and if there was something he learned about anygroup of people that were hellbent on the utter destruction or domination of another, it was that the aggressors were radical and would do anything to achieve their gains. That was a notion that truly frightened the Knight, though he was stoic enough to not show it. As he processed his throughts he formed a few questions, and, not wanting to head off ill-prepared, stepped forward to ask the quest giver. "Do we have any information as to how many will be at this meeting?" The question was vaild, after all, if Arkale was simply taking Richard with him, it would be wise to be prepared with at least a rough estimate of how big a force they could be facing, Windoak save them, if things should turn sour. The Mage Knight was alread beginning to formulate a plan, and was thankful they had a full day to prepare for this mission. Being prepared was better than having a full army. As he waited for a reply, Arkale turned to his Squire and gave the boy a reassuring smile. 'Everything will be alright.' was this brand of smile, though Arkale was not truly convinced of this fact.

[Richard Burke]

Richard stood at rapt attention. He had never met a high ranking knight, and he was slightly nervous. Even more so as he heard about this mission. He held his tongue, not wanting to interupt, or bring more attention to himself- he defered to the experiance of his patron. Richard would chime up if he had to though.

He didn't mind not wearing armour, his shield would be more than enough for the encounter- or so he hoped. Hopefully it would be a small meeting, in an open area of the city, but that would probally be very unlikely.

Richard had read the phrase "weapon of mass destruction" before, but he never understood the power behind the word. He had no experiance of such matters, most people never would- and if they did their job, the people of Syliras still wouldn't be blissfully unaware of the forcers arrayed against the great city.

So Richard still stood, his mind already steeled for the task ahead. He was ready to defend his home, and his family, and the family of every knight, and citizen.

[Accolade]

"There are likely to be three to four at the most. Understand gentlemen that these people don't want to be found. You're not going to find an army huddled about in the stone gardens waiting for war. It's hard to say what level of skill these men may possess if any, but don't underestimate them on that word. It is also possible that there might be a citizen or two walking about as well. This is where you must tread carefully and only act when necessary."

The Captain stood up again and walked towards the men, placing a heavy hand on each of their shoulders. "Be mindful, be watchful, these aren't likely amateurs that we're dealing with and if they suspect that you are knights they may take off before you can learn anything so it's best to be very careful...Now, unless there is anything else?"

[Arkale]

The Knight considered the Ser Caption's words and was beginning to add details to the plan he had already begun to devise. Arkale replied that he did not have any more questions, and that he, with the help of his Squire, would get to the bottom of this mystery. "Richard, come with me, we have some preperations to see to." He turned from the temple and headed back to his quarters, where he would explain to Richard his plan, and begin the preperations for their mission. The duo walked in silence from the Temple of All Gods, or rather, Arkale was so deep in thought, anything that was said to him was completely shut out, and before the young Knight knew it, they had arrived at his quarters. Arkale pushed into the room, and immedeatly went over to his armor and began to examine it. He had some ideas for blending in to the city and not draw suspicion...and it would work great if he could pull it off, but not wanting to throw all his preverbial eggs in a single basket, Arkale wanted to see if his Squire had any ideas. "What do you think of the situation?" Arkale needed to see where his Squire stood on the entire mission, and what his thoughts were on the overall concept, a weapon of mass destruction aimed squarely at Syliras.